I, Robot takes place in the near future, a future that looks lot like Minority Report and A.I. Everything is automated to such a degree that travel has become more dangerous than before. For example, cars travel so fast, it's unsafe for a human (instead of an artificial intelligence) to drive one. Permeated throughout this society is one brand of robot-a mobilized servant workforce. They only mimic people in their humanoid shape; expressionless round eyeholes, a slit for a mouth, and a smooth body.
Enter Will Smith's character, Detective Spooner. Calling him Spooner is pointless, because Smith's personality is indelibly printed on the movie. He is urban, hip, and in incredibly good shape. He also has a dark secret that makes him prejudiced against robots. No one brings up the irony of a black American being prejudiced against a robot - Proyas probably considered it too crass.
The next generation of robots, the NS5, is about to be launched. It's a smoother, friendlier robot with facial features that look a lot like people. The effect is startling, as they are clearly made of plastic - it's like watching an iMac come to life. Enter Sonny, a robot present at the supposed suicide of his creator, Dr. Alfred Lanning. Spooner is called by Lanning's communicator, which leads him on a trail of breadcrumbs to find the truth behind Dr. Lanning's death and the new robots.
I, Robot talks a lot about the three laws and their application. It also has a lot in common with films that have paid their own particular tribute to Asimov's work, including the Matrix (the robot revolution started with a murder). VIKI, the artificial intelligence that runs much of the city's systems, harkens back to one of my favorite movies: Colossus: The Forbin Project. There's not much new in I, Robot.
But it doesn't matter. Spooner is a sane man in a world gone mad, a world that has willingly given itself over to automation. The timing of the movie is perfect; cries of outsourcing have given way to the uncomfortable realization that "optimization" (read: computers and robots) are the reason our manual workforce is suffering.
I, Robot resembles science fiction movies from the 1950s filled with marching robots and legions slavishly devoted to communal good with one important difference: fear of communism has been replaced by the fear of outsourcing. Indeed, the prejudice against the more mathematically precise robots echoes the prejudices against outsourced countries with better educations that are willing to work for much less. The NS4 robots are unfailingly polite and cheerfully perform the worst drudgery. What happens when we no longer know how to do the drudgery ourselves? Or to put it another way...what happens when a first world country becomes so dependent on the predatory labor force of others that it can no longer take care of itself?
Revolution, that's what. Now, we're no longer afraid of Big Brother...we ARE Big Brother, afraid of losing control of everyone else. I, Robot hits a perfect note in that regard.
And yet, nothing else is sacred. There is a love-fest over Smith's shoes, which actually get more screen time than some characters. Spooner drives a gas-powered motorcycle, a quaint anachronism...except that it feels like some suit shouted "let's put Smith on a motorcycle!" There are far, FAR too many unnecessary slow-motion action shots, including the aforementioned motorcycle.
The movie has all the right product placement and plot points: the cute furry animal survives, the good guys always get what they deserve, the bad guys gets their just desserts, and the wisecracking hero is rewarded for his outrageous antics. There are also gaping plot holes, like a service entrance that has no surveillance. In that regard, I, Robot tries too hard to please. Its action-hero concessions detract from its message.
Still, the special effects are fantastic. Sonny has more pathos than Smith on screen and is a wonder to watch as he displays child-like awe, anger, rage, sadness, and compassion. Conversely, we have the robotic pretty/ugly scientist (you know, the kind who wear glasses and their hair in a bun and are unappealing, but let down their hair and become gorgeous), Dr. Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), assisting the investigation. She reminds me of Sandra Bullock, minus the charm.
Smith floats through the movie with ease. He's sullen, wisecracking, and refreshingly free of any adult responsibility. He's a big man-child who comes off more as a spoiled brat than a streetwise cop, clinging to his anachronistic ways as if he invented them. Smith didn't have to strain to act this movie out - it's like Bad Boys was dropped into Minority Report.
The robots themselves, when roused to combat, move like gangly monkeys imbued with catlike grace. Combat scenes between robots would be too fast to even see if it wasn't for those darned slo-mo scenes, the only time they really are appropriate.
Ultimately, I, Robot strives to be both a thinking man's science fiction, an action vehicle for Will Smith, and a social commentary about the state of the world. It ends up being somewhere in between all three, but it's a tribute to the director's skill that I, Robot is still engaging despite its schizophrenic tendencies.
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