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Overall Rating
 Awesome: 8.67%
Worth A Look: 23.47%
Average: 35.2%
Pretty Bad: 22.45%
Total Crap: 10.2%
11 reviews, 130 user ratings
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| I, Robot |
by Brian McKay
"Sing it now, HERE COME THE 'BOTS IN WHITE"

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Taken on face value for what it is - a Will Smith action vehicle - I, ROBOT is reasonably entertaining summer fare. Those expecting a conscientious adaptation of the source material will be sorely disappointed - but Jesus Christ, what would you expect? It's got Will Smith in it. And then there's the fact that the credits say "SUGGESTED by the story by Isaac Asimov" - not adapted, not inspired, but merely suggested.Will Smith plays, for the umpteenth time, a generic trash talking bad-ass cop - this time, one by the name of Del Spooner. Spooner likes vintage clothes and motorcycles and has a strong distrust for all modern technology - especially robots. The reason for this dislike is as contrived as many other things in this movie, but it serves its function to move the plot along.
When the founder and leading robotics designer of U.S. Robotics (also makers of fine modems) dies from an apparent suicide, the robot-hatin' Spooner has other ideas. The evidence indicates that the man may have actually been murdered by one of his own creations, a seemingly self-aware robot given the nickname of "Sonny".
Spooner teams up with a hot robot designer named Susan Calvin (flatly played by Bridget Moynahan), and the two discover that there is much more at stake than just the first case of robot-to-human murder. A robot uprising is in the making - and Sonny holds the clues to help them prevent it.
Despite one or two decent twists, the plot is mostly the typical dumbed-down affair that we would expect from a mainstream Will Smith movie. We also get several pointless shots of Smith shirtless, or of him naked in the shower (in profile), etc. etc. Maybe he and Brad Pitt should go have a "let's get oiled up and compare abs" party sometime. As expected, he frequently tosses out one-liners. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they hit with the sound of a sack of flour landing in a field full of crickets. While I generally find Smith a likable persona, his performance here is often overly-strident and grating. James Cromwell phones it in as a hologram of the dead scientist, while Bruce Greenwood does a competent but unremarkable job as the red-herring villain. Moynahan is quite possibly the most boring potential love interest I've seen in months. In fact, sometimes Sonny the Robot seems to be the most lively character of the bunch.
One thing that is consistently good, however, is the action. From a flying motorcycle two-pistol assault, to some hardcore robot-a-robot piledriver fisticuffs, the sequences are eye-catching and fun without being overly-reliant on techniques that movies like this usually steal from The Matrix
(Screened at the Loews Metreon - downtown San Francisco's premiere multiplex)I, ROBOT rises above plot holes and stilted dialogue just enough to be a fun Sunday afternoon Matinee. It certainly doesn't have any of the depth or complexity of a film like BLADE RUNNER - but it was a lot easier to sit through than HEARTBEEPS, SHORT CIRCUIT, or the last half hour of A.I.
del.icio.us
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=10202&reviewer=258 originally posted: 07/26/04 12:28:48
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USA 16-Jul-2004 (PG-13) DVD: 24-May-2005
UK N/A
Australia 22-Jul-2004
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