Good sci-fi mystery

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2004)

The film "I, Robot", tells the story of a cop (Will Smith) in the not-too-distant future. A top robotic scientist commits suicide, and Smith's character is called upon to investigate. Being anti-robot himself, he soon discovers all is not well with the peacefully-programmed androids.
This is a very good sci-fi film. It has a lot of action, special effects, and even a small handful of social commentaries. The filmmakers have learned well from the experiences creating Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, using the same techniques to infuse the robots with fluidity, interest, and, in one important case, emotion.
The film is excellently paced, and (surprise!) comes in at under two hours, a rarity in this era of overblown filmmaking (not every film needs to be an epic).
Will Smith, as usual, excels in this type of role. He makes this film, and for the most part the director smartly focuses on him and his performance. Many leading male actors are way to full of themselves, turning their parts into endless ego trips. Although Smith does throw in a couple of cute catchphrases, by and large he excels yet is still human in this role.
I give this a film 8 out of 10. There is one highly implausible, and therefore comical, car chase sequence; and there is a character of a teenager that really makes no sense and is more of a distraction than anything. Plus the denouement is well intentioned but in the end muddy.

Otherwise, it's a very good sci-fi film.