It's a human thing; you wouldn't understand.

Rating: 5/10 (3 January 2005)

This was an impressive film. Not from the standpoint that it was a great story or with great actors, it was the quickness of the plot that impressed me. I don't normally say this, but the fact that I. Robot moved exactly to the points that needed to be moved without any misleading, poor back story, or cheesy Will Smith moments impressed me. Director Alex Proyas knew exactly how to manage the excessively huge budget and make sure that we, the audience, were getting the biggest bang for our buck. Yes, there were downfalls to this film, but somehow I could overlook them. I will be the first to admit that this was not my favorite type of film. The huge CGI scenes, the grossly overpaid actors, and the disrespect to one of Asimov's infamous books by the same title will really churn your stomach (as it did mine), but unlike the rest of these types of film, I, Robot did something different. It kept the eye candy going throughout the film and really never let your eyes rest. This very imaginative world, almost a fantasy world, had something to keep your eyes busy the entire time, and I loved it. Whether it would be Will Smith's semi-plastic looking Audi, or the Sony created "Sonny" robots infiltrating the city, your eyes will definitely walk away from this film with bulging bellies and a desire for more.
Outside of the visually pleasing aspect of this film, you really don't have much to enjoy. Will Smith's performance is mediocre at best. He tries to do his best throughout the film, but after his introductory shower scene that was completely unnecessary it is only continually going downhill. He tries to play the bad boy style that he patented in such film like Bad Boys to this project, what ultimately fails is his ability to handle the discrimination towards the robots. I never really felt as if he actually disliked them, no matter what the sub-story claimed it just never felt real. I think what ignited this feeling was Chi McBride's role. Don't get me wrong, he is a decent actor, but he was trying to bring his role from Boston Public to this part. He was trying too hard to be the hard-nosed Lieutenant that constantly fought with Spooner, but instead it just came across as Chi being Chi. There wasn't anything exciting about him in the least bit. Looking deeper into all the characters, this is what I felt was a major flaw with this film. The actors really gave nothing spectacular to their roles. They were minimally developed and several of them seemed like Swiss cheese. It felt like wasted talent in this film. Proyas knows better. He knows how to get great performances from his people; I don't know what pulled him from his norm in this project. Cromwell, Greenwood, and even Bridget Moynahan were just hitting that average line. This was yet another glowing example of what happens when money is spent on CGI instead of highly trained actors.
So, it looks like we have a superbly visual film coupled with horrible, below the line acting. What did you expect? This was your average action film with superior CGI. I mentioned before on how the visual work is what really kept my eyes glued to the screen, but there was one other element that just rattled my mind. In an attempt not to give the ending away, I will say this much. It is not happy. I do not think that upon viewing the ending of this film you have this sense of joy and comfort knowing that everything is going to be hunky-dory. It is as if you are viewing the beginning chapter to a much bigger story, and that was interesting to me. Proyas is notoriously known for his subtle dark endings that keep you on the brink of wonder (see Dark City), and I, Robot was no exception. It was a brief moment of excitement to see this ending, after a brutal battle sequence where your mind could literally fall asleep because you already know the results, you have this mind-bending ending that really creeped me out. Perhaps I read the ending wrong, but I wasn't at ease when the credits rolled. I snickered because I thought of what could be coming, but definitely not a jump-up-and-down with glee sort of moment. It was strange, but beautifully Proyas.
Overall, this was a decent film. I think I would reference this film similar to the way that I felt about the actors, it was just barely hitting the average line. This was better than I expected (which isn't saying much since I was expecting it to be a dud) with really amazing visuals, but you cannot stand on those alone. For this film to really have succeeded, you would have needed to counter balance the CGI with a better story (more details about the laws and more development with Cromwell's character) and much better acting. I see why the producers went with Smith because he is bankable, but he just didn't bring the human element to the table like it was needed. I couldn't see his hatred enough to really bring about his emotional change. I needed more, but found less. Decent, but nothing that will touch my DVD player again.
Grade: *** out of *****