Fun but Inconsistent

Rating: 6/10 (20 July 2004)

I had very low expectations for this movie. I thought the previews looked dumb, I hated Will Smith's one-liners, and I thought the special effects looked so-so. After seeing it I can say it was entertaining but still nothing to cheer about. I will admit that through the beginning and middle of the movie, I was enjoying the show. The special effects are smooth, well done, and fun. Will Smith is more subdued than the previews show and the mystery is well established. Then by the end it all kind of falls apart - the way the mystery is solved isn't quite that clever, and the ending wasn't what I thought it should have been. I also saw a lot of sequences that were so Robocop or Terminator. Do moviemakers think we're so dumb that we won't recognize some of these action scenes? Or that they think the moviegoing public needs to see them over and over? So a few things could have been edited out and the ending could have been less new-age but overall this is a good escape at the movies.