Been there done that

Rating: 6/10 (27 July 2004)

First off, I give this movie a zero for originality. Robots taking over is so Odyssey 2001, Terminator, Matrix, etc. Even the setting and technology of Chicago 2035 was reminiscent of Minority Report, Judge Dredd, A.I., et al. Their only hope to bail this movie out from a total mimic was to add some brain teaser twist to it. For that I will complement them. The main character, Det. Spooner (Will Smith) had to follow the clues given to him by the late Dr. Lanning (James Cromwell) to find out the whens, wheres, whys, whos, whats, and hows to the A.I. invasion. Following the clues along with the detective did add some intrigue to the movie.
The CGI was good, though the special effects were overdone. There were a couple of scenes that seemed as though they belonged in the Matrix. Overall I would like to give it a 5.5, but I rounded up. Kudos for the mystery aspect, kudos for the intricate design on the robots (NS-5s), minus points on the originality, and minus points on the overkill on special effects.