Product: I, Robot [Region 2] (2004)
Rating: 2.0
I, Carumba
Does anyone else besides me feel that INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996) was an unbelievably contrived (and expensive) piece of hooey that somehow caught the public's fancy? Well, if you can't get enough of Will Smith and noisy action sequences, it's time to fall to your knees and praise the cinematic gods: I, ROBOT is every bit as loud, overblown, and in-your-face as you hoped it would be. But it's also a little more imaginative and thrilling than expected, so the unconverted can be thankful for small favors.This science fiction thriller is "suggested by" Isaac Asimov's thought-provoking science fiction stories from the book of the same title, which is like saying that a chopped steak "suggests" the cow it came from. There's no point in complaining that the film bears no resemblance to its source material; anyone who's seen the theatrical trailer should have immediately realized that there's little connection between the two. So to carp on this matter would be like admitting to your own inattentiveness.Set in a futuristic Chicago of 2035, Will Smith-giving a performance that ensures you won't forget he was the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air-is a cop who suspects a revolution brewing among the army of robots that have been manufactured to serve mankind. Is anyone watching the movie really surprised when it turns out he's right?Like many contemporary blockbusters, I, ROBOT is brimming with more money than ideas, though unlike many films of this ilk, at least it has ideas. Not all of these ideas pay off (you'll lose count of all the illogical twists and turns the plot takes), but it's not an entirely unpleasant time-waster, either. It generates enough excitement to maintain your interest, although perhaps not enough to make you want to own a DVD of it.