well from some of the reviews we have been getting this movie is anything but "omg robots go crazy and now everything gets blowed up!!!". it might not be an adapation worthy of the books, and they might be stealing the name but WHO KNOWS maybe it actually is smart and good. and maybe and just maybe shines lights on the original work and might get people to read up on it?
I got off work early today, so I went to see it. There's bad news and good news.
The first two-thirds of the movie is the bad news, due mostly to a piece-of-shit screenplay whose final draft is by Akiva "I Can't Write" Goldsman. Will Smith is the Generic Wisecracking Black Guy, there's a murder mystery that's not much of one, a couple of chase scenes, etc. This part of the movie is like A.I. For Dummies. There's too much CG, and the coloring is off on many of the digital mattes, so the green-screen looks really obvious, like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. However, Bridget Moynahan actually makes a good Susan Calvin, at least in this part of the movie.
Now, about the last third: the screenplay still sucks, but IT'S ALEX PROYAS TIME. Amazing visuals and action sequences (even though they're almost all CG, they've got great composition and design), even if the writing isn't near as good as Dark City. You almost don't mind that the movie shits all over Asimov's three laws of robotics by
using a lame-brained interpretation of the Zeroth Law from Robots and Empire to justify a robot revolution.
There's one particular shot I'm thinking of that's a reference to Dark City, and in general there's just a cool Alex Proyas vibe to it that the first two thirds lacked. The bad news is that
Susan Calvin goes from an interesting character to a Generic Female Lead--for the first two thirds it seemed to me like Moynahan had prepped for the part by actually reading Asimov's book, something no one else associated with the film seemed to have gotten around to doing. Once she lets her hair down and puts on casual clothes and starts firing a gun, that all gets thrown away, though.
Is it good? If you like Proyas, or you like Asimov, then you'll definitely wish that Proyas had written the screenplay, and kept Will Smith from delivering his patented brand of comic relief. It's not the trainwreck of the film version of Asimov's "Nightfall," but it's certainly not the best thing I've seen this summer, either. Out of this summer's movies I'd say it's (slightly) better than Riddick, but not as good as HP3 (the best thing I've seen this summer).
I really liked this movie. I just wonder how it would of been without Will Smith and his humor. Like Prospero said the last 2/3s of the movie looked awesome. The Visuals all together were great throughout but the dark visuals dident kick in till that mark. The ending shot was fantastic.
I also wondered how great Dark City would of looked with this kind of budget.
I saw it this afternoon, IMO I think it is the best movie of the summer. This may be because I did not know anything about the movie so I was surprised by everything.
As I was watchign it, the sad thought came into my mind as I thought how long it's been since I saw a GOOD sci fi film, and this reminded me why Sci Fi can be so great.
I just saw it and IMO best movie of the summer and one of the best SCi-Fi movies ive seen in a LONG time.
First, Ive never read books so I have nothing to base it on or judge its credibility. Its new material to me, and it wouldnt matter anyways.
I am also a big Will Smith fan. I love everythiong he brings to his "acting". IMO, regardless of his movie's quality which everyone likes to bitch about. He takes any role he gets and delivers to the best the screenplay will allow him. This is classic Will Smith stuff, if you hate him and his acting, you'll hate his character.
Great movie, way better then Spider-Man 2 or anything else ive seen in awhile(considering action movies) Literally nothing I have to compalin about the movie, everything I expected and then some. Ill probably see it a few times at least.
Prospero I disagree that it's a lame brain interpretation of the
Zeroth Law
what we're seeing again is the
Cyberdyne factor. Robots spending time serving humans finally realize that the best way to protect us is to protect us from ourselves.
You might call that lamebrain but it's not
the only book, movie or franchise that uses it... Terminator
My biggest beef is that this story existed before the studio grabbed the Asimov license, once they had the license it was simply re-written to fit around the license.
I personally would love to see some Elijah Bailey, Daneel, Giskard and even Foundation movies... but unfortunately they'll probably never happen.
With that being said... it was a cool popcorn movie and overall I enjoyed it.
Yep, best movie of the summer so far. Better than Spider-man 2. Never read the Asimov story, so the fact it's supposedly so different didn't bother me.
Not a big fan of Will Smith, but the movie was a great popcorn summer film. Recommended.
Seriously, the only thing that really keeps me away from this thing is the fact that Goldsman touched it. I don't care what the Academy says, he CAN'T FUCKING WRITE.
