This film was a pleasant surprise for me, because I wanted to see it but was tentative about it. The premise of the movie is set in a not too far future, and the world is similar to an old Jetson’s cartoon. Robots are subservient to humans, and they must follow a very strict code of conduct.
- A robot may not injure a human, or through inaction, allow a human to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given to it by a human except where it could conflict with the first law.
- A robot must protect itself, as long as that protection doesn’t violate either the first or second law.
The driving force of the film is what happens when a robot is accused of breaking the code of conduct, and a man ends up dead. Will Smith plays Detective Del Spooner, a man hell-bent on prosecuting a robot.
At the beginning of the movie, the audience is made very aware of Spooner’s contempt, but we have no real idea why. In fact, his colleagues ride him hard about being a conspiracy theorist, and they do not buy the idea of a robot killing Dr. Miles Hogenmiller. Everybody but Spooner feels that the man who invented the robots took his own life. Even when Spooner brings a suspect in, they do not believe him. It turns out that Spooner is right about his theory, but is he chasing the wrong lead.
The film takes a lot of crazy turns. While we follow Spooner, we see that he is right, but he can’t prove it. In the end, even the audience is fooled by the truth.
If my synopsis sounds confusing, please forgive me, because I am still working through what I watched. To generalize, I would have to say that the story reminds me of T3, Blade Runner, and elements of Minority Report.
Visually, I found this movie to be friggin’ great. The screen transfer was vivid, the effects were interesting, and I loved the sound. Seeing two robots fighting Matrix-Martial Arts style towards the end was so cool that I re-watched and showed the scene several times after watching some of the DVD’s extra materials.
The making-of-featurette, I, Robot, was cool because it showed more than run-of-the-mill promotional fodder. The DVD also offers commentary that I haven’t listened to yet, and there are trailers for Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Robots, and Elektra.
Normally, I would give this movie an A, but you have to be patient to get into the film (15-20 minutes) and that could detract some people. The DVD would also get a higher grade, but it was light on extra materials.
GRADE: B+ (movie) B (DVD)
Thank You again.
Tracey