I, Robot (July 13/04)

As the trailers might've indicated, there's not much in I, Robot linking it with the celebrated novel by Isaac Asimov. Though it's an above average summer movie, the emphasis on action and Will Smith will undoubtedly disappoint fans of Asimov's book. Yes, Asimov's famed three laws are intact and referenced throughout the movie - however, that's about the only thing the two properties have in common.

Directed by Alex Proyas, I, Robot stars Smith as Chicago detective Del Spooner - a cop with a deep hatred of robots (the film takes place in the year 2035). After the apparent suicide of a noted scientist (played by James Cromwell), Spooner begins to suspect that perhaps foul play was involved. As he delves deeper into his investigation, he comes across a robot who seems to have been imbued with emotions and the ability to dream. Named Sonny, the robot insists he didn't have anything to do with his master's death - though Spooner, not surprisingly, isn't convinced.

While I, Robot is tremendously entertaining essentially from start to finish, it could've been so much more. The film's screenplay, written by Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman, takes the emphasis off the science and puts it onto Smith's character. As a result, I, Robot's midsection is devoted almost entirely to Spooner's investigation - with the occasional action sequence thrown in for good measure (this is a summer movie, after all). Though the movie is always compelling - the case involves robots, for crying out loud! - it's hard not to wish that more time had been spent exploring the day-to-day existence of these machines.

The inclusion of wisecracks into the script - all of which emerge from Smith - is baffling, given the fairly dark nature of the story. Smith himself gives one of his better performances, occasionally embracing the bleak trajectory of the film's events though often falling back on his comedic persona. In all fairness, the barrage of one-liners is mostly limited to the film's first half; still, it's a shame Proyas was forced to shoehorn such moments into the plot.

Then there's the thrilling conclusion, which features Smith and co. battling the robot uprising. Despite the similarities to movies like The Matrix and the recent Star Wars installments, there's no denying that Proyas has done a marvelous job of integrating the myriad of special effects into the real-world antics of the various characters. Though the robots have clearly been rendered using computer graphics, they blend in seamlessly with their surroundings (unlike some of Lucas' recent creations, ie Jar Jar Binks).

So, what we basically have here is a summer movie disguised as a science fiction movie. On that level, it works.