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Movie Review - I, Robot
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Alex Proyas |
| Starring: |
Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Alan Tudyk's voice, and James Cromwell |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (for intense stylized action, and some brief partial nudity) |
| Length: |
115 minutes |
| Genre: |
Action/Sci-Fi |
| Website: |
I, Robot |
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PLOT
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It's 2035 A.D. and there will soon be one robot to every five humans. In fact, it's U.S. Robotics' goal to
put a robot in every single household. That's all fine and dandy until Dr. Niles Hogenmiller (Cromwell) - a
major designer of the new breed of robots - ends up dead. Was it suicide? Or is Detective Spooner (Smith) -
a guy who severely distrusts robots - correct in thinking a robot may be behind this? If so, then the Three
Laws of Robotics have been violated, and the consequences of that do not equal good times and BBQ for mankind.
A look at why we might not ever want a robot per every household ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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According to Isaac Asimov, the Three Laws of Robotics are:
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second
Law.
Now you don't have to be a web designer/hilarious movie reviewer with a Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering
and an MBA to realize that some sort of interpretation of the old "rules were made to be broken" adage is
gonna take place. And that, my friends, is the nut that the story's shell encases.
My friends: Um, what?
Oh, uh, sorry, I was just trying to sound cool. Anyway...
If you're the type of person who likes to prejudge and make assumptions about movies based on trailers
(unlike me, of course), then you may initially think this movie is just all silly action. But that's
not the case. Oh, there's definitely some silly and unrealistic action. Whenever you have Will Smith
SURFING AWAY FROM AN EXPLOSION ON A FRONT DOOR then you know there's some stuff you're just gonna have to
take with two pinches of salt and a dash of sugar, but I, Robot does a good job of developing and
revealing its story, all while mixing in the right amount of rump cheek-kicking.
There is no denying that the special and visual effects are great, and they are the major selling point
for this movie. The car scene in the tunnel is worth the price of admission, and the last 15 or 20 minutes
really kick things into 1969 Camaro overdrive. If you've gotta go to the bathroom or get a refill on
popcorn, then definitely do it before these last 20 minutes. But I found myself genuinely interested
in the story. The movie manages to maintain a good amount of suspense and tension throughout, and it throws
in a couple of twists just to keep things fresh. Are the robots as evil as they seem? Is Bruce Greenwood
the bad guy he appears to be? Why exactly does Will Smith hate robots so much? Is Alfonso Ribeiro somewhere
sucking his thumb and crying, wondering why Will won't return his phone calls?
The acting is pretty solid throughout. In general, I like Will Smith. But if you've seen Wild, Wild
West then you know he's not immune to starring in crap. Thankfully, that's not the case here. Will
Smith pretty much plays Will Smith, so take that for what you think it's worth. He's basically a cop with
an attitude who likes to wax sarcastic and be all rebellious and stuff. And he has some good back-and-forths
with the ever-adorable Bridget Moynahan who, as Dr. Susan Calvin, is an expert on robot psyches and has great
lips - much better than the oversized bananas Angelina Jolie has plastered below her nose.
Going into the movie, I had my reservations. After all, when I first saw the robots in the trailer, I
thought they looked about as silly as Tom Cruise with his gray hair in "Collateral." But the robot
special effects are actually well-done. I came away impressed. They look pretty realistic (more human than
Al Gore, to be honest), especially in their mouth movements (George Lucas - take note). And Mrs. Shade made
a good point - if you're putting a robot in every home, then you probably don't want it to look evil and
menacing. The fight scenes between the robots are quite cool without looking too fake. This is a good
sign that we may be moving away from CGI being too obvious.
I don't know if I'll add this to my DVD collection, but I definitely want to at least rent the DVD one day,
assuming that it's loaded with cool special features. Just one question, which encompasses one of my
complaints about the movie, why do so many action movies insist on having a scene where the hero saves an
animal in peril? I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANY MORE CATS OR DOGS BEING SAVED IN THE NICK OF TIME! I don't want
to see animals die or anything, but I'm just tired of pointless "I must risk my life to save this animal"
scenes. It's a cheap ploy to get audiences to go "Awwwww." It works, but it makes me dry heave.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Inspired by Isaac Asimov's I, Robot story collection, but apparently it has very little to do with
Asimov's robot vision. I haven't read the book, so I won't make any personal comparisons.
- It certainly gets its money's worth out of its $105 million production budget.
- James Cromwell guest-starred on an episode of The Young Riders ("The Peacemakers"), starring the
underappreciated Josh Brolin.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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This is walking the rough side of its PG-13 rating. There aren't any scenes of sexuality, but there is a
gratuitous butt-shot of Smith as he's taking a shower. There are a couple of handfuls of profanity,
including a few G-d**n's. Mama wouldn't be too pleased, and this is probably not the best material for
pre-teens.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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If the trailer grabbed your attention, then you should definitely enjoy the movie. If you think the trailer
makes the movie look silly, well, you could be pleasantly surprised. But if you've signed a contract to hate Will
Smith and every movie he's in with all your heart, then there's not much I can do about it.
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THE GIST
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If you're eager for an action-packed Summer movie, and you've already seen
Spider Man 2 then you can't go wrong with I, Robot ... unless you're
the type to complain that this "desecrates the memory and vision of Isaac Asimov." If you feel that way, then
more power to you, but that's one of those things that didn't affect *my* opinion of the movie.
A solid mix of action, story, humor, and Bridget Moynahan raises I, Robot above the standard "dumb
Summer action flick."
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