Review: I, Robot
 

Quick and dirty: About as inspired as typical Hollywood mega-production can be.

The long view: This movie is a mix of product placement, typical useless Hollywood story devices, computer graphics for the SAKE of computer graphics, and a pretty good concept. I walked away with mixed feelings.

As it opens, you see a string of corporate logos and several shots of Will Smith in his underwear, and even naked. It makes you think, "Shit, this movie is more of a sponsorship whore than NASCAR." You're quickly introduced to the customary annoying-admiring-kid-who-has-no-function-except-to-be-randomly-rescued-at-a-later-time-in-the-movie. From there, you are introduced to the customary last-bastion-of-sanity-for-our-lonely-hero grandmother. Will Smith plays a cop, so it's not even a spoiler to let you know that at some point during the movie, he loses his badge.

The story unfolds at a fairly good pace. It's one of those 'assemble the clues' stories that doesn't give too much away, but doesn't cross-reference very much either. They use a few more hollywood devices throughout the movie and it really dawns on you that you've seen everything in here before.

The good parts of the movie are all in your head. There is a total of one good laugh, but I didn't even laugh. The underlying concept, which I'd like to share, but only is revealed at the end, is the real intrigue of the movie. Until this concept is introduced, the movie is plain, boring, typical and a waste. Afterwards, you kinda wish the movie had started a lot later in the story and was just now beginning.

One thing I can't fault the movie for is keeping me dumbly entertained. My eyes were glued. My brain was not. 4/10 microchips.

Yeah, I hate to say it, but I had much higher hopes for this movie. I mean, Will Smith as a flippant flatfoot. Seen it done way too many times in way too many different settings for this to feel any better. I don't even have to see it to know that it's just another generic cop movie with graphics and robots thrown in for good measure. I thought this was going to be a movie where Will Smith played a scientist and it was going to be about the revolution/morality of robotics/AI. Then I saw the trailer. Everything about it screamed "generic cop movie!!!!" A la Bad Boys, Wild Wild West, Men In Black, we've seen it all done before, and somehow, this just doesn't seem much better. At all. Thank God for bittorrent. :)

It just seems that every actioner that Smith is in has the plot of: Flippant flatfoot chasing _________. Investigates ________. Public finds ________ to be innocent, flatfoot pursues further, captain yells at flatfoot, flatfoot loses badge, depressing 5 minutes where flatfoot drowns himself in _______. Hot girl that has little story and flatfoot have sex. Flatfoot loses girl. Break in case. Firefight. Generic action sequence/chase. Bigger firefight. Denoument. Flatfoot gets job back, is hero once again. Gets girl. 200 million dollars at boxoffice. #1 first weekend, #7 next. DVD after 6 months. Huge first weekend DVD rentals and buys. Downhill with the rest of the cop thrillers. Becomes somebody's "best.movie.ever." Wins MTV movie award for Best Generic Action Scene.

Re: Review: I, Robot
 

I saw it today and I completely agree.

I thought it was a hell of a lot better than most movies I end up seeing nowadays. It wasn't great, but had some genuinely great moments.

6/10

My wife and I both enjoyed the heck out of this movie. Neither of us have read the story, although we are aware of the premise. We laughed a lot throughout the movie, and had a good time.

I'm interested in hearing what someone who is a fan of Asimov thinks...

I enjoyed it more then i thought would. I enjoyed the concept of the Robots. And some Cybertechnology implants. <-- That made me shiver alittle with excitment.

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i wonder how many agree with me on this point: does it annoy you as much as it does me, when in a period piece, the film will throw in some STUPID comment or object from the present, then have the actors attempt some feeble humor at how quaint that thing from the present time is? ie the line from I, Robot where will puts on the Converse from 2004. its just so damned contrived and bloody obvious i cant help but be angered by it, an insult to basic intelligence.

I agree wholeheartedly.

As far as the Asimov connection goes, now they are sayng it was SUGGESTED by Asimov. The link I saw was purely conceptual - the inclusion of the three laws of robotics. If you read I, Robot you won't recognize the book from this movie's plot. Still, it was enjoyable. I agree with the NY Times - "smartest dumb movie you'll see".

You're a genius... someone should write a program in java or something that churns out a plot from filling in the spaces... could make a lot of money... hahahaha

I had a good time watching it. I haven't read the book, that probably would have changed my opinion...
Will Smith is fun to watch, and I like Bruce Greenwood too. Sometimes I felt though like Will Smith must have been all alone by himself in the studio, fighting green screens all day long.

It's a Will Smith movie, guys. What does that mean? It means don't expect to be blown away by the intelligence of the script or the complexity of the plot. It's a summer blockbuster. You knew this before you went to see it. Enjoy it for what it is.

I haven't seen it yet, but I've read the book. The connections seem to be limited to the three laws of robotics. I enjoyed the read, hoping that the movie won't be a complete disappointment. Usually I wouldn't have any real hope for a movie like this, but the fact that it's about robots forces me to think it could be cool. Because hey, it's robots.

I just got back from seeing it. I expected it to be lame, but I enjoyed myself. Made me think of Awesome-O from south park.

Definitely liked it better than Spiderman 2.

They could have very easily advertised this movie without giving away the plot twist. I think it was a waste of a story.

Oh, and the guy was dead on with the "suggest by" comment. There are absolutely no rebellions in the I, Robot books.

