Movie Review: I Robot

Will Smith plays a detective of the future in a world where cars are no longer manual, and the only gas powered ‘mobiles’ are the motorbikes used by the police. When the man who played a huge part in the design of Robots, that are now common ‘toys’ for all that do all manner of domestic and social things, is murdered, Detective Spooner is given the arduous task of investigating.

The murdered doctor instilled several laws that govern the behavior of the robots – don’t hurt humans, obey humans, protect own existence – these rules are further complicated as the robots cannot use one rule to break another – thus if a human orders the robot to kill another human, it cannot comply.

Detective Spooner does not like robots. He does not trust them, and believes they are a detriment to society. Although he knows the three rules that control the robots, he still believe Robots capable of killing, and thus sets out to find the perpetrator, be it a robot or a human…..

There have been many movies dealing with robots and artificial intelligence. 2001 dealt with a computer that malfunctioned; Artificial Intelligence dealt with a boy robot seeking to find ‘light’ in its ‘tepid’ life; even Frankenstein essentially uses the concept of artificial intelligence, albeit in a sinister way. I Robot, essentially rehashes much of the content of these and other movies, to produce a suitably eerie, intelligent and often startling commentary on a possible future.

It deals with many difficult subjects such as the essence of a soul, and whether humanity is the only ‘being’ capable of anything other than following a simple program – can a robot move beyond programming into the realms of love and caring? Can a robot be capable of hatred? The movie also deals with injustice in many subtle ways, making a social commentary but not making any judgments.

As the movie unfolds, and the importance of the three rules becomes obvious, the movie comments on how ‘directives’ are likely to be very restrictive and often lead to complications not thought of when the rules were created – essentially they leave no room for growth and interpretation. The movie is a thought provoking one at many levels, it comments on insecurity, alienation, racism and injustice. In a way this is a direct commentary on some of the arbitrary rules society has placed on itself now.

Aside from the thought provoking qualities of the movie, it is also a pretty decent action movie. It has some car chases (and bike chases) that are up there with the likes of the French Connection or the ‘Bourne’ series. The ending scenes (I won’t explain as it may give the plot away) are very well done and very suspenseful. As with most Will Smith movies there is a splattering of ‘tongue-in-cheek’ humor, and this isn’t overdone giving the overall feel of the movie a seriousness that is important.
Perhaps what is most impressive about the movie is the way it blends the subtleties of the inherent problems of having robots intertwined with society, with the action – neither is overdone, and the result is a cohesive and well paced movie that tells the story in a compelling and real way.

Will Smith plays the detective with his normal combination of bravado and humor; the glint in his eye is evident as he uses every element of charm he can muster while trying to delve into the secrets in the movie. You can see Smith’s character struggling with his beliefs as the movie unfolds and this demonstrates the excellent performance of Smith. The overall acting is of a high quality, giving the movie a very polished feel.

The cinematography is exceptional. The way in which the movie portrays the future as simply a higher tech version of our own is very clever, and makes the settings very familiar and believable. While perhaps not as sinister as AI, the movie still has an atmosphere that is creepy at times, and is creepier because of the believability.
The animations and special effects of the robots, the cars etc are simply stunning. While you expect this these days with blockbuster movies, the way in which they blend into the movie seamlessly and make you really believe that they are real is uncanny – some of the scenes where there are literally hundreds of robots on the screen sends shivers down my spine – this again adds to the believability factor and makes you think what life could be like if we are not careful in the way we progress with technology.

There’s a hint of 1984 in the movie, with a definite feeling that ‘Big Brother is watching you’, and it is the pervasive feeling that makes the movie so convincing and so scary. Personally, the closer a movie is to reality, the more it makes you think about the consequences of society and its use of technology.

For entertainment purposes, the movie is an excellent example of what great direction, very good acting and a decent plot can do – add in the excellent animations and the blood pumping action scenes and you have a classic sci-fi thriller. Then add to this the way in which the movie makes you think and you have a very compelling and subtly frightening movie that appeals on many different levels.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the movie on many levels. While watching, it excited me, there was just enough action and suspense to keep me on the edge of my seat at times, and enough decent dialogue to keep me intrigued about what was going to happen – the plot wasn’t too complicated, but it did have a few intriguing twists and a few unexpected turns. Once leaving the theater, I then caught myself thinking about the moral dilemmas the movie portrayed and how it might affect my life on day. This double-edge movie thus satisfies in many ways!