As a sci-fi movie, it's pretty good, but if you've read Asimov's masterpieces, avoid at all costs!!

Rating: 3/10 (27 August 2007)

I'd like to start with this Isaac Asimov quote: 'Eye-sci-fi has an audience that is fundamentally different from that of science fiction. In order for eye-sci-fi to be profitable it must be seen by tens of millions of people; in order for science fiction to be profitable it need be read by only tens of thousands of people. This means that some ninety percent (perhaps as much as ninety-nine percent) of the people who go to see eye-sci-fi are likely never to have read science fiction.
The purveyors of eye-sci-fi cannot assume that their audience knows anything about science, has any experience with the scientific imagination, or even has any interest in science fiction.
But, in that case, why should the purveyors of eye-sci-fi expect anyone to see the pictures? Because they intend to supply something that has no essential connection with science fiction, but that tens of millions of people are willing to pay money to see. What is that? Why, scenes of destruction.
You can have spaceships destroying spaceships, monsters destroying cities, comets destroying the Earth. These are called 'special effects' and it is what people go for. A piece of eye-sci-fi without destruction is, I think, almost unheard of. If such a thing were made, no one would go to see it; or, if it were so good that it would indeed pull a small audience, it would not be thought of as science fiction of any kind.' (Isaac Asimov on Science Fiction, 'The Boom of Science Fiction', pp.125--128) Asimov is probably turning in his grave. The movie epitomises everything he hated about sci-fi movies - the overriding need for violence and action scenes,'monsters destroying cities', special effects in the extreme, and various forms of collateral damage. With the exception of the Three Laws, the movie seems to bear no relation to the book, or indeed any other of the Robot books - for example, humans happily in direct sunlight!? What happened to the events in the ground car in 'The Naked Sun'? This is but one example of how Asimov's brilliant Laws, concepts and studies of the previous in his books are flouted at every turn in the movie, causing me to, as a great Asimov fan, alternately laugh and cringe. The graphics are impressive, and the acting often good, but it seriously riled me, how little the writers and director evidently knew of the books.
Overall, it's not a bad movie - I kind of enjoyed it when I finally managed to distance it from the books. But, it's only good as a general, run-of-the-mill sci-fi movie. If you are looking for even a slight similarity or homage to Asimov's masterpieces, look elsewhere. I sadly doubt the writers even read the Robot books before making this.