Bicentennial Man Meets The Matrix

Rating: 5/10 (16 December 2004)

As my caption clearly states, this film was a merger of two others. The idea of a robot capable of emotion and the robotic laws (Bicentennial Man) encounters a plot where a battle is waged between robots and humans (The Matrix). If you've seen both of those movies then you have an exact idea of what this film is about. Otherwise, be prepared to see the following.
Will Smith plays some old-school cop. Old-school would be considered today's standards as this film is futuristic. While I've seen Smith in convincing heroic roles (Independence Day, Men In Black, Bad Boys), I just didn't get the feel that he was quite right for the role. There was some sort of unnatural state he was in for most of the first half of the film. I don't usually get this feeling from most chosen actors, but he definitely stood out. Smith is a detective who has a grudge against robots after they saved his life instead of a young girl's. The shoulder-rubbing scenes are dragged out until almost the end before we really discover their true nature. And the portrayal of the futuristic surroundings look like moderate attempts at creativity; nothing as good as "Minority Report". *SPOILERS* I still think Bridget Moynahan's character is a robot, although the film never depicts her as such. Maybe she is to be some undiscovered secret of a sequel...? This film departs from most robot films in showing a confrontation between an artificial intelligence that is still bound by program and that of an artificial intelligence that is almost completely human in its emotional capability. Add into the mix those robots still completely bound by program, and you have a three-way robot mix that (as long as you hold on) doesn't become dizzying for too long. In fact, my impressions from the trailer were that every robot would start to become self aware and there would be a giant robot-human war. Sure the story's been told a few times, but there's always another way to show it. Instead, the movie goes a slightly different route, one that I can't exactly say made for all that stellar of a film. 5/10
Also, what is the significance (if any) in the ending? Sonny is the one on the top of the hill instead of Smith, which is altogether different from what was described in Sonnny's dream.