I haven’t read Asimov’s stories but I have heard from several sources that the only thing similar between them and this movie are the title and the three laws. The three laws are what each robot has programmed into its core operating system and they deal with obeying, protecting, and not harming any human being. Detective Spooner (Smith) dislikes anything with A.I. and when a top scientist dies in a robotics factory he immediately suspects the robots. However, no one else can even contemplate for a second that a machine could be programmed to harm or come up faulty (apparently 30 years in the future no ones computer ever crashes). So Spooner must discover the doctor’s killer against all odds and manners of CGI.

Overall I liked the movie. The demolition robot scene at the mansion was incredible and my favorite, the look (although I wish it were darker and on par with Proyas’ other films) was slick: the city, the robots old and new, most of the effects and camerawork. Sonny (Tudyk), the main robot, was created in a similar fashion to the Lord of the Rings’ Gollum and needed to be decent. He was very good, but the rest of the supporting cast really didn’t impress me much. Spooner’s Granny (Adrian Ricard) was terrible and unnecessary. She looked like she was reading her lines off a cue card. Moynahan was a human in the movie that acted like a robot most of the time. And I, Robot occasionally suffers from excess CGI like when the car scene went from “oh that’s cool” to “oh, that’s enough, please stop”. Thanks to a good director though, the majority of the scenes stayed visually entertaining and didn’t dip into the over-the-top Van Helsing zone.

Smith I am on the fence about here. I have to believe that if he played more serious and less like Agent J (ala Men In Black) he would have not only fit the film better but I would have respected his performance more. The film would have been a lot better as well, but then again it probably wouldn’t be a big-budget July popcorn flick either. He stands so cool and tough on the movie posters but he is back as the smirking smart ass here…half of the time. One would assume that because Smith signed on to star, the script was “improved”. The result causes some odd attempts at humor: Spooner making several wise cracks right after seeing the dead body of a man who he was apparently close to, for example. Everything aside the film is still entertaining in all its summertime glory.

I saw this film at Cinemark’s Tinseltown 17 Theater on Peach Street in Erie, PA.

(04-0717)