Will Smith (Wild Wild West) plays Del Spooner, a Chicago Cop Who Plays Against The Rules But Saves The Day In The End. Spooner hates robots, which is a shame for him, because there are so many of them. The year is 2035 (but more on that later), and the latest generation of robots, the G5s, are about to be released. When one of the prototype robots (Tudyk) kills their creator (James Cromwell, Babe 2: Pig in the City, TV's Six Feet Under), a man Spooner knew well, he is on the case. He teams up with Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), a tightly wound robot-loving (not like that) robot psychologist (you heard me) with her hair tied back to get to the truth behind a much larger conspiracy.
You've seen the trailers, you've heard Will Smith say "awww, hell no!", but is it worth seeing? Is it this season's best robot movie? Basically, yes. It's not mind blowing, but it's far from horrible.
Thankfully, "awww, hell no!" is one of the few typical Will Smith lines in I, Robot. It could have been a movie full of a mixture or one liners and horrible clunky dialogue, but the writers have managed to bypass this.
I haven't yet seen The Crow or Dark City, but I can see where Alex Proyas got his reputation as a great Sci-Fi director here. I doubt I, Robot as accomplished as those, but he's created a pretty great futuristic world here. And it's definitely a better movie than his last, Australian comedy-failure #23463, Garage Days. The robots, old and new, while not entirely integrating with a live action world (CG hasn't gone as far as it can yet) still look pretty damn good. The G5's semi-transparent shells reveal tiny gears and mechanics that are a really nice touch that add a little bit extra to the movie. One minor problem is that the movie claims, to be set in 2035. I doubt humanity is going to be able to create this world in thirty years, but that's a minor flaw. It's still a very, very pretty world to look at.
Proyas has also given us some great action sequences here- the car chase, demolishing house and climax- all satisfy. The script is what lets the movie down, but it doesn't let it down too far. The plot twists aren't exactly predictable, but they won't blow your mind either. You can see them coming, even if you can't exactly see what they'll be.
I, Robot does give us some great cop movie clich�s- the gruff police chief who's tired of out hero's guff, played by Chi McBride, who you may remember as principal Onyx Blackman in TV's Boston Public, is the most obvious. And they take the Hansel and Gretel references just a little too far, and they grate by the end. And did we need the kid who wants to be tough like our hero but who we can tell is going to get himself into trouble in the end in another movie? Apparently, yes. But don't worry, he only appears twice and never plays too heavily into the plot.
It's not an actor's movie, but there are no performances noteworthy for how bad they are. Will Smith doesn't ham it up too much, and Bridget Moynahan is a little wooden, but that's as a result of her character. Alan Tudyk, as a CG character, Gollums it up to great effect.
Overall, I, Robot isn't a perfect movie, but it's still one worth seeing. This must be one of those "popcorn movies" that Andrew keeps talking about. It offers a bit of social commentary on how we're coming to rely too much on machines to make our lives easier, but it works best as pure enjoyment. See it. Walk, don't run. But walk at a brisk pace.
...or did he?