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Just got back from seeing it. Its was a fun and pretty decent summer movie. I wouldn't necessarily sit through it again, but I'd certainly watch it again on cable or similar. They failed with respect to any real resemblence to any of the real ethics or philosophy of the book, it was a very 'superficial' move at best.
In any event, I didn't hate it - I didn't love it - but I did enjoy it
I thoroughly enjoyed and was captivated by I, Robot. The whole futuristic and sterile look of film works, and is a marvel to look at (of course with everything being in CG.....still nice to involve your eyes in).
The story was straightforward with Will Smith trying to get to the bottom of things. Look under the surface and you'll find a boatload of underlying themes and issues we as a society deal with today: Prejudice, hatred, discrimination, ignorance, honesty, self-discovery, evolution, revolution.....the messages the movie conveys are subtle and direct.
Director Alex Proyas moves everything at a modestly slow pace, but even the movie's real slow parts are never boring since it's engaging. As usual, Will Smith delivers his usual wit and attitude, but that's expected. Some bits were quite funny and hilarious, like
*Sneezes*, "Oh excuse me......I"m allergic to bullshit!"
<--- (Best line in the whole movie, everyone had a riot in the theater.) The action sequences, while few and far between, were fun (some over-the-top of course.....this is a Will Smith vehicle after all) and wild to watch.
I, Robot was a pleasant surprise in this summer season of movies. I'd rank this film as my 2nd best of summer 2005 films so far, right behind Spider-Man 2.
Very much recommended, even to all you Will Smith haters out there. Don't miss it!
I mean, that line was cool when Hudson delivered it fourteen years ago.
DarienA said:
Prospero I disagree that it's a lame brain interpretation of
the Zeroth Law what we're seeing again is the Cyberdyne factor. Robots spending time serving humans finally realize that the best way to protect us is to protect us from ourselves. You might call that lamebrain but it's not the only book, movie or franchise that uses it... Terminator
True enough, I suppose. But that is the sort of plot twist that would never happen in Asimov's world. It's possible that the film would've been much better if the screenplay hadn't tried to graft Asimov's license onto a plot that doesn't really support it. As it is, the first half of the movie gestures toward the kind of logical rigor that the books have, and then throws it all away in the second half in favor of action (though, admittedly, the action does kick ass).
I mean, that line was cool when Hudson delivered it fourteen years ago.
True enough, I suppose. But that is the sort of plot twist that would never happen in Asimov's world. It's possible that the film would've been much better if the screenplay hadn't tried to graft Asimov's license onto a plot that doesn't really support it. As it is, the first half of the movie gestures toward the kind of logical rigor that the books have, and then throws it all away in the second half in favor of action (though, admittedly, the action does kick ass).
The only part that they get right is that if you build an increasingly intelligent race of slaves - you're an idiot. And yes that means that mankind in its infinite intelllligence and arrogance is ultimately stupid
Saw the movie last night, it was darn good I was surprised at how much i liked it. I dont agree with it being better than spiderman but its a fun movie to watch. I just didnt like how the NS5's looked I thought the older models were much cooler looking.
I liked it more than spidey 2, and I LOVED spidey 2. And the last robot rampages and the humans fighting back was about ten times better than anything in the last two matrix movies.
The last parts of the movie rocked ass.
"A cat did that to you?" = Best line of the movie.
And............
DID YOU GUYS SEE WHEN SONNY HIT THAT ONE EVIL ROBOT WITH THE FUCKING PSYCHO CRUSHER?!
My god, Sonny went fucking CRAZY in the hallway. Splitting those robots' shit WIDE the fuck open. He solid snake'd one of them!
Just came back from watching I Robot. Overall it was a damn fine movie and certainly one I will buy on DVD. I thought Will Smith did a very good job in the role as did most of the other actors.
Proyas's directing was very good...EXCEPT during a few dialouge sequences where plot points where being unraveled. There seemed to be nothing visually intriguing when people talked to one another. Most people won't even notice that problem though.
Where Proyas lost track was in the car chase sequence and the final action scene. The car should not have been put into such a ridiculous spin as Will Smith's character would be dead or knocked out and the car would certainly never recover. I liked the concept of the scene and how most of it played out but that spin was unnecessary.
