The story unfolds in familiar cinematic territory: a ragged figure (portrayed by Sam Rockwell) storms a eatery, demanding hostages under threat of explosion to assemble a group. Echoing Groundhog Day, this scenario repeats endlessly for him, prompting revelations of hidden facts to sway the customers. Resembling 12 Monkeys, he hails from a grim tomorrow, but in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die, the crisis shifts from a deadly plague to averting the emergence of a world-dominating artificial intelligence.
This film delivers more of an instinctive outcry than a measured critique of technological missteps. It carries a touch of generational frustration (director Gore Verbinski, aged 61, and writer Matthew Robinson, 47), aligning with its mocking style. In the current landscape, many might yearn to alert their earlier selves about the tech sector's rise and the elite it empowered.
Rockwell's protagonist gathers an eclectic team of potential future heroes: Mark and Janet (played by Michael Pena and Zazie Beetz), a duo of secondary school educators; Susan (Juno Temple), a grieving parent; and Ingrid (Haley Lu Richardson), a melancholic figure in a royal gown. Asim Chaudhry's Scott provides humor as relief, though he lacks the deeper background given to his counterparts.
The movie quickly sketches its contemporary dystopian setting through segmented vignettes. Mark and Janet evade aggressive teens fixated on mobile devices, lost in perpetual streams akin to TikTok. Susan grapples with a nightmarish ordeal involving her child (details omitted, but it's a quintessentially U.S. issue). Ingrid suffers physical reactions to wireless networks and intelligent gadgets, complicating her adaptation to everyday life.
These vignettes resemble compact Black Mirror tales, amplifying issues to ridiculous extremes, all linked to unregulated tech expansion and corporate greed. The subtlety is absent. Visions of the catastrophic future are blunter still, featuring ruined urban landscapes, individuals ensnared in virtual reality gear (immersing them in AI-crafted worlds), and mechanical enforcers pursuing those opposed to AI.
The picture shines brightest in its playful moments. As Rockwell's group journeys toward their goal—a young inventor on the verge of creating advanced AI—they face bizarre foes like swine-masked killers, robotic Stepford-like families, and a grotesquely charming monster. Despite narrative shortcomings, Verbinski excels in visuals, recalling the eerie tension of The Ring and the dynamic action of Pirates of the Caribbean. This holds true in the climax, mirroring the frenetic digital mayhem of Akira.
While Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die nods to iconic science fiction, it falls short of the raw dread in Terminator 2's AI-triggered nuclear strike. Nor does its eccentricity match the chaotic brilliance of Terry Gilliam's Brazil or 12 Monkeys. Yet for those weary of aggressive AI marketing and skeptical of genuine artificial intelligence, it offers an entertaining outlet for frustration.