"I, Robot" has a serious identity crisis. Director Alex Proyas and screenwriter Jeff Vintar want to make a serious and thought provoking film. Meanwhile, star Will Smith, the producers, and the last-minute touch up writer Akiva Goldsman want to make a big summer blockbuster for the mainstream masses. For this, "I, Robot" suffers, but not too much. It's still a lot of fun, but it's not what it could have been.

Contrary to what the posters say, this film is not based on the book of stories from which it takes it's title. The studios owned the rights to the story, but didn't want to make it because it wasn't action packed. Along came a script Jeff Vintar about robots called "Hardwired." The studios had Akiva Goldsman make some adjustments and had a few elements of the stories put in, called it "I, Robot" and packaged it as a Will Smith vehicle.

"I Robot" has some brilliant moments that shine through what one could easily call "just another action movie." The first is thanks to Alex Proyas. Just like he did in "Dark City," Proyas creates a truly original world. The architecture is a combination of modern and futuristic, and the staging of the action scenes is superb. A tunnel car chase and the climax are truly inspired. Vintar's script is good too. It's filled with some nice twists and turns, and it tells an overall good story. There is also a great performance by Alan Tudyuk as a robot named Sonny. Like Andy Serkis as Gollum in "Lord of the Rings," Tudyuk was on set every day, but in post production was given CGI "make-up" so to speak. He resembles Tudyuk and speaks exactly like Tudyuk, but the CGI make-up makes him into a different character. It's remarkable.

There are some corny moments, thanks to Smith and Goldsman. A good, serious story is polluted with many "Will-isms," like "Hell No!" and "Now I'm really pissed off!" Smith has proven himself to be a great actor in films like "Ali." Why he chooses to rely on the same lines over and over again is beyond me. Scenes of comic relief stick out like a sore thumb, and some of the supporting characters are downright stupid.

"I Robot" is a summer blockbuster well worth seeing. If you can ignore the mainstream frills, you can have quite a time. I still await the day, though, when the average audience can accept something 100% intelligent as entertaining, but until then, this will work.

© Written by Jacob Hall

How We Rated This Film TC Candler - B- Richard Propes - C+ Jacob Hall - B

TC Candler's Comment

A worthy popcorn adventure flick.

Richard Propes' Comment

n/a