I, Robot 3D Review

Rating: 8/10 (24 July 2013)

I, Robot is a sci-fi thriller about a cop, Del Spooner (Will Smith) set in the year 2035, where robots are everywhere, do most labor, and are sub-servant to humans, but he doesn't trust them. After an apparent suicide by Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell) a designer at US Robotics, the countries biggest robotics company, Spooner smells something isn't right, and implicates a robot, Sonny (voiced by Alan Tudyk), in what appears to him as a murder, which is against one of the 3 Laws Of Robotics;
I recall reading I, Robot,and several other Isaac Asimov's stories when I was younger, the collection of short stories have little to do with this film though, only the 3 laws more or less are important. That aside, I, Robot is actually a very entertaining and clever thriller, with for the most part so-so special effects for decade old CGI, more on par with a video game, and Will Smith doing it 'Big Willy Style'. I like Mr. Smith, I've followed his career since he was only a rapper, and for the most part the man has made his career, and has arguably the most successful musician turned actor since Barbra Streisand. Rising above his urban upbringing and taking acting so seriously that you can watch him progress into a serious contender in the realm of acting Gods over the last couple decades. Now, I'm not saying that I, Robot is a masterpiece of cinema for the times, nor am I saying it's Will's best acting job ever, in fact that brings me to my point I was getting to, after giving credit where credit is due, in this movie, as I said before, Mr. Smith is doing it "Big Willy Style", and what I mean is, this is a character that Will plays from time to time in these obvious big budget movies. A style interchangeable with a few of his other screen alter-egos. That aside, this movie is fun. That's what counts, it's a pop-corn movie, it's just a little bit better than most. Before you bombard me with slander for comparing this movie to Jaws, it's not in the same league, but the way it's constructed reminds me of how Steven Spielberg took one story and kept the spirit, but gave us something that was much more exciting than had it been a direct adaptation, and this movie is the same way, the spirit of the stories are there, especially with the 3 Laws, but it's a nice tight suspenseful tale that keeps you interested and pays off.
All that aside, let's get to the "meat and potatoes" of what this review is really about, the 3D conversion. It's interesting how the movie has been cropped from it's original aspect ratio down to 1.78:1. making the film feel a tad cramped sometimes, as you are losing some of the picture, but I actually prefer 3D presentations in this ratio normally, even though I do generally prefer a nice full 2.35:1 or more panoramic picture to movies like this, at home 3D movies that are in a smaller ratio tend to lend to the experience better by filling the entire screen. I could go on and on about this all day, and I"m sure if your even still reading you don't care anymore either, the real deal is does the 3D conversion work? Yes and no. It's not going to blow your mind, and probably not going to be the first movie you grab to try and impress your friends with. Most scenes feel like two 2D images just separated from the background, very flat. This is one time i cannot say that the 3D helps with the CGI blending with real footage and it is sad because in films that were older, like Jurassic Park and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace the 3D conversion helped those films. It's decent enough, and since most places have it reasonably priced, it is a suitable addition to your 3D library. The standard version is on the same disc, and there is a DVD in the combo pack. All the original special features were carried over.