Not great, not bad

Rating: 5/10 (18 July 2004)

The story is just what you see in the trailer; Detective Del Spooner (Smith) investigates an apparent homicide committed by a robot, a supposed impossibility. During the course of his investigation he runs into Lawrence Robertson (Bruce Greenwood, revising his science is God!' turn from Disturbing Behavior), who runs the company that builds the robots, and Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynihan), one of the primary gurus who helps design them. While no one else believes the robot did it, Spooner is convinced, and as things unravel we begin to see that maybe he's on to something.
Eye-popping visuals abound; Chicago in 2035 is a pretty hip place, full of sleek cars we'll never use and realistic-looking robots everywhere. Most of the future tech is handled well and is not too out there, which helps the movie a lot. There are no flying cars here and no vertical highways (a la Minority Report), though they do pull the stunt of saying `vintage 2004.' Some of the movie's design is derivative; the robot delivery behemoths greatly resemble their Star Wars counterparts, and the older series robots look like they could have stepped right out of Lucas' art department (a great concept has one painted with the Fed Ex logo as the ultimate delivery man). But enough of it is cool looking that parallels are mostly easily forgiven.
Smith has a trickier time with Spooner. Sometimes he seems almost uncomfortable in the role, as if trying not to wisecrack is a strain for him. At certain points in the film he's just fine, and he certainly excels in the action sequences; but other times he seems like he's foundering. Moynihan is acceptable but doesn't display any flair as Susan; she's too cold for too long to really be accessible as a character. Ironically the movie is stolen by Sonny (Alan Tudyk), the alleged robot murderer. More human (and expressive) than his flesh-and-blood compatriots, Sonny grows more compelling as the film proceeds. Maybe there eventually will be an Oscar for Best Performance by a Synthespian someday, especially if they continue to outdo their real co-stars.
Sadly, the plot borrows a lot of clichés (and a HUGE one from the old Marvel comics Star Wars, no less!) from a lot of places. The few plot twists' are easily seen a mile away, and there's no great suspense or mystery as we build toward the video-game inspired climax.
Where I will give I,Robot credit is that it tries and nearly succeeds to be something we haven't seen in a LONG time  a sci-fi movie that is more than just an action flick, a film that tries to make you think. I, Robot is not especially deep, but at least it attempts to have a brain, which is more than I can say for most movies I've seen this summer. I'd rather see a near miss at a thoughtful movie like this one than one that never even attempts it, like, say, Spiderman 2. I don't know that I,Robot will be everyone's cup of tea, and it certainly has its flaws; but for my money it tries very hard, and that's worth something, even if it doesn't always succeed.