Writer/director Gareth Edwards (‘Rogue One’) brings us a heady sci-fi morality play about the battle between humans and artificial intelligence, very much in the vein of ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘District 9’. John David Washington stars as a soldier sent to help eradicate the technology but who, instead, winds up going against his own kind for all the right reasons. With stunning visual effects and solid performances from the cast (which also includes Allison Janney, Gemma Chan, and Ken Watanabe), there’s more than enough here to make up for the so-so script, which doesn’t go as far as it could have with its very timely message about the ubiquitousness of AI.

4/5 stars