Review: I, Robot
Regal Falmouth # 1
* * ¾ (out of 4)
It seems like Hollywood has figured out exactly what the world will look like in fifty years. On the one hand, it’s nice to see all the studios agreeing on something. On the other hand, when I, Robot begins to look exactly like a blend of Minority Report and Demolition Man, it starts to get a little boring. I am starting to get tired of looking at the same designs for cities, highways, cars, and home appliances. Despite drawing pretty heavily from these other futuristic movies, I, Robot manages to be a fun action movie, even if a little less creative than it could have been.
Del Spooner (Will Smith) is a Chicago PD homicide detective with a serious bone to pick with the robots that have now become commonplace in the world. The robots take care of all the more mundane jobs that no human would do if they could avoid it, and also serve as personal assistants, but for some reason Spooner just doesn’t trust them. Naturally, when a report comes in that the father of the robot technology, Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), has been murdered, Spooner investigates, shocked to find a robot (voiced by Alan Tudyk) as the prime suspect. Spooner’s personal relationship with Lanning only further contributes to his paranoia, and he’s soon much deeper into the robot world than he ever wished to go.
Obviously, the plot of this movie bears little to no resemblance to the collection of Isaac Asimov short stories that bears the same name. The only similarities are in a few characters like Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan) serving as Spooner’s sidekick, and in the three basic laws of robotics that this “murder” violates. The source material is, apparently discarded after the basic premise is established – let it be known that no, I have not read the short stories. I am a terrible, naughty sci-fi geek.
While I certainly understand that the lack of attention paid to Asimov’s classic would cause distress in those who have read it, for those of us who haven’t, the movie just becomes another Will Smith July movie. Unfortunately, it doesn’t even meet that standard as well as it should. The action is good for the most part; director Alex Proyas involving himself heavily in the action scenes, but there are moments that he goes a little to far with his swooping “action cam.” It may look cool, but if it causes you to lose sight of the action onscreen, it doesn’t really serve a purpose.
Everyone here is basically playing the part one would expect from him or her. Smith is the wisecracking reluctant hero; Cromwell is the kindhearted old man with a secret, Moynahan is the skeptical sidekick. It all falls into place, but there are pieces missing – humor, chemistry – so the equation starts to fall apart. There’s a fun fight here or there, but not enough leading up to the fights to give Smith another Mr. July crown. Men in Black or Independence Day this is not.
Regal Falmouth # 1
* * ¾ (out of 4)
It seems like Hollywood has figured out exactly what the world will look like in fifty years. On the one hand, it’s nice to see all the studios agreeing on something. On the other hand, when I, Robot begins to look exactly like a blend of Minority Report and Demolition Man, it starts to get a little boring. I am starting to get tired of looking at the same designs for cities, highways, cars, and home appliances. Despite drawing pretty heavily from these other futuristic movies, I, Robot manages to be a fun action movie, even if a little less creative than it could have been.
Del Spooner (Will Smith) is a Chicago PD homicide detective with a serious bone to pick with the robots that have now become commonplace in the world. The robots take care of all the more mundane jobs that no human would do if they could avoid it, and also serve as personal assistants, but for some reason Spooner just doesn’t trust them. Naturally, when a report comes in that the father of the robot technology, Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), has been murdered, Spooner investigates, shocked to find a robot (voiced by Alan Tudyk) as the prime suspect. Spooner’s personal relationship with Lanning only further contributes to his paranoia, and he’s soon much deeper into the robot world than he ever wished to go.
Obviously, the plot of this movie bears little to no resemblance to the collection of Isaac Asimov short stories that bears the same name. The only similarities are in a few characters like Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan) serving as Spooner’s sidekick, and in the three basic laws of robotics that this “murder” violates. The source material is, apparently discarded after the basic premise is established – let it be known that no, I have not read the short stories. I am a terrible, naughty sci-fi geek.
While I certainly understand that the lack of attention paid to Asimov’s classic would cause distress in those who have read it, for those of us who haven’t, the movie just becomes another Will Smith July movie. Unfortunately, it doesn’t even meet that standard as well as it should. The action is good for the most part; director Alex Proyas involving himself heavily in the action scenes, but there are moments that he goes a little to far with his swooping “action cam.” It may look cool, but if it causes you to lose sight of the action onscreen, it doesn’t really serve a purpose.
Everyone here is basically playing the part one would expect from him or her. Smith is the wisecracking reluctant hero; Cromwell is the kindhearted old man with a secret, Moynahan is the skeptical sidekick. It all falls into place, but there are pieces missing – humor, chemistry – so the equation starts to fall apart. There’s a fun fight here or there, but not enough leading up to the fights to give Smith another Mr. July crown. Men in Black or Independence Day this is not.
posted by Matt S. at
6:29 PM
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