A Review by Phil Calabro
2004, 20th Century Fox, Dir. Alex Proyas, Starring Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Alan Tudyk, James Cromwell, Bruce Greenwood, Chi McBride, Shia LeBeouf, Adrian Ricard
The robot is the ideal invention - one that can perform everyday tasks for us, one that can make our lives much easier by lifting the load, and one that can defend you - but when put into reality, not everything is that easy. What morals do robots follow? What about emotions? The film I, Robot is a great description that can answer a few of these questions as well as excite us with a great mix of writing and special effects.
Based loosely on the first robot novel written by sci-fi pioneer Issac Asimov, I Robot is set in the year 2035 in Chicago. Our hero Detective Del Spooner (Smith), is a serious technophobe, and is investigating a case involving the apparent suicide of the founder of robot megacorporation USR - but Del believes a robot is responsible for the action. But the robots follow three laws which are engrained into their memory: 1) A robot may not harm a human or, by 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, and 3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law. And when things start to go fishy with some of the newest models, he and a robot psychologist (Moynahan) team up to find out what's believe this revolution - and evolution of the robot's minds.
Will Smith is using his acting skills very well playing the cliched action hero, and it works very well. It's quite obvious that he's still got the same physique since Ali, and he's got the attitude to go along with it. His personality is sleek and smart, and works smoothly with the genre. Bridget Moynahan is also well cast, playing our freakin' hot robot programmer, and her chemistry with Smith progresses better than most action films usually would. Also commendable is James Cromwell as the late founder of USR, Dr. Lanning - his profound dialogue, which is often used in the backdrop of some scenes, is frightening and bitterly realistic.
Proyas, who is an experienced director and writer from his days of "The Crow" and "Dark City", plans the mix between special effects and writing pretty adequately, enough to enjoy this typical blockbuster hit - however, the film doesn't hold anything incredibly special to make it a highly recommendable film. When you're given a period of seriousness and haunting dialogue, you're then hit in the face with some exciting action, that you won't be bored anytime.
I Robot is one of the better blockbusters to see this summer. It's got a haunting message, special effects, and good acting to support the story, and I'm pretty sure that even Asimov himself would approve of the film. But if you're honestly thinking of seeing White Chicks again, just forget it.
3/4 stars
