Running time: 115 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13
Just got back from seeing I, Robot, and Ive got two words for ya: I, Robbed.
Director Alex Proyas and screenwriters Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman (writers who gave us Batman and Robin and Lost in Space) have taken Isaac Asimovs classic and thought-provoking stories and turned them into Bad Bots 2035, complete with a blustering, overwrought police chief (Chi McBride, who parodied the same role in Undercover Brother), lots of CGI, chases, explosions and riveting dialogue exchanges like this:
Youre the dumbest smart person I ever met.
Yeah? Well youre the dumbest dumb person I ever met.
(Sigh)
I, Robot stars Will Smith as … well, Will Smith; but were supposed to believe hes Del Spooner, a too-hip-to-be-seen-with-you, wise-cracking, renegade cop who plays by his own rules, and not the guy you saw in Bad Boys or any other Will Smith movie. Spooner is investigating the apparent suicide of a scientist who invented a new line of ultra-sophisticated robots. Spooner, technophobic dude that he is, suspects a robot named Sonny murdered the scientist.
This doesnt go over too well with the head of U.S. Robotics (Bruce Greenwood), the obvious villain of the movie. The company is about to roll out its new line of robots, and having a robot arrested for murder would bankrupt the company.
The new robots, interestingly enough, have evolved, supposedly, into sentient beings and have decided amongst themselves to take over the planet.
Cue Will Smith to say, Aw, hell no! and let the whiz-bang-BOOM begin.
I, Robot is a disappointment because not only does it betray Asimovs original material, but also because Proyas is a gifted and intelligent director who gave us the amazing cult-classic Dark City, which showed that science-fiction films can be both beautiful to watch and mentally engaging. If you havent seen Dark City, I highly recommend you rent or buy the DVD instead of wasting your time with I, Robot.
GRADE: C-
(c) 2004 King Features Synd., Inc.