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Review: I, Robot
"By trying to take it a step further, the director has essentially taken it three steps back and made it just mediocre."
By Ursula Mehl
Everybody knows that Will Smith is good at making summer blockbusters. I, Robot, which opens everywhere this Friday, July 16th, is his latest summer offering to the masses. Directed by The Crow’s Alex Proyas and based on the writings of Issac Asimov, I, Robot is an intriguing action-adventure.
Set in the year 2035, robots have become a normal part of most households. Will Smith, who plays Chicago Police Detective Del Spooner, is a cop with a bias against robots. On the eve of the largest robotic distribution in the country, Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), turns up dead at the US Robotics headquarters. Dr. Lanning, as it turns out, was the man who practically invented robots. Ironically, Spooner is assigned to the case and he accuses a robot of doing it- even though according to the “three laws of robotics,” that’s a physical impossibility. But if Spooner’s right- robots actually can and will kill humans- he could be dealing with a far more dangerous threat to humanity.
On the surface I, Robot is everything you expect from a Will Smith summer blockbuster. It’s fast, fun and entertaining. There’s a car chase, things get blown up, and Will Smith gets to save humankind from destruction. The special effects, however, leave something to be desired.
Half the time I felt like I was watching a video game rather than a movie. The action sequences look blocky and unrealistic. It was as if the special effects team spent all their time making the robots look good (which they do), but then forgot about the rest of the movie. The backdrops for some of the panoramic shots are especially bad; it’s like I was staring at a computer screen.
Also, being set only 31 years in the future, there is no way everything is going to be as high-tech as it’s made out to be, it’s just not realistic.
But, the plot is intriguing enough to keep you wondering what’s going to happen next. However, towards the end of the movie, things begin to get muddled. It’s as if the director was not satisfied with just making a piece of brain candy- he wanted to add some underlying message in the film. The only problem with that is, it never becomes clear what that message is.
At first, I thought it was that humans- with all their flaws and shortcomings- are still better than robots. We have feelings; and that’s more important than being able to make a fully cooked meal and clean the house, all in under ten minutes. But, by the end of the film, it’s clear that’s not what he wants you to think. Walking out of the theater I just felt confused, which is not the way you want to leave your audience.
If this movie had just stuck with being an action-adventure, it would have been great because it has all the elements that make a successful Will Smith summer blockbuster. However, by trying to take it a step further, the director has essentially taken it three steps back and made it just mediocre. Will Smith should just stay away from movies that have some redeeming social value. If you want a Will Smith movie without any hang-ups, re-rent Men in Black.
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