I, Robot

I like Will Smith. Whether he's acting all cool, trying it serious or just doing his 'Fresh Prince' thing, I always like him, as long as his role is written well enough. In I, Robot, however, he seems to be trying to do all three of his personas at the same time - which, in a film where everything and everyone seems to be deadly serious except him, could never have worked. But it doesn't ruin the film, which is 'inspired by' Issac Asimov's collection of classic short stories that essentially introduced the idea of robots to the world.

The year is 2035, and in Chicago, USR (United States Robotics) is on the eve of its largest robotic rollout in history. Its new model, the NS5, looks like a shiny iMac with arms, legs and a disturbingly realistic looking face, that struts around and (later on) jumps and bounds across walls seamlessly.

Alan Tudyk has done a good job with creating the robots stoney movements and expressions, and the visual effects job is one of the best I've ever seen, easily deserved of this year's visual effects Oscar. Similarly, the futuristic cityscape of Chicago has been beautifully created, as shown in a slightly show-offy sequence in which Smith simply ambles through the city, allowing several shots of the effects team's own interpretation of how Chicago will look in 2035.



The supporting players are hardly as awe-inspiring as the effects, but they do they're job well, from Bridget Moynahan's boring but workable USR scientist and love interest Susan Calvin, to James Cromwell's Alfred Lanning, the inventor of the robots and writer of the 3 Laws that supposedly control them and keep them safe. For someone who's dead for the whole movie, he has a surprisingly large part but fails to amaze. See the current season of Six Feet Under for a better character and performance from Cromwell, who is a great actor despite having appeared in several bad movies.

The action scenes are fun, though slightly disappointing, but thankfully they are integral to the story instead of simply stupid excuses for Smith to go all psycho with a big gun in each hand and a whole lotta ass to whup. In fact, I prefered the more serious, talky parts of the movie to the explosive gunfights and robot attacks. The story twists and turns as the film continues but never gets too complicated for its own good, and I, Robot shows itself to be a much smarter film than the trailers would imply. The cinematography and music are also impressive, and Alex Proyas is a good choice as director - anyone else could have completely ruined the good premise of the film. Pleasently surprising fun. **** out of 5.