I, Robot does make you think. Yet such thoughts are superficial in what is, at its heart, a mostly mindless action film.

Rating: Null/10 (13 August 2004)

Rating: *** (out of *****)
1. A robot may not harm a human or, by inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.  Isaac Asimov's three laws of robotics
It is certainly not possible for robots to violate the above three laws, especially in 2035, where robots that look a little bit like C-3POs perform many of the day-to-day jobs of humans. Or is it? Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) certainly doubts it, as he believes that one of these robots may have been responsible for the death of Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), thus "breaking the rules". No one shares his belief until one of the robots, known only as Sonny (Alan Tudyk) is spotted behaving rather unusually. With the aid of Dr. Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), Spooner sets out to get to the bottom of a situation that could be something more serious.
I, Robot, based very loosely on the series of short stories by Isaac Asimov, can be thought of as the first of the Minority Report wannabes that falls a little short of its goal. Not that Spielberg's film was perfect  it didn't totally realize its potential and it had its share of contrivances  but it made you think whilst simultaneously entertaining on many levels. I, Robot focuses far more on pumping the adrenaline, with only a few issues bubbling on the surface.
The really important issues, like the rise in unemployment due to the creation of the robots, are sidestepped in favour of more generic ones like technology obeying its own rules. Even then, such issues are only brushed on, for director Alex Proyas doesn't want the message getting in the way of our popcorn at the end of the day. And all credit to Proyas here, for he certainly had me entertained when it came to the action. Some of the set pieces, including the denouement and a car chase in a tunnel, were very memorable, although it's needless to say that Proyas was not short on "Vorsprung Durch Technik" for the film's top action set-piece, in more ways than one.
Like Spielberg, Kubrick and Ridley Scott before him, Proyas uses brand names to make his setting familiar to us. But whereas Spielberg and Kubrick had alternate (and legitimate) uses for their names, having the likes of JVC and Converse rammed down our throats in the opening scenes of I, Robot is more of an irritation. (The cheap Converse gag really will make you cringe.) Proyas's 2035, while quite pleasing to the eye, comes across as inconsistent and derivative. I expected more from him, especially after hearing about the acclaim that he had received for his vision in Dark City.
In truth, I, Robot seems pretty derivative in general. Of course, it is possible to create a slick pastiche, but Proyas is neither Tarantino nor Spielberg. His characters are mildly interesting, but nothing more. They haven't much heart, and thus don't demand much from the actors. Sometimes Will Smith is really good, and on other occasions seems to be on autopilot, just replaying his typical screen personality. It doesn't help that a few of his one-liners feel jarringly out-of-place. The way Bridget Moynahan delivers her lines in front of Sonny makes you wonder whose character is more robotic, although, to be fair, her Susan becomes slightly more human as the film goes on. It's somehow ironic that the one actor who will leave this film with his reputation enhanced  Alan Tudyk  is playing a robot. He lends Sonny a respectable element of realistic humanity, without tempting sentimentality like A.I.'s David.
I, Robot is not a failure at all. In fact, it's a very watchable little package, salvaged by its entertaining action scenes and an interesting premise. One that could have been used for a really thoughtful combination of drama and action. But no, the filmmakers chose to go for all-out modern action, Matrix-style, with a bit of Robocop, The Terminator, A.I. and another aforementioned sci-fi film thrown in. Suddenly, and sadly, film critic Jeffrey Overstreet's suggestion that the film could have been titled "I, Rehash" seems all too apt.