An action-thriller with a curiously interesting point

Rating: 7/10 (27 August 2004)

I did not exactly have high expectations for this movie, thinking it would simply be another basic Hollywood action-flick. Having said that, I was left with a completely different impression after seeing I, Robot, to the extent that it lives up to the same kind of curious experimentations with interesting concepts as Minority Report, which in my opinion is an excellent science-fiction thriller.
I haven't read the book, so I can't base my judgements, as so many have done here, upon the excellence of the novel and how much the movie differs from it (but, let's face it, that's how films based on novels often are; It is easier to express oneself through words than it is to compress an entire novel into two-hours.) I know the movie left out important, and some less important, events that take place in the novel, but I, for one, find this understandable. For a book-to-film kind of movie, this is in the 'above-average' group, unlike movies such as Dreamcatcher, which was a sheer misinterpretation.
I, Robot explores a very interesting, and often bothering dilemma, where logical thinking replaces sentimental values through cold rationing. It also embarks upon the conflict of giving a machine an identity, at which point it becomes self-aware. The three laws of robotics are defined so that human beings cannot come to harm, according to Isaac Asimov, in which case the self-awareness of a machine would conflict with these rules, creating a sort of a paradox; The machine has rules that it is programmed to follow, but develops a sense of self-awareness that contradicts some of those rules for the sake of self-defense (an inherent response to all 'living' organisms that are aware of their existence).
The exploration of this paradox actually provides the movie with a point, unlike so many of today's action-thrillers. The visual experience is breathtaking, with excellent camera-work and good, but not excessive, visual effects. Will Smith's role, as usual, contributes subtle comic elements that help relieve the 'tension' and remind us that this is still entertainment.
A lot of people have also criticized the excessive advertisement in the movie, and I can definitely see why. But the way I see it, Alex Proyas very deliberately exaggerates these advertisements and makes them too obvious, to aggravate witty, cunning humor at the expense of those corporations that are advertised - at least in Denmark the entire audience understood the obviousness. I know I may sound pseudo-analytical when I say this, but the advertisements might actually form a sub-theme in the movie, namely that of commercialization of our society. I mean, obviously this is the way things are headed and I would not be surprised if in thirty years advertisement has doubled or even quadripled from what it is today.
All that said, I, Robot is a very good science-fiction thriller, that actually delves into some important issues as well as manages to entertain the viewer from start to end. It is difficult to come up with negatives because I have not read the novel, but from me, a movie needs to be pretty darn good to deserve even a 7/10 (3½/5). I gave I, Robot, 7, rather than 8 or 9 because it fails to take that final step that separates the sheep from the lambs.