I, Robot Review
by Wahid Sharif (moodybastard_717 AT hotmail DOT com)July 20th, 2004
I, Robot (2004)
a review by
Wahid Sharif
"I, Robot", the latest film from Alex Proyas (director of the brilliant "Dark City"), is based off an Issac Asimov story and it stars Will Smith as Del Spooner - a Chicago detective in the year 2035 who investigates an apparent homicide commited by a robot against its maker, Dr. Alfred Lanning (played by James Cromwell). Spooner is predjudiced against robots as he is convinced that a robot - one in particular named "Sonny" is responsible for this "murder". However, there are many others, including a robo-psychiatrist named Susan Calvin (played by Bridget Moynahan) who feel that a robot couldn't have possibly committed a crime because of the Three Laws of Robotics (1. A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow human beings to come to harm. 2. A robot mut obey orders given to 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 and Second Laws). Spooner is determined to prove that like any law, these are made to be broken.
This film doesn't break any new ground here as the design of the robots look like rejected drawings and designs of those Stormtroopers in the early Star Wars films. Some of the dialogue is bland, and Smith's wisecracking often wears thin. In fact, the film would have been much if it had played it a lot more straight, with just a few touches of humor. In terms of his character's predjudice against robots, I would have liked it more if his predjudice came from something a lot more personal than what's presented here. Although, we do find out why he has shoulder trouble.
Having said this, the film is an entertaining popcorn movie, and that's what summer films should do. There are soild action sequences, and the cast is good, despite the weak script (My hometown of Chicago looks really nice here). I find it interesting that an African-American actor is casted in the role of a man who's predjudice against beings who are different from us, and the casting of Smith is a nice use of irony. It makes you think about the history of our country and the current climate that exists today. Asimov, like many other Science-Fiction writers was making a statement then (using technological paranoia as a way to write about the social problems of our society), and this film is making a subtle statement now.
GRADE: B-
Wahid Sharif
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