Not enough people talk about the A-X-L movie.... So I guess I'll sing some praise for it. Keep in mind I'm limited to what gifs and images I could find on Google, since there's not a lot.
Cool Animated/Blueprint Intro to A-X-L!
This goes on for a good two minutes and gives us some exposition about who and what the robot is and why he was made. As well as introducing us to one of the pseudo-villains.
FANTASTIC Robot Character Design
From what I understand, our boy AXL (short for Attack, eXploration, and Logistics, and pronounced Axel by our protags) is a practical puppet in some shots, and fully CGI in the more active shots. He moves in a very believable way, and his little visual detail of having red eyes when aggressive and blue eyes when looking at someone he trusts is very neat. And he's basically just a giant goofy puppy dog. You WILL in love with him. Do not resist.
Miles, and the Classic 'Boy and His Dog' Trope
After our introduction to AXL, we cut to our first introduction to the main protagonist, Miles Hill. He rides a dirt bike and is somewhat antisocial. He meets AXL, and of course because he already rides machines, he is naturally curious, and ends up helping to repair our robot boi after finding him damaged. Some time later, they 'biometrically pair', making Miles the robot's admin. He gradually learns about AXL's origins, and how the scientists who created him were mistreating him. Also the two of them do laps around a junkyard and AXL makes himself into a ramp for Miles to drive over and it's just so neat like they fit together so perfectly-
Funny Gags and Cute Callbacks
It would seem unexpected if you were simply looking at the cover of this movie and hearing my answer, but if you asked me to describe this movie in one word, I'd answer 'cute'.
I love the little symbolic scenes, like when Miles and AXL first meet, they both have some kind of covering obscuring their eyes; for Miles, his bike helmet, and for AXL, his protective eye shields. And then when they actually connect, Miles takes off his helmet, and AXL peels back his eye coverings, quote on quote 'seeing eye to eye'.
There's also a bit of romance subplot, where a girl named Sara gets involved with the whole fiasco, and in a moment of peace, AXL plays 'Dancing in the Moonlight' by pairing with Sara's phone, and projects some pretty disco lights over Miles and Sara as they dance together. During this scene we also see through AXL's scanner, and it shows that he can see Miles' and Sara's heart rates, steadily rising as they move together. This also checks out, considering AXL was made to be a companion on the battlefield, so it would be necessary that he can read vitals, and, as later seen in the movie, detect injuries such as bone breaks.
There's also a funny recurring gag where AXL speaks in a distorted robot voice, but it's only one phrase, and it's one that embarrasses Miles, and I love it.
A-X-L will always be a movie I hold close to my heart.
There's something about this movie that is just so sensual to me, about a human and a robot forming a bond that's just as real as a bond with another living being, all because some random humans decided they wanted to make a machine that could experience the world the way they do, and bond with them the way they bond with other humans.
It calls out to that primal need we all have: to connect, to live, to experience.
It makes me wonder; what if? Could we, one day, have technology this advanced? Could, one day, a real AXL exist?
I hope so. But until then, this movie is what we have, and if you enjoy the 'boy and his dog' trope, or the 'boy and his robot' trope, like Iron Giant, or EVEN the 'human and their alien/non-human companion' trope, this is the movie for you.
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