The final action scene, well mostly excellent, suffered from some weak overactive camera moves that swung around the catwalks. These specific shots didn't have any reasoning or motivation other than to call attention to themselves. In a film like The Matrix for example such camera work is justified within the context of the film, here, there isn't any such justification.
Other than that, the effects work was really great except for a shot here and there. Even though I knew and could tell all the robots were CG the thing that sold me on it was Sonny's acting and dialouge. He became a real character much like Gollum in LOTR and you could relate to and sympathise with him.
My only problem with the writing was just that Will Smiths every third line was some kind of zinger.
With those qualms out of the way I'm confident in saying that I Robot is a 9/10 for me.
So my summer goes like this...
I Robot 9/10
Harry Potter 9/10
Spiderman 2 8/10
Man on Fire 7/10
Zatoichi 7/10
Day After Tomorrow 7/10
Mean Girls 7/10
Shrek 2 7/10
Riddick 6/10
Anchorman 6/10
I liked the movie a lot. And really while this certainly isn't something Asimov would have written it isn't a desecration of the source material either. The plot of the movie is broadly similar to Asimov's own games with the Three Laws,
In fact what Vikki attempts is exactly what the robots/computers of "I, Robot" the novel actually pull off. They just are much more subtle and manipulative about it than Vikki was. In fact the only real philosophical difference between the script and the books is that Asimov ulitmately viewed Robot stewardship of humanity (made inevitable by the Three Laws) as a positive thing while the script viewed it as a negative thing.
Sure Asmiov didn't have action sequences, but they didn't get in the way of the underlying plot which I really enjoyed.
I liked the characters and I think the actors did fine jobs. The product placements were overdone though.
I got back from it and was incredibly disappointed. Will Smith and the crappy CGI used made me roll my eyes behind my head so many times during the movie. I haven't rolled my eyes so much at movie since Dawn of the Dead 2004. I didn't think the action sequences were that impressive either. I Robot was worst than Riddick IMHO.
So far this summer the only movies worth watching are Spiderman 2 and Napoleon Dynamite. Don't give into the I Robot hype.
I Robot 9/10
Harry Potter 9/10
Spiderman 2 8/10
Man on Fire 7/10
Zatoichi 7/10
Day After Tomorrow 7/10
Mean Girls 7/10
Shrek 2 7/10
Riddick 6/10
Anchorman 6/10
I was ith you until you gave Man on Fire a 7/10 (which is easily 8-9/10 material) and Day after Tomorrow a 7/10 (which giving a 5/10 would be giving it too much credit).
Just got back, I always suspected it would be a good moive. I loved the visuals, the end shot and the shot of the gigantic robot statue looming over in USR's courtyard stick in my mind. Nice music to go along with those visuals too. The acting is ok, Will was better than I expected and Sonny was pretty good as well. But I'm more of a direction and soundtrack fan than a fan of actors. The tech was cool too. Loved the omni-directional wheels of the vehicles and the vertical parking garage, U of H needs that shit in a bad way.
"Asimov ulitmately viewed Robot stewardship of humanity (made inevitable by the Three Laws) as a positive thing..."
Er... not really. He portrayed it as fear inducing to the point of crippling civilization on one end (Earth), and stifling of the development of humankind on the other (spacers). Early in Asimov's career (the I, Robot stories) he portrayed robots as having a positive impact on society, on the scale of any other technological development (as opposed to the more traditional view that they will become violent and revolt). However, *ultimately* he saw the creation of a gaurdian race of highly intelligent robots as stifling and negative.
Just got back from seeing it. I do agree I,Robot was great! I liked it better the Spiderman 2.
The CG in I,Robot was at least bearable.
But Spiderman 2 had better luck at trying to make me laugh. The jokes in I,Robot were teh suck.
I just watched it, really liked it. The action sequences were awesome the spinning camera work in the last battle is the kinda thing you read about and think "that sounds nauseating" but it just looked so damn cool on film. Smith was at his best, cocky and funny to the extreme, and he had a real attitude rather than his normal male bravado. The female lead was forgettable, to the extent that ive already forgotten her name, but she had a few important lines, Sonny was a great character though.
It probably could have been a little more thought provoking, at the end of the day the story just ended up as Terminator with crappier robots, maybe that wouldnt have sat to well with the majority of the audience though.
Great summer film, id put it at number 2 behind spidey 2 (I, Robot has much better action sequences, probably among the best CG fight scenes ever created, but Spidey 2 was a more entertaining film).
