fun action flick, but far dumber than its source (spoilers at end)

Rating: 7/10 (30 July 2005)

Back in 1950, Isaac Asimov did something very interesting. He decided to explore all the ways robots could effect society outside of taking it over and killing everyone, creating fiction based on the premise that robots are programmed to be inherently incapable of harming humans. I, Robot begins with Asimov's three rules of robotics and takes its title from his collection of short stories, but that's about it.
In the movie, Will Smith plays a detective deeply distrustful of robots all the world considers safe, and when an scientist commits suicide he quickly becomes convinced that something is robotically fishy.
Smith apparently has run out of charm, because he has none in this movie. His wise cracks are so poor that when scientist foil Bridget Moynahan doesn't laugh you don't laugh right along with her. His character is actually rather unpleasant, obtuse and unlikeable. I don't know what the point is of hiring Will Smith if you're not going to give him a charming character to play.
The movie, however, is pretty fun, with good special effects and a lot of running around and shooting things and big actiony events and all that. And for those looking for a mindless action flick with occasional moments of cleverness, this is a good bet. But my main objection can only be raised with ...
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My main objection to this movie is actually calling it I,Robot, because that made me expect it would actually challenge itself to avoid the usual robot clichés by keeping within Asimov's three laws of robotics. And the weird thing is, the authors don't even seem to be willing to admit that they don't, even a character state near the end that the three rules are "perfect." But they're not perfect, they are broken, so that makes no sense.
My objection is that Asimov was forcing himself to think outside the box by cutting himself off from the predictable robot threat, and the movie, in spite of its source material, jumps right back into the usual robot clichés with both feet. Honestly, if the movie had just said "based on a concept by Isaac Asimov" and titled itself something else I would have no objections - there has been some good sci-fi that acknowledged and then broke Asimov's three rules - but by trying to align itself so closely with Asimov's book it just points out how trite this movie is. It's really a minor complaint, but it bugs me.
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