‘Weapons’ is still worth watching, despite AI controversy

Any media is subject to the watchful eye of social media in today’s society. Superman becomes too woke, Fantastic Four becomes too colorful, and now there is a new victim.

“Weapons,” the passion project of Zach Cregger, was recently released Aug. 8 and had people refusing to watch it after artificial intelligence allegations started circulating on the internet, despite the overwhelming support and positive reviews at the box office. This calls into question whether or not these claims should be enough to kill this well-received movie, and in this case, the answer is no.

The trailer that caused this backlash was allegedly created through the use of AI. It provided a synopsis of the film’s hook: 17 kids go missing, all in the same manner, running out of their front doors into darkness at exactly 2:17 a.m. But this time, it was depicted in a “children’s-crayola-drawing” 2D animation style, with pen lines, wonky stick figures and poor perspective used to portray these events.

Social media was quick to point out inconsistencies in the video’s style, which aligned with basic AI mistakes, including confusing lines, objects morphing into one another and abrupt jump cuts. This initial allegation of AI use is what truly got the ball rolling on the movie, in which people were quick to criticize Cregger for using AI rather than outsourcing artists. Soon after the backlash started to circulate, the trailer was quickly removed and replaced with the remaining footage trailers.

Some fans of the movie tried to defend the director, saying it wasn’t up to his discretion on whether or not AI was used in the trailer, or that AI was used simply to create the in-between frames for the animation to make it run smoother. There was never an official statement posted about the allegation, so it is ultimately up to interpretation on whether they generated the entire trailer, the keyframes or how much AI was used.

Regretfully, this is what broadly defined the movie up until its release. As swiftly as the marketing team tried to damage-control the situation, it had already left a poor taste in horror fanatics’ mouths, with them posting themselves swearing off seeing it as a protest in a few cases. As the movie rolled into theaters Aug. 8, it had a lot to prove, which made its comeback even more surprising to the general audience. It received a whopping 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, with several other ratings following this trend. It grossed $10.2 million on its opening weekend.

The movie itself was shot from six different perspectives and reveals more plot through each addition. Each character’s perspective does a tremendous job of layering onto each other by backtracking, answering prior questions and creating plot twists with horrific realizations before the main characters have a chance to react.

The entire movie feels as if you are caught on the slowest fishing line, being dragged through the plot one small detail at a time, as tension becomes suffocating and pieces begin to fall into place. The intentionality is what makes this movie and separates it from other competing franchises.

Allowing awkward movements to trigger uncanny valley responses, placing the camera’s perspective directly in the line of fire and building a ceaseless anxiety as the movie forces you to live in a state of oblivion until it becomes burdensome with the knowledge of exactly what is happening in the small town it takes place in.

The movie is a unique stand-alone movie, requiring no prior knowledge to watch it. “Weapons” is truly a breath of fresh air in a world of cinema that has been corrupted and plagued by remakes, live-action and unnecessary trilogies. If you are looking for a good horror movie to watch this Halloween, this movie is an amazing contender, despite the controversies that haunt it.