Quality blockbuster...clever and ambiguous, which is a change

Rating: 7/10 (10 January 2006)

I, Robot was never meant to be more than your typical blockbuster film. Still, it fulfills it's purpose: it is entertaining and surprisingly clever, which is a bonus. Also, the CGI ranks among the best I've seen in non-animated blockbuster films.
After a scientist jumps to his death, Detective Spooner (Will Smith) is sent in to investigate. Spooner finds a murder suspect; to no surprise of his, but to the surprise of everyone one, he arrests a robot and brings him in for questioning. Despite being tied down by the three Robotic laws (I forget what they are, but one of them is not to kill), this robot (Sonny) can choose whether or not to follow them.
The idea of a robot disobeying the three laws which it has to follow is quite clever, much like a human. Also, it talks of Spooner, who is a robot-hater, freeing the robots. It also believes that everyone and everything has a purpose in life: well-worn but true nonetheless. The evil robots in question believe that humanity should be protected from its own appetite for self-destruction, as humans built robots to serve and protect them in the first place. The action scenes are fittingly entertaining: the best one being where Spooner is confronted by a battalion of evil robots and almost crammed into the wall is the best one, although the one when Spooner is caught in a house during demolition and in the main building, where they have to kill the mainstream computer controlling the robots, are also eyecatching at first. However, the best part of the film is the CGI, no question. It ranks along the best I've seen in blockbusters. In contrast with the crude boxy contraptions I've seen in the past, this film paints the robots as being lifelike, with shiny exteriors and fluid motions. The cars and other machines also look suitably futuristic, along with the building interiors. Unusally for a blockbuster, the ending has an ambiguous feel to it, which is a change.
However, like every blockbuster, I, Robot has flaws. Some of the acting is iffy, for example, Will Smith plays Detective Spooner in too much of an uptight, bitter, obnoxious way for him to be really likable. The woman is also too uptight and difficult to relate to, as are the rest of the human characters. I, Robot can also be frustratingly slow for a blockbuster, like the time from the scientist's death up to the car chase scene.
Despite these faults, I, Robot is an above-average blockbuster which is certainly worth seeing.
3.5/5 stars