Mankind seems pretty uncomfortable about the prospect of robots walking among us.
The upcoming “Terminator Salvation” takes that apprehension to extreme levels, but the 2004 feature “I, Robot” imagined a more nuanced scenario.
The futuristic film depicts a world where robots do our bidding, but a few misfired circuits result in some ‘bots casting off the shackles of their human masters.
Will Smith plays Del Spooner, a sour cop with a grudge against robots. You’d be sour, too, if you hated robots and they were everywhere, working as garbage men, babysitters and chefs. In short, doing the work we don’t want to do any longer.
His suspicions come in handy when the country’s leading robotics guru (James Cromwell) plunges to his death in an apparent suicide. But Spooner suspects something more sinister happened, leading him to find robots who don’t take the rules about hurting humans to their tin-plated hearts.
“I, Robot” delivers some relaxed social commentary and the usual strong performance by Smith, but some ghosts still remain in this machine. Co-star Bridget Moynihan can’t match a fraction of Smith’s star power, and the film’s dialogue ranges from the obvious – “oh, hell no!” – to the inane.
Director Alex Proyas (“Knowing,” “Dark City”) concocts a credible future vision of the Windy City, but he relies too heavily on CGI to plug the visual gaps. It’s like we’re watching a computer software demo rather than a full-blooded action picture.
“I, Robot” falls squarely alongside “I Am Legend” in Smith’s box office ouevre. It’s an occasionally thrilling ride good enough to smash the $100 million mark, but incapable of standing tall against the sci-fi classics that came before it.
(Photo: Will Smith scores another box office KO, despite some clunky dialogue, in “I, Robot.”)
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I can’t disagree with anything you say, yet when I watched this yet again last month, it just seemed…better. Every now and again a little moment would just pop out, like when the old robots leap out to protect Smith from the new robots, as they are compelled to do by First Law. And while Moynihan can’t match Smith for star power, she’s almost spot on — as I recall — to how Asimov wrote her character. Maybe if they had stuck closer to the source material…
Bob — I think I liked it so much the first time I was a little let down on a second viewing. That’s where pure emotion gets in the way of movie reviewing.
And it’s funny how films today are still uneasy about romantically pairing white and black leads … there’s a hint of sexual tension here, but not much more.
I know this isn’t a great movie, but I find it extremely watchable and have seen it a number of times since purchasing the DVD. It’s a sort of comfort food.
And you’re right about Bridget Moynihan, she’s just to breathtakingly beautiful I never notice.
From Bridget to Giselle … life is hard for some guys, eh?
I thought Proyas did a great job with the special effects and made it a well-paced, fun sci-fi outing, but the biggest problem was Will Smith himself.
He’s great when he’s playing an actual character (Ali, Pursuit of Happyness, Enemy of the State, etc.) but in movies like this he just plays an annoying version of himself, acting cocky in every scene and tossing off the same tired one-liners. It breaks the suspension of disbelief, and frankly, his fans deserve more from him than that.
The only thing I can remember about this movie is that some idiot parents right behind us had brought their five-year-old with them. She was scared out of her mind! I felt so bad for her. They kept saying, “it’s not real, it’s not real,” but they wouldn’t take her out of the theater even though she was blubbering with fear.
I think if this happened today, I would say something to them, but back then I just didn’t have the guts.
Poor girl – she’ll probably be in therapy some day because of “I, Robot.” In therapy for that and her stupid parents.
All I can say is THE BASTARDS LEFT OUT ROBBIE AND LITTLE GLORIA!!!
ASIMOV WILL HAVE HIS REVENGE!!!