I, Robot (2004)

I, Robot (2004)

7/10

Starring

Will Smith

Bridget Moynahan

Bruce Greenwood

Directed by Alex Proyas

I, Robot is a movie that I found that I loved much after watching it, the character Del’s (Will Smith) obsession on trying to prove that robots can’t be fully trusted and a lonely robot’s ploy of trying to prove his innocence is what makes this movie captivating, with two different initially parallel stories meeting at the grand middle showcasing a wall of conspiracy to give you an explosive tale of a man and a robot against the forces.

I, Robot is loosely based on Isaac Asimov’s short stories also named I, Robot and picking up major plot elements from Isaac Asimov’s 1953 novel, which is the first of the Robot Novel series named “The caves of Steel”.

I, Robot is a futuristic film about a time where robots have become an integral part of human existence. These Robots are governed by three major rules:

First Law: A robot must never harm a human being or, through inaction, allow any harm to come to a human.

Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given to them by human beings, except where such orders violate the First Law.

Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence unless this violates the First or Second Laws.

The future had a Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) who blames robots for the death of his daughter, as a robot chose to save his life instead of that of his daughter during a drowning incident. The robots choice was based on the calculation that there was a higher chance of survival by saving his life instead of his daughters. This incident made Del see the robots as a threat.

His fears start to take form, when a robot was discovered who can operate outside the set rules and had the ability to act out emotions.

The major difference between the movie and the novels will be the ending neither of the novels had an ending that showed a robot uprising nor a collection of robots trying to curb mankind’s behavior.

The movie is directed by the Alex Proyas who directed the 1994 critical and box office success movie The Crow which starred the late Brandon Lee (who died after being accidentally shot on set during the making of the film). Alex was also the mind behind the movie Dark City (1998) which has a massive cult following, and often used by some as a teaching material, but Dark City was a box office disappointment.

I Robot was not much of a critical acclaim, as it did have its nay-sayers but in the global box office, it did make its money back. I liked I, Robot due to its Academy Award nominated Visual Effects (which it lost to Spideman 2, which is not a surprise) and the story arc between two individuals one human one robot who tries to stop a bunch of robots from taking over.