Faulty but interesting.

Rating: 6/10 (29 June 2015)

It's interesting how this movie achieves mediocrity, because it could have been a lot better or a lot worse. The plot basis and overall story save it from being bad, but some of the scripting held it back. Even if the artificial intelligence plot basis isn't completely new, it was still a good plot basis to have a sentient robot and they molded the idea into a solid story. They did interpret the term "robot" a little narrowly since nearly all of the robots featured were humanoids, and there are plenty of robots even now that have no such qualities.
The story was probably the strongest point of the movie. Basically a robot kills the man who is hailed as the father of all robots, which violates the protocol programmed into all robots. Del Spooner (Will Smith) is called to investigate the "murder" and discovers the perpetrator is a robot who has been programmed with a heart and free spirit. The investigation leads Spooner to examine the work of the victim, Dr. Lanning. I won't go further so as not to spoil anything, but I will say that the essential point of the plot is that humans need a backup plan and can't rely on technology. The story is thought provoking in a social sense, but doesn't have any great dramatic questions or turns that keep you wondering what will happen next. It has kind of a surprising revelation near then end, but it's not an epiphany where you'll be blown away by how it all connects. However, said revelation and its results does make the story and the theme a bit more complete.
Since the movie is almost completely plot driven, basically all of the characters feel like they are in secondary roles even if they have a lot of screen time. They have depth and personality, but no real complexity. Del Spooner is described as a technophobe, but it's more of a distrust than a fear. Will Smith was a great casting choice especially since Spooner's personality is slightly reminiscent of Agent J. The female lead of Susan Calvin was a rather unlikeable character, mostly because her dialogue felt really unrealistic and made her into a passively hostile character. She was included into the story well, but her unnecessarily stiff personality really killed her character. It was good that Spooner is usually the other half of the conversation since he actually feels human, exemplified by the point where Calvin tells him that it can be easier to use technical terms than layman's terms. Sonny was easily the most interesting character since he's a robot with a heart and he generates some sympathy, even if there isn't always emotion in his voice. He seems to have emotions, though not opinions, which probably explains why he doesn't care that he was made as a means to an end. Dr. Lanning is sort of present in his holographic messages to Del. The minor characters consist of Farber, the head of USR Lawrence Robertson, Del's coworker John Bergin, and Del's mother. Robertson and Bergin are written decently and add to the overall product. However, I can't say the same for Farber and Del's mother, both of whom could have been left out. Shia LeBouf played Farber alright, but he was kind of annoying and talked too fast to be coherent. I had less of an issue with Del's mom, but I felt like they kind of mocked the grandmother denomination in their portrayal of her.
The visual effects are pretty good along with the action choreography. It isn't stellar but there aren't any times where you can tell the people are being suspended by ropes or anything. There isn't a lot of action, but what action there is has a very stylized feel to it. Will Smith had a great performance as always, and the other parts were mostly okay, but other viewers might find issues with them. The script, as stated before, had some weak spots with some of the dialogue.
This is a good pick if you want a good story, but you have to be willing to follow it because scattered action sequences won't make much sense if you don't. There is some potential for annoyance from a few aspects of the movie like Calvin's personality or the "humanity" of the robots. If you've heard or observed anything about Will Smith, use that to help you decide whether to watch it because it's a pretty standard issue performance from him. I would recommend that you try not to spend money on it and try to watch it in one sitting with as few distractions as possible. Overall Rating: 8.1/10.