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Review by Dustin Putman
3 stars out of 4
With 1994's "The Crow" and 1998's "Dark City," director Alex Proyas
auspiciously demonstrated his abilities as a cinematic visionary,
creating stylized, brooding new worlds never before glimpsed on the
silver screen. Even without a solid script (something the mesmerizing
"Dark City" did, indeed, have), the experience of simply watching
a Proyas film would be an awe-inspiring delight. "I, Robot," an aesthetic
and technical marvel "inspired by" the stories of Isaac Asimov, continues
the trend. The future world Proyas has fashioned here is clear and
meticulous, reminiscent of 2002's "Minority Report" but far more accomplished
and visually pleasing than Steven Spielberg's recent tiresome preference
toward washed-out, grainy film stocks.
Set in Chicago, circa 2035, a time in which obedient, programmed robots
have taken over many working-class jobs and will soon number 1/5 of
the population, homicide cop Del Spooner (Will Smith) can't help but
be wary of these technological inventions. His suspicions only grow
when Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), the distinguished creator
and head of the U.S. Robotics Corporation (USR), is found dead. While
robot programmer Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan) and Lanning's successor,
Lawrence Robertson (Bruce Greenwood), insist that his death was a
suicide, Spooner is none so sure when one of the robots, named Sonny
(Alan Tudyk), threatens him with a gun out of fear. Sonny, it turns
out, is unlike most of the robots, able to free-thinkingly interact,
feel emotions, and even dream. Spooner's investigation leads him to
find that many of the robots about to be released into the homes of
the general public have evolved far beyond abiding by human's commands,
and are quietly plan ning to take over society.
The near-future director Alex Proyas has envisioned for "I, Robot"
is a veritable triumph of art direction, cinematography, and visual
effects, the latter of which are, without a doubt, some of the most
convincing and lifelike in movie history. Likewise, the photorealistic
CGI robots are integrated seamlessly with the human actors and live-action
surroundings to the point where it hardly seems like computer effects
at all. When the robots perform various stunts, including jumping
and scaling buildings, it is superior to anything found in "Spider-Man
2"—quite a remarkable feat. As for the details of this 2035 vision
of the world (i.e. all technology is voice-activated, and cars that
run on gas are viewed as archaic), some of it seems a bit exaggerated,
but not to the point where it becomes wildly implausible or takes
the viewer out of the story.
The screenplay, credited to Jeff Vintar (2001's "Final Fantasy: The
Spirits Within") and Akiva Goldsman (2001's "A Beautiful Mind"), dodges
most of the pitfalls of big summer blockbusters. Whereas the recent
"The Day After Tomorrow" garnered unintentional laughs out of its
clumsy, cornball dialogue and unbelievable plot specifics, Vintar
and Goldsman's writing is taut and appropriately no-nonsense. They
also do well with developing the picture's timely message—that humans
are slowly destroying themselves and the world around them every day—without
wallowing on it or spoon-feeding it to audiences. And while there
are a handful of sequences where one's suspension of disbelief is
required, it remains largely grounded in the reality of the situations.
Som e of Will Smith's usual one-liners, however, not overdone but
still unnecessary, feel distinctly out of place.
For Will Smith, his performance as protagonist Del Spooner is more
understated and serious than his work in such low-rent, high-budget
projects as 1996's "Independence Day," 2002's "Men in Black II," and
2003's deplorable "Bad Boys 2." He always has charisma to spare, but
those who remember his award-caliber acting in 1993's "Six Degrees
of Separation" know that Smith is capable of much more than these
typecast parts. He would do well to try a smaller, more character-driven
piece in the near future to reestablish his talent. As USR employee
Susan Calvin, who teams up with Spooner to stop the robot invasion,
Bridget Moynahan (2003's "The Recruit") improves as the film unfolds,
but is so wooden in the first half that she resembled the very robots
her character programmed.
As far as this summer's special effects extravaganzas go, "I, Robot"
is not the best—that title would still go to "Spider-Man 2"—but it
is smart and creative enough to come surprisingly close. The action
set-pieces, including the demolition of a mansion while Spooner is
still inside and a robot attack on his speeding car, are strikingly
and suspensefully woven throughout the two hour running time, serving
the plot in the process without becomes extraneous. Only the finale
seems decidedly anticlimactic, coming to a close a little too soon
for the payoff to be an unequivocal success. "I, Robot" has its certain
demerits, but what surrounds them is so innovative and stunningly
orchestrated that they hardly make a difference. This is a wide-scope
sci-fi thriller done right.
Copyright © 2004 Dustin Putman
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