Much Better Than Expected

Rating: 8/10 (22 July 2004)

"I, Robot" suffers from an advertisement campaign that makes the movie out to be a major deviation from the Issac Asimov source material. The trailers show footage of a sneaky and sinister robot, and main characters Dectective Spooner (Will Smith) and Doctor Calvin (Bridget Moynahan) fighting off hordes upon hordes of logic-driven madcap robots. These trailers have a reverse effect on the audience. While it might woo some with its many CGI shots and slick action sequences, the trailers seem to almost spit in the face of Issac Asmiov readers everywhere. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately for the trailer editors), this movie isn't everything the trailer is cracked up to be. Its more.
Director Alex Proyas delievers a solid action movie that pays homage to the spirit of I, Robot. In Asmiov's key title, robots are bound to three laws, prohibiting disobediance and harm to humans while also enabling the robots to protect endangered humans. Asmiov's "I, Robot" focuses on the motives and events that lead a robot to disobey the three laws and commit murder. Proyas' "I, Robot" is a grander, more action-oriented, plot, in which Detective Spooner investigates the mysterious death of prominent robotics engineer Alfred Lannings (James Cromwell), whom Spooner shares an engimatic connection with. The chief suspect is a robot named "Sonny". But, of course, its not that simple. The leading robotics company is on the verge of the largest distribution in history, and Spooner's investigation is hampered at all turns by both corporate naysayers and his own sense of paranoia and prejudice.
The robot "Sonny" quite literally steals the movie, ironically. The center of Proyas' complex plot, he is also far more adept in displaying emotions than Smith or Moynahan. "Sonny" is the closest character to Asmiov's dream. Smith, to his credit, carries himself with the brisk gusto of a Raymond Chandler P.I., but he often lacks the cool manner of Marlowe to really be counted as effective. His relationship with robotics psychologist Calvin seems flat at worst and obligatory at best.
"I, Robot" is directed, produced and written with action sci-fi flicks like "Minority Report", "Paycheck" and the grand-daddy of them all, "The Matrix", in mind. It should be noticed that Alex Proyas directed a lesser-known science fiction movie, "Dark City", with similar twists and turns as "The Matrix", a year or two before the latter opened in theaters. I could feel Proyas was really reaching for as much homage to Asimov as possible, but I could also tell he was playing to an summer popcorn movie audience. In conclusion, "I, Robot" isn't a movie that will have Issac Asmiov turning in his grave, but it is a far cry from the script he and fellow sci-fi great Harlian Elison envisioned thirty years before. "I, Robot" is nested comfortably between truly great science fiction adaptations, like "2001: A Space Odyssey", and truly bad science fiction adaptations, like "Starship Troopers".