Could've gone in a better direction

Rating: Null/10 (21 July 2004)

I thought it could've been a lot better. I was hoping for Proyas to take it in a Blade Runner or Minority Report direction, and instead it was like a second rate Terminator 3. Plus the 3rd act of I, Robot seemed directly ripped off of Conquest of the Planet Of The Apes. Ever since I saw the trailer I've been concerned that the movie was trying to sell Will Smith "the personality" over an interesting idea for a movie. The fact is, Will Smith was a little too witty. I'm a fan of Will Smith and his wit and comedic timing usually works well, but it was out of place here. This is Will Smith toned down from what he normally does, but he still was just playing Will Smith. The action was okay but not great. I have a feeling that the look of the movie will hurt it in the future. It will one day be in the same category as Soylent Green. A futuristic movie that looks very dated for its time. I don't think movies should make everything look futuristic, but at least make it look less 2004-like. Shia Lebeouf is a good actor and he was funny, but his character strikes me as out of date even for 2004. That mid 90s gangsta-boy thing is over. I give credit to the movie in 2 departments. The visual effects and Sonny the Robot. Although I've seen much better visual effects this year, I have to admit that unlike other movies of this kind, half way through the movie I stopped looking at the Robots as CGI and started seeing them just as Robots. Alex Proyas didn't go over the top trying to sell a visual style and I liked that. The best thing about the movie is Sonny the Robot. He was the one character that kept me interested until the end. Alan Tudyk saved this from being an amateur summer blockbuster. I have some major complaints about the movie, and I'll probably never see it again, but there were enough entertaining moments to partially satisfy me. I'll just say I didn't walk out of the theater hating it. There is one thing that seriously annoyed me. I understand that product placement happens all the time, but could there not have been a more clever product placement than having Will Smith put his shoe up on a table and say...
"Converse, vintage 2004!"
That was way too cheesy.