Bad robot, bad!

Rating: Null/10 (19 September 2004)

I, Robot is not a very good film. It's actually quite bad. The plot is almost non-existent, basically it's just Will Smith warning people that the robots are up to no good, but nobody believes him. Instead of caring about the story, you have time to think about all the things that are bad:
Smith's character detective Spooner (that name is just too stupid) lacks sympathetic features. I cannot quite put my finger on it, but something about him made him seem like an a**hole. And he wears a real ugly hat. Smith's mix of playing tough guy and trying to be funny just doesn't cut it, it gets weird. The characters are completely uninteresting, except for the robot Sonny who seems more alive than everyone else put together. The blatant product placement, or rather full out ads (Smith's shoes and car gets more screen time than the supporting cast). The action scenes feel mostly over-ambitious - sometimes less is more.
The film's only redeeming feature is the excellent effects work on the robots. They blend in perfectly with the surroundings and you don't think of them as distracting CGI. On the whole, though, a disappointment. [2/10]