Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: I, Robot

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Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 07-15-2004, 11:14 PM:

Will Smith just doesn't cut the mustard any more. His lines are tired and his overall screen presence has diminished, in my opinion. Like Jim carrey, I feel like the roles Smith plays are the same in every film.

**** POTENTIAL SPOILER ****
I found this film to be boring, until the polt unfolded 60% of the way thru the movie. I did not pay close enough attention to it to see what was really happening (dozed off twice), but thinking back, had I been into the film, it is clear to see who/what is resonsible for the 'Bot takeover".

Overall, the special effects were pretty neat, and the lead actress (forget her name) was nice eye candy (Sandra Bullock anyone?), but aside from that I don't see any legs to speak of.

3/5

Posted by Don Anderson (Member # 397) on 07-16-2004, 02:30 AM:

Dunno....I kinda liked it. Sure, its been done before, and borrows from every sci-fi film out there. But, it had something. Not sure what, but it kinda grabbed me. Very sharp image, a little grainy. Kick ass audio. And yes, Will Smith is playing the same character role as in every one of his films. His one liners were stale. Looked nice and buff. CGI effects were nice. One plus, I didn't hear Will Smith singing in the soundtrack. I guess there is a god! [Smile]

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 07-16-2004, 03:03 AM:

I woul dhave to agree with Black that it was kinda boring until about halfway through. I was suprised to see how much they actually used from the book. It would have been nice if they would have focused as much on Sonny (sp?) as they did in the book.

Posted by Robert L. Fischer (Member # 2424) on 07-16-2004, 03:52 AM:

I usually hate every mainstream movie I see, especially those with bloated budgets. As far as wide releases go, the only movie I've seen so far this summer that I might give a thumbs-up to is Anchorman, and even that's very sketchy given how absolutely moronic it is. That said, I, Robot is easily the best movie I've seen this year. In recent history, I don't recall many, if any, movies that can pack in so many ideas, themes, and instances of foreshadowing without collapsing under its own weight. The movie connected on almost every level possible, from the pacing to the special effects to the set design. Sonny's facial expressions and voice fit his character amazingly well and he has cult icon written all over him (think C-3PO). Even Will Smith's acting was fairly decent, and his one-liners didn't really detract from the movie as much as I thought they would -- some of them are actually pretty comical. The movie has a lot to say about humanity, free will, and the effects of technology that are subtle enough not to annoy, yet relevant enough to have an effect on someone watching the movie. Also, I can't think of many movies that can make you think it's going to be entirely predictable and throw you for a loop over and over again. The details that are thrown in here and there as context clues are very well thought out, but one must exercise patience through the first half of the movie in order to fully understand the plot. It is a shame that this movie will not gross as much as far lesser, but similarly-themed movies. On that note, it will be a sad portrayal of what appeals to the American public if it fails to top the completely undeserving box office grosses of the horrid Day After Tomorrow.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-16-2004, 06:14 AM:

I am deeply concerned for your mental health Robert. Really, I am. Anchorman???

Well so far in 2004 the best movie (in my opinion of course) has been The Girl Next Door. But this review is about I, Robot and the awesomeness that is Will Smith in another identical role.

All in all, this is pretty decent. It's been done before and there aren't many things that you won't figure out long before they happen, but overall it's definitely a reasonable way to kill a couple of hours this summer. However like the others have pointed out, it does D R A G at points! (And no Phil, I'm not talking about cross-dressing.) Had they cut about 20 minutes out of this, it would've been a much better movie.

Warning, this movie does have an insane amount of cgi effects. *yawn* Does this even impress anyone any more?

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 07-16-2004, 07:12 AM:

The SONNY robot was very well done. It almost had more character than the human actors.

The basic situation reminded me of the ancient computer classic: COLUSSUS, THE FORBIN PROJECT.

Lots of plot holes. Female lead was attractive, but not my type.

Schwartzennegger in his prime could easily have been plugged in as the lead. Will Smith seemed to be walking through it.

Why was Shia LeBouef in this movie? How was he related to anything? This kid is a very good actor and he deserved to do more.

