I, Slow Motion Will Smith

Rating: 6/10 (19 July 2004)

A classic story, one of my favorites, here come the robots, oh, but they're not what they seem. Isaac Asimov nailed one of the greatest plots around. I have no beefs with the plot. Will Smith, however, goes into slow motion whenever he does anything. Jumping off a motorcycle, slow motion, shooting some robots, slow motion, walking down his stairs, you get the picture. Several scenes in this movie would have been better off in real-time. Bridget Moynahan did a better job than I expected from a model, she has certainly graduated in her abilities since the, ahem, challenging role of a hot bartender in Coyote Ugly. Del Spooner (Will Smith) is an alright character, but don't get him confused with Jim West, Agent J, and Capt. Steve' Hiller (Independence Day). Will Smith has shown that he can act, in movies like The Legend Of Baggar Vance, and Ali, but too often he seems to fall back on being "The Black Hero Guy"stuck in a bad situation; i.e. Enemy Of The State. The Robots fights were sweet, no two ways about it, and all of the loose ends can be accounted for, with no noticeable plot holes. The thing that made me drop my jaw in disappointment was the ridiculous cinematics during the final battle scene; for no apparent reason, several times, the camera swung around Will Smith two or three times really really fast. Now, CGI-assisted camera effects can be sweet, like, for example, in Bad Boys 2 when the camera swings around Will Smith while he's shooting bad guys through the doors, or in What Lies Beneath when the camera when beneath the floor and looked up at Michelle Pfeiffer's body. When utilized correctly these effects can add a lot to a film, but the camera spun around Smith several times then when back to where it started from... you couldn't even tell what was happening while it was spinning, it didn't add anything to the film, if fact it took away a few seconds of cool action and replaced it with an expensive CGI blur. But stupid cinematics aside, great movie, plots twists out your ear, and unexpectedly gripping action sequences. If you see only one movie this year in which Will Smith fights evil robots, make it this one.