“A-X-L” is directed & written by Oliver Daly & stars Alex Neustaedter, Becky G, Dominic Rains & Thomas Jane. The film is based on a short film “Miles” that was also directed by Daly. After joining with famed producer David S. Goyer, they reworked his short into this feature film.

After a military scientist (Rains) loses one of his projects, a robotic canine unit codenamed “AXL”, in the California desert, the hunt is on. A young motor cross racer (Nuestaedter) & his female sidekick (Becky) then find AXL and takes him in and learn his he’s much more than a military experiment. However, they get caught in the middle of the hunt between AXL and the military making them a threat to their top secret project.

This film is very similar to “ET”, “The Iron Giant” & “Bumblebee” but on a much smaller scale. This had the feel an independent film and it really come off that way. The problem is that none of the human characters have any sort of depth or sense of endearment when it came to certain situations. Becky G gives a mediocre performance while Nuestaedter’s & Rains’ feel hollow and generic. The look of AXL was pretty cool and he had some pretty cool scenes but at the same time it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Cliched storyline and solid action sequences weren’t enough to save this movie from becoming an lifeless story.

Overall, this movie sounded pretty cool but felt similar to other films despite a smaller budget, independent filmmakers and relatively new actors and actresses. Upon watching, it was really a downward spiral from a typical military experiment movie to a mediocre knockoff of great films. This film could’ve been better with the right filmmakers but just down right fails with a abysmal script and a doomed production studio.