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July 29, 2004 INTRODUCTION Del Spooner (Will Smith) is a cop in 2035 Chicago who is negative towards the popular robots at that time. Major robot production company USR plans to release a new type of robot, NS-5, which is planned to be owned by one in every five persons in the country. Unexpectedly, USR's boss Dr. Lanning (James Cromwell) mysteriously dies one day. Everybody thinks that it was suicide, but Spooner doesn't think so. He suspects that NS-5 robot Sonny (Alan Tudyk) had murdered the man, but no one agrees because every robot has to obey the three laws: 1. A robot can never harm a human being; 2. A robot has to obey what a human being says without conflict with the first law; 3. A robot has to protect its existence without conflict with the first and second law. But when Spooner continues his investigation with the help of beautiful USR scientist Dr. Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), he finds something extremely mysterious about the robot company and its products... REVIEW I, Robot is a very creative film about the future, when robots are very essential to human beings. There are some nice twists in the plot, and thanks to amazing CGI effects, the filmmakers' interpretation of the future world becomes very realistic and interesting. Some parts of the movie show the great creativity of the people behind the scenes. The car chase and the climax are pretty well-made action sequences too, giving us a breathtaking ride. Occasionally there are a few interesting jokes. Unfortunately, some flaws stop it from becoming a really good film. The story is mainly focused on Smith, Moynahan, and the robot Sonny. The other supporting characters were not given any opportunities to make themselves memorable. Some had potential, like Shia LeBouf's character, the fat cop and Will Smith's grandmother, but they didn't have a chance. Sonny is a quite interesting character that stands out from the other robots, but he is poorly designed and becomes a pretty bland character when compared with the fantastic Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. As for Will Smith and Bridget Moynahan, they both do OK jobs, but I find Smith to talk a bit too much; he's obviously better in movies like Men in Black. I, Robot is most certainly not one of the best movies this summer; there are flaws here and there. It's by any means not a great film and is only a little better than your average sci-fi film. Nevertheless, I find it to be pretty enjoyable, with kick-ass action scenes, brilliant creativity and breathtaking CGI. Deserves at least one watch.
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