Best of the Summer Blockbusters so far

Rating: 10/10 (27 July 2004)

Some reviewers on IMDb are under the impression that this movie is based on an Asimov novel, but Asimov never wrote any such book. (Weird how people all blindly follow the same assumption without checking, huh?) What Asimov did publish was a collection of his previous short stories, all with a robot-versus-humanity theme, and this movie continues that theme, using only the three basic robot 'laws' as originally conceived by the great author.
Yes, the movie's plot line isn't exactly original, but the quality special effects and production design are fabulous. No one ever expected this to be an intellectual experience, but as high-budget summer action movies go, this has to be the best of the bunch so far.
Scriptwriters have spent time creating depth of character and back-story for each personality (most mainstream blockbusters don't bother with script nuances) and this pays off. The high class action-adventure scenes are enhanced by spectacular CGI effects. Scene after scene is breath-taking in its scale and we actually find ourselves feeling sorry for the robots at some points.
Any kind of audience emotional engagement is a superb boost for a mainstream summer movie, which is usually pitched at brain dead level - and this movie succeeds where others fail.
I, Robot is well worth the price of a ticket. Will Smith and his female co-star do an excellent job of acting with blue-screen characters and deserve recognition for this. It ain't easy! Give the man a break. He couldn't have performed any better.
All in all, the most enjoyable and entertaining mainstream movie entertainment of Summer 2004.