clever idea which starts badly and finishes well

Rating: 7/10 (31 March 2005)

SPOILERS Artificial Intelligence and our dependency upon machines. A subject area so frequently asked, that it's a wonder we ever get anything done. Stretching back to the 1920s and "Metropolis" cinema has raised this topic many times, and often the end result has been negative. In 2004's "I, Robot", the notion of robots and their role in society was brought up. In a story involving artificial intelligence and a not too distant future where robots were everywhere, the film deals with the subject area brilliantly. Led by a surprisingly good performance by Will Smith, it is an enjoyable film which is ruined only slightly by it's ridiculously large number of product placements throughout.
The year is 2035 and robots are everywhere. Doing small jobs like rubbish collection and dog walking, they are humanities friends. That is the view of everyone that is except for Detroit cop Del Spooner (Will Smith). With a strong hatred of robots, Spooner feels something is going to go wrong. Unfortunately for humanity, he just might be right.
"I, Robot" starts off badly. Attempting to set the scene by introducing our character and his surroundings, the film manages to contain more product advertisements in it's first twenty minutes, than you get during the entire of the Superbowl. From Spooner's interest in 'classic' shoes through to the emblem on his car, the film's beginning smacks of product placement. Luckily for the film and the audiences however, this placement does eventually stop.
After some of the film is paid for by the lucrative advertising connections, the story does actually take off at a decent speed. Introducing the idealistic robot psychologist Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan) and the 'unique' robot Sonny (Alan Tudyk), we slowly begin to become immersed in a tense 'who dunnit' story with large amounts of action and a detailed philosophy on existence.
The philosophy involved is remarkably logical actually. Far too often in Hollywood the combination of philosophy and action is ridiculously unbalanced. Whether in the second Matrix film where they stupidly fitted a complex and confusing philosophy into one ten minute period, or in other styles, far too often the action is either corrupted by the philosophy or vice versa. Therefore it is actually quite a pleasant surprise for a film to be so exciting, yet so logical.
Thanks to the original writings of Isaac Asimov, the story of "I,Robot" works well because the philosophy is an already recognisable one. Asimov's theories on artificial intelligence have been mentioned in countless different films, but few have truly considered the implications of the rules and how you interpret them. For this in itself, "I, Robot" deserves a lot of praise.
In terms of acting, "I, Robot" is a surprising experience. When Will Smith first wakes up with his hat on, the first question is how long until he really begins to grate. Amazingly though, like the product placements, after the first twenty minutes, Smith really begins to fit into his role and provides an appealing performance as the pessimistic Spooner.
Smith is also assisted by a decent supporting cast. Using the same technology as was used for Gollum in "Lord Of The Rings" Alan Tudyk is brilliant as Sonny the robot with emotions and a heart of gold. The highlight of the supporting stars though is the always brilliant James Cromwell as the deceased creator of robots everywhere. Cromwell has made some excellent career choices over the years and once again he shines throughout.
It's always a pleasant surprise to encounter an action film which has thought in it too. Adopting the theories of Asimov, "I, Robot" is a well made film with huge amounts of action and some deeply philosophical questions about existence. Sadly though, the film is let down due to an irritating first twenty minutes. Setting the scene and exploring a leading character is never a problem, but when a film sells it's soul with excessive, not even subtle, product placement, any dignity it has goes out the window. Whoever chose to allow such blatant disregard for the intelligence of the viewer should know better, mainly because "I,Robot" deserves more than that.