MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense stylized action, and some brief partial nudity.
Runtime: 115 minutes
Director/Writer:
Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City, Garage Days)
Cast:
Will Smith - (Bad Boys, Independence Day, Men In Black, Enemy Of The State) as Detective Del Spooner
Bridget Moynahan - (Coyote Ugly, The Sum Of All Fears, The Recruit) as Dr. Susan Calvin
Bruce Greenwood - (Double Jeapordy, Below, The Core) as Lawrence Robertson
Chi McBride - (The Frighteners, Mercury Rising, Narc, The Terminal) as Lt. John Bergen
James Cromwell - (Babe, L. A. Confidential, The Green Mile, The Sum Of All Fears) as Dr. Alfred Lanning
Adrian Ricard - (Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Love Hurts, Anger Management) as Gigi (Granny)
Let's get this out of the way, right now. This is NOT Isaac Asimov's I, Robot!!!! Do not go into this movie thinking you will see a close representation of the book(s). If you do, you will be disappointed or even angry. Trust me, I've been there with Paul Verhoeven's take on Starship Troopers. Treat this simply as a summer/big-budget/sci-fi/action/blockbuster and things will work out much better. You'll definitely have a greater chance of enjoying this film. That's how I'm basing this review, okay?
Chicago Detective Spooner has a sneaking suspicion that androids are bad. Bad for him, bad for people in general and he's not shy about saying it. It doesn't matter that the Three Laws completely and totally forbid an android from hurting a human, or allowing a human to be hurt. It doesn't matter that there's never been one single crime committed by an android since their introduction into society, and with USR corporation's upcoming rollout of the NS5 generation of androids, 1 in 5 homes world-wide will have a personal android. Life will be wonderful. . . . Wait a minute - the phone rings at Spooner's desk - the preiminent designer of the andriods has just jumped 30 stories to his death. It's a suicide, right? Right?
Will Smith brings his patented comedic touch to this role of a policeman with a haunted past that is slow to emerge. His personality, intelligence and general air of "good guy" make his character an easy one to empathize with and like. He doesn't over-do the comedy, just uses it enough to keep things loose. Bridget Moynahan is well cast as a psychologist working for USR to humanize android behavior. She's a bit stuffy and a little stiff at first, but as things progress, she opens up more and more. Chi McBride has a small role, but steals a couple of the scenes he's in. The movie is paced fairly quickly with small personal vignettes breaking the actions sequences. If there's a complaint here, it's that there isn't a lot in the way of deep character development. There are several characters that you want to get to know better, to know what makes them tick, but you never get too deep into the psyche of any. Once Spooner's past is revealed, it is an impactful thing, but not something that would give him the deep-rooted distrust of androids. You are left wondering if there is more to it.
Visually, this is a very nice film. The colors are clean and natural without mood filters. Scenes range from full daytime shots of the Chicago skyline circa 2035 to underground freeway tunnels, to Spooner's hi-tech precinct office, to corporate boardrooms. The shots of laboratories and those with the NS5 androids do have a lot of blue, grey, silver and black tones. The CGI is outstanding! The weakest of them was the daytime skyline, but it wasn't very noticable. The android sequences are fabulous. It's hard to tell what is CGI and what isn't. There isn't a single sequence to pull you away from the reality of the story. Kudos to Patrick Tatopoulos Designs for the android work and to Weta Digital (of Lord Of The Rings trilogy fame) for the overall CGI effects. The overall look of the film is a bit soft but not annoyingly so, which I attribute to an effort to more seamlessly blend in the CGI effects.
Sonically, it's your big action fare. Lots of explosions, lots of gunshots and crashes. Good fidelity is maintained throughout, with believable variances in the sound level for the various action sequences. Surrounds are used a good deal and to fine effect, but aren't noticably used in the quieter person-on-person scenes. Voices are natural sounding, clear, and don't get overwhelmed by the action. Lt. Bergen has a Spaz-like assualt shotgun that sounds authoritative and full when used, but the pistols the police use sound anemic at best - pathetic little popgun noises that bring to mind the old "Spagetti Westerns" and their pistol soundtracks. Maybe, they're rocket-propelled slugs and don't use gunpowder? I can only hope.
Overall, this movie gives you a darn good time as long as you take it for what it is. If you try to read much of the Asimov story into it, you'll be sorely disappointed. It's a very fine effort for a summer sci-fi flick, with a couple of nagging points that marginally lower it's score. Those little points will in no way keep me from buying the DVD when it's released though - it goes on my "must have' list.
I give I, Robot :35: out of :5:.
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