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 ou have to wonder why Hollywood decided to make a
movie from something as famous and cherished as Isaac Asimov's "I,
Robot". Then again, considering that director Alex Proyas ("Dark
City") has made nothing even remotely resembling Asimov's novel,
that question is probably moot. Having invented phrases like "inspired
by" and "based on a true story", the 2004 big budget
incarnation of Asimov's pioneering robotics work hits the screen with the
tag "suggested by". I tell ya, whoever said Hollywood has lost all
traces of creativity hasn't met the gremlins working in the PR department.
"I, Robot" stars
ex-rapper turned TV star turned comedic actor turned Summer Event Film champ
turned real actor Will Smith, who proved once and for all he was serious
about this whole "acting" thing when he transformed himself,
literally and figuratively, for Michael Mann's "Ali".
Smith plays Del Spooner, a Chicago Homicide cop in the year 2035. Not that
you'd recognize this futuristic landscape, as it seems highly dubious the
world could have become a semi-grounded version of "The Jetsons"
in just another 30 years. Didn't they promise us jetpacks, robot servants,
and trips to a moon city via transporter by the year 2000?
Something of a techno-phobic, Spooner seems like the
perfect man to call in when renown scientist Alfred Lanning (James
Cromwell), the Godfather of the movie's robotics revolution, takes a swan
dive out of his office window and onto the plush and sterile lobby of U.S.
Robotics, "I, Robot's" version of Microsoft. Playing Bill Gates
is Bruce Greenwood, who actually doesn't have much to do except show up
every now and then to show what a privileged jerk he is. To solve the
case, Spooner teams up with robot psychiatrist Susan Calvin (Bridget
Moynahan), who also works for U.S. Robotics and has access to secure
locations within the giant corporation. A bit of a cold fish, Calvin is
more at home working with machines than she is around the wisecracking
Spooner.
It turns out that Spooner being called in to
investigate Lanning's "suicide" wasn't luck of the draw after
all. Lanning, who had isolated himself from the world in the months before
his death, seems to be leaving clues for Spooner to follow. Bread crumbs,
if you will, that leads to a dangerous conspiracy involving U.S. Robotics'
giant rollout of their newest robot model. In a few days, there will be
one robot for every human on the planet, and Greenwood's Capitalist Pig
plans on making even more billions. Or is that gazillion? Since everything
about the film's view of the future is so out there, why should currency
remain boring dollars and cents?
Speaking of which, "I, Robot" definitely
benefits from its Hollywood budget. The film is polished, the CGI and
effects work are all but seamless, and you can clearly see where the money
went -- they're everywhere. Directed by Alex Proyas, who gave us
the sensational "Dark City", but missed the mark entirely with
the CGI-filled "Garage
Days", "I, Robot" is a brainless action film with a
$100 million dollar price tag. It's gorgeous to look at, but then again
you don't expect anything less considering the money they spent on this
thing. Visually, the film is just as wild with its technology as
Spielberg's "Minority
Report" -- which is to say none of this will ever come to pass.
Which makes you wonder why the filmmakers didn't set
the film farther in the future. Why 30 years? Why not 50? Or 100? I could
buy servant robots walking the dog and cooking dinner in 2104, but 2035 is
a little hard to swallow. Not that credulity matters in this case.
"I, Robot" was made to be a rollercoaster ride, not a brainy
film. Having said that, claiming that this version of "I, Robot"
is "suggested by" Asimov's book is a bit of a slap in the face.
Almost as much of a slap as crediting the three laws of robotics to the
fictional Alfred Lanning.
Approached as a strictly Summer Event film, "I,
Robot" is not bad. It's mostly entertaining, and I've grown to
appreciate Will Smith's charms and wisecracks. So sue me, but the guy has
grown on me. Bridget Moynahan certainly doesn't hurt the film's aesthetics
either. That body, those lips... I'm not saying Moynahan has gotten by on
her supermodel good looks, but I am saying she probably didn't have to
work as hard as, say, Roseanne Barr to cut a swath through Hollywood's big
studio movies. (The mostly unknown Moynahan counts "The
Recruit" and "The
Sum of All Fears" among her burgeoning filmography.) As the cold
Calvin, Moynahan is a bit off, coming across as mostly dull and
uninteresting. Not that it matters. The woman is great to look at, and in
a movie of "I, Robot's" intellectual depth, that's more than
enough to quantify her as a success.
I would recommend looking to "I, Robot" for
popcorn entertainment, but devotees of Asimov's book will no doubt be
tremendously disappointment. Then again, if they had seen the trailers
(which, it should be mentioned, gives away everything), and still
went into "I, Robot" expecting an intelligent murder mystery,
they deserve to get bamboozled.
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