Will Smith is the new Bruce Willis

Rating: Null/10 (12 August 2004)

**SPOILERS**
With his tight vest, his macho wounds and his pithy one liners. Am I the only one who sees this? I, Robot probably horrified all the die hard Asimov fans out there. It takes Asimov's ideas and turns them into two hours of action and explosions with very little soul, and not a shred of originality. It's funny how, in films set in the future, there's always a character who has a fondness for retro style. Could it be that there would be no opportunity for product placement otherwise?
IR was an enjoyable couple of hours of escapism. It had moments when it tried to be serious - some interesting soliloquies on what constitutes life and the nature of free will. However, it mostly settled for Will Smith blowing things up. Which he does do extraordinarily well. His supporting cast were a little lame, but really, the stars were the robots. With more than a nod to the Matrix, the robots were alternately sinister and endearing. Smith's character was every bit as 2D as his mechanical counterparts, despite some real effort on his part. Unfortunately the tone of the movie was such that any efforts at emotion just played out rather badly - including his tortured explanation of just why he hated the robots so much.
Like so many of the big summer blockbusters, I, Robot had all the right ingredients, it just failed to deliver. It could have been a clever coherent nod to the events later portrayed in sci fi classics like Bladerunner and the Matrix. Instead it's just more mindless popcorn. Save the money from your cinema ticket and pick up a copy of Bladerunner instead.