Saw this at an AMC on a very large Torus screen. Image looked good from the front, but when you move off-center the vertical curve becomes distracting. This is especially true during the credits.

All-in-all, not a bad summer film. It will make some money, but by the end of summer it will be forgotten.

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 07-16-2004, 05:41 PM:

This movie was pretty good.

Will Smith had some really good one liners in this. This was really good for a straight up action flick. Bridget Moynahan is really beautiful. I didn't think it was as bad as you guys put it.

It was an average film.

3/5

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 07-16-2004, 11:47 PM:

Richard, so is the movie pretty good or average? [Razz]

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-17-2004, 12:27 AM:

This movie had some good action sequences but became predictable half way through the movie. I agree that Arnold could have played this role...so could Stallone and Bruce Willis. The story, it felt was weak. All in all I give it ** Stars out of 4

Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 07-20-2004, 11:37 AM:

3 of 4 stars!

Posted by Jannette McQueen (Member # 1885) on 07-20-2004, 02:22 PM:

I really liked the movie. But I must admit, it would be a tough job to find something I *completely* hated. With movies, I do tend to looko more at what I liked about the movie, than what I didn't, I guess that's so that I feel I got my money (or passes) worth.

Anyway, first of all, on the CG, I have to say I found it far less distracting than most movies I've looked at where it's included. Only two parts stuck out in my mind. The first was when the NS5's were being distributed and the one robot runs to a child which hugs it, and to me, most interaction between GC characters and living characters just never works. The second was when Spooner and Calvin were walking out of the assembly room, and I couldn't get over the fact that it was screaming "green screen!". Aside from that, I was pretty happy with it.

I'm usually not disappointed with the acting. I thought Smith and Moynahan did well enough. Again, it would have to be really bad before I put up any objections.

I liked the plot. It gave enough twists and turns to keep me entertained. I am very curious as to how the plot differered from Asimov's story.

I remember that the original impression that the trailers gave was it was "Will Smith vs. the killer robots" and one guy I know said that "Asimov fans are frothing at the mouth" in rage over how the story was going to be butchered. I gave it the benifit of the doubt and told myself that "well the trailers are meant to pull business in for the movie and so it's only going to show the most action-oriented clips of the movie, which isn't always an accurate representation of the entire movie.

Having not read the book myself (Asimov's style just doesn't keep my attention) I'd like to know what people who did read the book thought.

So my question is: *Was* the movie a complete abomination of the original story? Or did it accurately represent the ideas that Asimov was trying to convey? Was it an entirely different plot along the same lines as the book? Was the Spooner character meant to be old, and they just put Smith in the part so that he could be the action hero? (I'm thinking of the fact that John Anderton from Minority Report was an older character in the written work, but Cruise was the young action hero in that movie).

As for the comment about Arnie or Stallone being able to fit into the part as well ... personally I don't think so. That would make it a little *too* action-like. Agreed, Smith was really buff, but to me I still think he's almost an average-joe type.

And speaking of Average Joe's, Sonny was voiced by Steve the Pirate from Dodgeball, which I was surprized to find out the morning after watching I, Robot.

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 07-30-2004, 12:17 AM:

I Robot wasnt as bad as I expected. It had some moments of cheesy FX, but they thankfully didn't go overboard on CGI stuff. They were downright discrete in its use compared to some other summer movies. Except for the tunnel scenes, the CGI doesn't really stick out badly.

Overall, a harmless movie to watch in the theater, and a worthwhile DVD rental. The "aah Hell No" lines by Will Smith weren't as plentiful as I feared.

And what is with showing Will Smith without a shower door obscuring the view, but then they use the fogged up shower door thing for the female lead. Not fair!

Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 08-04-2004, 02:01 AM:

I enjoyed it even when I pretty much knew the outcome. Will Smith is HOT... I usually don't get into his characters very much, but this movie has an exception. YUMMY. [Wink]

I sooo want that car! The Audi whatever its called [Smile]

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 01-24-2005, 07:41 PM:

I had expected this to suck, and was pretty much surprised that it didn't. My thoughts are pretty much the same as Brad's--too much CGI, but not a bad film, either. Good film to watch when bored.