[Adam Portrais]

Well, I saw I, Robot last night and I like it. Wasn't the best movie I've ever seen but overall it was a pleasureable viewing experience.


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[Chris]

I'm surprised no one else has posted a review, maybe a bad sign for the future of the film

I, Robot is loosely based, well, change that, it takes some of the concepts from, uh, maybe strike that.. it "liberally appropriates" maybe that's better Isaac Asimov's beloved works. While some of the story is present, the basic merit of the story is stolen and it boils into a wam-wam action film with some very cliched action.

Will Smith presents an overly macho cop who basically fits the mold of half of all the characters he has ever played.

The CGI effects for the robots is actually rather poor, which is suprising. Sometimes you get the effect that they move smoothly, other times they have akward edges and their movements don't seem to sync up right. I can't say it's always wrong, but there is something about it that kept making me do a double take.

Oddly, Shia Lebouf - from Holes & Project Greenlight - turns in a far better "small" performance by seemingly being warm instead of stilted.

And believe me is the acting stilted. Some times it feels as though they are so rigid that the "spontanaeous" moments just never happen.

The best thing I have to say about the film is that the Audi car is really pretty slick. The rest of it is overly boring and didn't make me interested.

Being a big fan of the works of Asimov, I felt very dissapointed at what felt like a complete brutalization of his works.

* / ****

[Patrick Sun]

Where to start? The film over-reached, and the payoff is pretty poor.

The setup in the 1st act was so-so, and the 2nd act had one of the most uninteresting fast-moving action sequences in recent cinematic history for me. The 3rd act was entertaining from a visual effects perspective, but it was never quite integrated well enough to get me to suspend my disbelief.

The Susan Calvin I remember from reading Asimov's Robot stories and novels would have been much more cold and clinical, and Bridget Moynahan was not up to the task. Hell, Bridget got hotter as the movie progressed, and that should have never happened. Will Smith has very little to work with, and it shows scene after scene.

Of course, I groaned as I saw Akiva Goldsman's name scroll up in the end credits. I should have known.

I give it 2 stars or a grade of C (I'm being kind).

[Diallo B]

i enjoyed the movie. as an asimov fan i am disappointed that the movie stole only basic concepts of his stories and tied together a movie. but to me it is like macross vs. robotech. each one has its place.

anyway, i thought that the cgi was well done and the acting was o.k. there were more than a few funny parts that got the audience i viewed with going and people left the theater with relatively good feelings. i would love to see a follow up to the end of this story.

the movie definitely sets up some premises that i would have liked to seen more exploration and i did not see the antagonist coming. all in all i was entertained and did not feel like i did when i walked out in the middle of the punisher.

i give it 2.8 out of 4 stars.

[Matt Stone]

I went to this thinking I would hate it, but after the crummy first 20 minutes or so, I ended up liking it a lot more than I expected. I haven't read much Asimov, so I wasn't doing any comparison during the film.

The acting was fine...nothing to write home about, but not horrible. The dialog ranged from piss-poor to quite decent. I though the direction was pretty solid. The sfx sequences were done pretty well for the most part. I especially liked the sequence toward the end atop the platform. I thought most of the CG was great.

This is by no means must-watch sci-fi, but I found myself much more pleased then I ever though I'd be. This felt a lot like Terminator 3 did last summer. I came in expecting heresy, and I ended up getting 2 hours of pretty good entertainment.

****/***** (maybe a tad generous )

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now the Official Review Thread for "I, Robot". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.

Any other comments, links to other reviews, or discussion items will be deleted from this thread without warning!

If you need to discuss those type of issues then I have designated an Official Discussion Thread.



Crawdaddy

[Kristian]

Well, I enjoyed it. As summer action movies go, it's certainly no Spider-Man 2, but it's definitely better than misfires like Van Helsing (or anything that Will Smith has starred in since the first MIB, for that matter). And as sci-fi, I don't really think it's that inferior to Alex Proyas' previous film Dark City. Both films have a lot of similarities, if you look carefully.

Will Smith was pretty good, except for a few instances of forced humor. I really loved James Cromwell's brief performance. After this and his role in Star Trek: First Contact, he seems to be the best person to play revolutionary scientists. And Alan Tudyk (Wash!), with only his voice and mannerisms, makes Sonny into more than just another robot.

The action scenes were pretty exciting, although some of the FX work (see the scene where Will and Bridget Moynahan are looking at the sea of robots to find Sonny; it clearly looks like there's a CG backdrop behind them) wasn't up to today's standards.

Overall, I'd give the movie a solid B.

[Terry St]

"I, Robot" was about the movie I was expecting. Asimov's contributions to the film were limited to the three laws, which were probably included just to sell tickets. They weren't exactly integral either. They could easily have been replaced by some of hollywoods standard technojargon. While Asimov wanted to create a positive image of the future in which technology works for man and everything turns out great, "I, Robot" focuses on mostly the negatives. Asimov would not have been amused that his name was plastered on this film!

Okay, so it's not classic Asimov then. So what is it? Brainless hollywood action. Fresh Price style. Yep, you guessed it from the previews. They blow stuff up good in this flick. They only pause the action now and then to have some dialogue, which all serious sci-fi films are supposed to have. However, most of the dialogue in this film revolves around the initially frosty Bridget Moynahan and how her "Ice Queen Bitch" persona melts as she succumbs to Will Smith's boyish charm (TM). Yeah, it's sorta formulaic, to say the least.

Still, the film is well executed. The special effects are simply top notch. The robots in particular are really well done. The climactic scene takes place in one of those typical hollywood "fortress of unspeakable evil" rooms that has no practical purpose other than to look cool. This one is particularly stupid, but cool looking, again reflecting this film's emphasis on form over content. Will Smith telephoned in his usual Fresh Prince routine and Moynahan managed to pull off the ice-queen melting routine well, mostly thanks to excellent costumes which gradually and almost imperceptibly fade from corseted synthetics to leather. (mmmm... She is tasty, I'll grant you that!) James Cromwell is criminally underused. The other characters, especially that "annoying kid" (TM), were throw-aways included just to pad out two hours of celluloid.

Bottom line, this is a good, brainless popcorn action flick with a *thin* veneer of science fiction laid over top of it, and the usual will Smithisms you'd expect from his films. Light, fluffy entertainment.

/ as an brainless summer popcorn flick
/ as anything else

[Dave Hackman]

This movie sucks for the first hour with horrible dialog, one-dimensional characters and a visual representation of the future that is not pleasing to the eye. Will Smith is awful as an overly cocky cop who has issues with robots. Bridget Moynahan is the liberal robot loving Scully in need of breast augmentation. The last 30 minutes are the only thing worth seeing. The chemistry between Smith, Moynahan and the robot Sonny starts flowing nicely and the action gets more intense. If this movie started out like this it would have been a much better movie. The best thing about seeing this movie was the previews for upcoming films.

D

[Shane Martin]

This movie was exactly what I was expecting and more. Someone mentioned the term "Blade Runner Lite" and I agree. I have not read the book and I thoroughly enjoyed this summer flick. If I had read the book, I may not have enjoyed it but who knows. At this point I got my moneys worth and then some.