HAMSTER RATING:
Man v. Machine
"I, Robot" presents itself as a very ordinary summer action blockbuster. It stars Will Smith
as the hip, smart-alecky action star fighting the forces of sci-fi evil,
just as he's done before in both MiB and Independence Day, except, this time, he's up against
evil robots rather than evil aliens. Whoop-de-doo, who cares, right? We've all seen Will
Smith do his hip, smart-alecky action star thing over and over again and as evidenced by
MiB II, its appeal is starting to wear thin. Fortunately, "I, Robot" gives Smith a chance to
build on the action hero thing, providing not only the shoot-em-up, action-packed sequences
summer audiences know and love, but a story and group of characters that actually keep you
invested for the entire film.
Will Smith is Det. Del Spooner living in Chicago in 2035. The skyline of the future and the
technology immediately smack of "Minority Report" or "A.I.," including the overuse of pale
blue and grey in the set design (maybe America has become a communist state in the future,
or something). Det. Spooner is suspicious of robots, so when Dr. Lanning, the big wig at
U.S.R. Robotics is found dead on the eve before the largest robot distribution in history,
Spooner rejects the idea of a suicide and tries to bring down Lanning's robot as a homicide
suspect. This leads to Spooner's assertion that maybe U.S.R's newest product, the NS-5,
may not be as safe as everyone else thinks it is. Along the way, he teams up with
Dr. Calvin, a robot psychologist and one of Asimov's frequent short story characters.
Hardly original, the plot is infused with surprising depth and puts an interesting twist on
the Three Laws of Robotics, staying true to Asimov's basic ideology while giving justification
for the robot mayhem that predictably ensues. The dialogue is refreshingly snappy and riddled
with a good sense of humor, in typical style for a Will Smith summer movie, but always
appreciated.
Where "I, Robot" lifts itself out of big-budget blockbuster mediocrity is its treatment of
character. Will Smith actually gets to act. Spooner is not Agent J, nor Captain Hiller.
He has real feelings and gets several good scenes in which to use them. This is the first
film (aside from "Ali") in which Will Smith is the bona fide leading man and he does a
fantastic job carrying the story. It doesn't hurt, either, that he is in fantastic physical
shape, as well. Solid performances by the supporting cast, including Chi McBride and Alan
Tudyk as the robot Sonny (who is an eerie blend of Hal 9000 and Bicentennial Man) showcase
the writers' careful attention to character development. James Cromwell, however, doesn't
quite hit the mark as Dr. Lanning, mostly due to the fact that he appears largely as a
hologram with "limited responses" which tend to be infuriatingly yoda-like and vague.
Also, Bridget Moynahan's vulnerable, watery-eyed look is a little off for Dr. Calvin, but
otherwise, she manages to humanize a character that could have been dismissed as a cinematic
Seven of Nine.
Backed by superior cgi effects (given the number of them) and creative shooting, "I, Robot" is,
all in all, a rather respectable offering at the summer box office, able to please those
looking for action and sheer entertainment, as well as more intellectual sci-fi devotees.
HAMSTER RATING: 3/5 pellets
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One of these NS-5s is not like the others...
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