Will Smith has earned a reputation for being the king of summer movies. Starting with “Bad Boys” and continuing with the likes of “Independence Day” and “Men in Black”, Smith’s career took off fast. Soon enough, he was trying to add some intelligence to his blockbusters. Hence, “I, Robot”. In the year 2035, we will live in a world where artificially intelligent robots are as common as a household pet. In this world, they will protect us. They will serve us. They can never– ever harm us.
“I, Robot”, loosely based on the collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov, features Will Smith as Del Spooner, a Chicago cop who, despite the rest of the world’s acceptance, has no tolerance nor trust for these robots.
The three laws of robotics according to Isaac Asimov:
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
In “I, Robot”, Detective Spooner is called in to investigate a suicide by a friend, Dr. Lanning (James Cromwell), one of the pioneers of U.S. Robotics. Spooner, however, doesn’t think this is a suicide at all. His distrust in these mechanical servants has him convinced the murder was committed by a robot called Sonny (Alan Tudyk), a robot who seems to be convinced it has free will.
Spooner’s investigation leads him into a mystery to discover what really happened to Dr. Lanning. Are these robots beginning to tap into their human programming? Can they in fact think on their own or are they still being manipulated by man with a more dangerous plan in mind?
Will Smith is quite good here, as he usually is. The movie features some exciting action sequences as Spooner and another scientist (Bridget Moynahan) find themselves on the run, targets of the current head of U.S. Robotics, played by Bruce Greenwood.
“I, Robot” is a fun sci-fi action movie that presents a number of philisophical questions as to what is the difference between man and machine, besides the obvious. The CGi used for the robots is better than most movies and the story is involving enough that it keeps you interested throughout the whole film.
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