I really wanted to hate this movie.

Rating: Null/10 (7 October 2004)

I've been a huge Asimov fan for many years, and I've thus far been very disappointed by all of the 'adaptations' of his stories for Hollywood. I expected even worse from this one. But the fact is, I couldn't help but enjoy it.
Obviously, Hollywood took great liberties with Dr. Asimov's style. They turned Susan Calvin into the eye candy of the film, and cast Will Smith as the hero. But the fact is, making this into an action movie and staying as true as they did was an impressive feat.
The screenwriters here were obviously well versed in the good doctor's works, with numerous references embedded throughout. The most important thing is, in the end, they did just what Asimov always did, tie everything together to show that what happened was not only allowable, but inevitable under the Three Laws.
Aside from all that... it was just really cool. The special effects were top-notch. The scenery, stylings, cinematography, all done very well. The action sequences were great. Sure, there were your dumb, action hero one-liners, and some fairly sappy attempts to be philosophical, but it wasn't nearly as puerile a movie as you might expect. At the end of the day, anyone who can make an Asimov story into a battle royale of killer robots and with any degree of success is a good writer in my book.