The only time anything goes wrong is when they implement a slightly modified 1st rule in a single line of robots, and that was completely human error. Basically they made it so instead of both never harming humans and making sure to protect humans from harm, it just kept them from ever harming humans.

Robot rebellion is the exact opposite of what Asimov was going for. He was annoyed that in every robot book the creation rebelled against his master. This movie is more like Frankenstein then it is like I, Robot.

I just got back from seeing it, I enjoyed it. I went in thinking I was going to see a non-mind-taxing-action-flick, and that's what I got. Enough to think about to keep me interested and enough action to make me happy, overall it was a well rounded summer flick. Keep the intelligent "thinker" movies out of the summer cause I don't feel like thinking much anyways.... it's summer for crying out loud.
I gave it a 7/10
It would have gotten a 6.5 if it weren't for the alergy line :D

I liked it. I like Will Smith. Sure, he plays the same character in every movie, but he does it so well. He is like James Bond to me. He is the same in every movies, just the backgrounds change. And that is ok with me. He doesn't try to bufflao the audience with bullshit acting, he just gets into summer popcorn flicks and does them well. He knows his role. Plus, unlike many other stars, he does not seem to have any bad habits; faithful to his wife, no smoking, no dui's no arrests.

The movie itself was very entertaining. don't expect to be blown away, just enjoy it.

I enjoyed it as well. Sure, it was no Requiem for a Dream, but who the hell would go into an action movie expecting a theatrical masterpiece in that way? Action movies are not about astounding acting, and most of the time they're not about intelligent plot twists. What it all boils down to is robots are cool, robots going haywire are cooler, and explosions while robots go haywire are even cooler ;)

It was a fun, entertaining movie with minimal intellectual value, and that's precisely what I expected.

when i saw the first commercial for it i thought it looked stupid...but the more i saw them i became kinda intrigued about it....

i watched to trailer today...and i do think it looks pretty good.....

guess i will have to let you know when i get back

Both my boys (young teens) loved it. I was entertained.

Who builds a robot without an on/off switch?

Spoiler: Sorry, I am allergic to bullshit
Greatest line of the movie.

I enjoyed it.
7/10

I, Robot not as bad as I expected
 

I just saw it. Other than the Elijah Bailey character being done by Will Smith (requiring them to use a different name), the Susan Calvin character, the Positronic Brain, the name US Robotics, and the three Laws themselves, this was simply a new story. As an independent story, I don't have a big problem with it.

Now, if they'd made a clear *attempt* to stick with the Asimovian originals and fucked them up, that'd be different. They didn't try, to their credit, IMHO. Instead, they took the framework Asimov himself made up (the Laws) and did what Asimov himself did with them: hung a story on their flaws. That's what the flawed Laws were for, no? To make a buck! Or two.

I wonder what Asimov would say about it.

Well, Maddox makes his views on I, Robot perfectly clear:
[IMG]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0TQDVAlYYPtLYBMtXe8O4*!IOcph3LJUmE8bk34nbYtrqbsi4Q5ju5GkYntQgHwUKky0K!9xs3i0fTr2qpQk7IMPMT8ttmuOfquDNZN8N6FUNLSdZCLcTNg/piss_grave4.jpg?dc=4675483024189555819[/IMG]


Read the rest of the review.

I thought it was ok, entertaining at best. It beats the hell out of Bourne Supremacy. It has been a week since I have seen that movie and I am still bitter at the director for making it impossible to see.

Saw this yesterday. Wasnt really expecting much as thought usual Will Smith wisecracks etc. Yet thought this was quite enjoyable no great but entertaining anyway

let me start by saying I went into this movie with low expectations. I enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't "True Asimov", but it wasn't as much of a mind numbing action flick as I thought it was going to be. It's been so long sense I read the book, I don't really remember it. I'm gonna reread it soon, but even though it was Hollywood Predictable, they kept some sence of thought to it. And Sonny was just a cool damn robot.

6/10

I think it's a real good flick. I like the story. I like the ideas. I like the execution.

For once computer-generated graphics actually have a relationship to the concept and "vision" of a film.

I wasn't expecting too much, and there are some terrible scenes in it, some really awful stuff, but I still enjoyed it. I think its a little more thoughtful than Spiderman, it considers issues of slavery and that sort of thing, and recalls the hardboiled detective style of Bladerunner. I'll give it 6.5 out of 10. Incidentally the Ovaltine Cafe isn't a product placement, but rather is a venerable greasy spoon on Vancouver's east side. It has been used as a shooting location for many tv shows and movies. It opened in 1942 and is famous for its authentic neon signage and atmosphere.

Finally saw it tonight on DVD..it was okay...does anyone else think the ending may have hinted at a sequel with Sonny as the lead rebel? Just the look on his e-face when he saw all the other robots walking in line to their containments like slaves gave the impression that he may be bitter about the whole thing.

Asta!!

hey K-Wise, I know that they are not related but the closest thing you can have right now as a quasi-sequel is the Animatrix...

They're gonna make a quasi-sequel to that? Awesome! :D

Asta!!

Yeah, that ending had quite a few implications.

I actually watched it for the first time last night, and despite all the issues with it that Hal listed, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was pleasantly surprised that they actually managed to keep in some of the social and moral implications that the original story has in it. Id give it 7/10.

Yeah good so I'm not the only one who thought that.

Asta!!

Just another high end computer animated movie. Good though.