Robots take over

Rating: 8/10 (20 April 2010)

The year is 2035.Chicago police detective Del Spooner hates robots and the modern technology.He was in an accident sometime ago and a robot saved him from the car and let the 12-year old girl drown.He starts investigating the death of Alfred Lanning, a robotics scientist and founder of U.S. Robotics (USR).Lanning fell out of his window, but Spooner doesn't believe in the suicide theory.He believes a robot did it.And his no.1 suspect would be an unique robot called Sonny, a more human-like NS-5 unit.He's helped by USR robopsychologist Susan Calvin, who's reluctant at first.She thinks it's impossible for a robot to harm a human being because of the Three Laws of Robotics.Soon there's a robot revolution happening, and the NS-5s start destroying the older robots.Also the people are in danger.Alex Proyas is the director of I, Robot (2004).This movie is suggested after Isaac Asimov's short story collection.I just finished the last story today of that excellent collection.This is a modernized version of the world created by Asimov, but the basic idea is the same.It shows us the world when robots are smart enough to harm people.Will Smith is the right man for the job to play the tough cop Del Spooner.Bridget Monahan's Dr. Susan Calvin is pretty much how she appears in the book.Alan Tudyk is Sonny.James Cromwell portrays Dr.Alfred Lanning.Bruce Greenwood plays Lawrence Robertson, the head of USR.Adrian Ricard is Granny.Chi McBride plays the part of Lt. John Bergin.Jerry Wasserman is Baldez.Shia LaBeouf plays Farber.Fiona Hogan is V.I.K.I.The movie was nominated for an Oscar in visual effects.A sequel for 2012 seems possible.This isn't a perfect sci-fi flick, but it works.There are some pretty neat action scenes, like when Spooner is attacked by all those robots on the road.The movie's future looks pretty cool, and a little dark.Spooner's futuristic Audi can drive itself and the robots seem to do most of the jobs.That would be the downside of the future, and most likely it would turn many people against robots.But hey, this is not the future yet.We don't have to worry about the robot revolution.But maybe someday...