US Robotics, I thought they made modems... ???

Is it just me, or is this movie strikingly similar to Men In Black? I mean, replace the robots with aliens, throw in Tommy Lee Jones, some shades, a black suit... and voila! This thought first occurred to me in a scene where Will Smith is chasing down a robot who he thinks has stolen a purse (just like a scene where I recall him chasing an alien). Okay, that may be simplifying things a bit.

This movie takes place in the year 2035 where civilization is moving towards having a computer, oops... I mean robot, in every household. Problem is that the robots are going to take over and only 1 man sees it coming. Based on the book of short stories by Isaac Asimov

This movie has the feel of one of those low budget films where they saved all the money for the visual effects rather than on casting and actors. I can count all the characters that Will Smith (Spooner) interacts with throughout the movie in 1 hand (his grandma, the lady scientist, the police chief, and the president of USR, did I miss anyone?).

The robots are pretty cool, especially when they crawl and jump around like Spider-man. The story is a bit cheesy, I mean Hansel and Gretel (oh brother...), but based on an interesting premise. There's some pretty cool cars, although I doubt those models will be around in 30 years. I prefer BMW anyways. The ending was a bit confusing. I think there's a setup for a sequel. Go see for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

a feast for the eyes and the mind

I took my folks to see this film, simply on eye-candy merit alone. I really expected to do a lot of eye-rolling, but boy, was I wrong! I did not read the Asimov book, but those who have criticized the movie for not being true to the book are criticizing an orange for not being an apple. The opening credits say "suggested by the book by Isaac Asimov," not even "based on," simply suggested. Asimov's book may be far superior than the vision of this film's director, but I sure did enjoy watching the film! The movie is clearly inspired by the work of Asimov, but departs soon thereafter.

Will Smith is Del Spooner, a Chicago police detective in the year 2035. His marriage is on the rocks and he finds himself in a city literally polluted with a race of robots that he deplores. Most of society has embraced these robots as those who do the jobs that are either too hazardous or too unappealing for the common man... but Spooner finds them lacking the one human element that cannot be created for a robot - a heart.

Spooner finds himself investigating the death of Dr. Alfred Lanning (Academy Award nominated James Cromwell), the creator of the race of robots. It appears to everyone that Dr. Lanning committed suicide, but Spooner finds no motive for a suicide and instead stumbles upon a trail of bread crumbs that lead him to the suspicion the Robots are not as safe as their creators have been claiming.

"Sonny," a unique robot created by Dr. Lanning, is a character unto himself. Possessing true emotions, Alan Tudyk ("A Knight's Tale") provides the voice for the Robot who is looking for purpose in life. Tudyk's performance as the voice artist is eerily like the voice of Douglas Rain, the voice behind the Hal 9000 computer from "A Space Odyssey."

The film takes the viewer on exciting twists and turns, through plot and through tunnels, kung fu fightiing and lots of bullets a-flyin'. It is truly not evident until the last minute of the film who the real enemy is. Is it the corporation? Is it the robots? Was it Dr. Lanning?

Spooner enlists the help of Dr. Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), a devotee & protoge of the late Dr. Lanning. She tends to be as "logical" and cold as the robots she develops and finds Spooner's suggestion that a Robot could have killed Dr. Lanning as unlikely as a man walking on water. Spooner reminds Calvin that there was a man a long time ago that could do just that. Chi McBride ("Boston Public") plays Lt. John Bergin, Spooner's boss and another well-meaning character that finds the likelihood of a rebellious robot highly unbelievable.

The fast pace and spectacular special effects keep you on your mental toes and keep you guessing. There is quite a bit of foul language and the film is too intense for really young viewers. I had heard a lot of hype about a frontal nude scene with Will Smith... either it was exaggerated or else it was snipped at the last minute - because the closest to that is a brief side shot of Smith in the shower - albeit nudity, it hardly qualifies as "frontal nudity" and while pretty unnecessary in the grand scheme of things, it didn't make my eyes roll too far in the back of my head or make my mother blush. I could have lived w/o the scene altogether, but it did not offend my otherwise fairly puritanical sensibilities.

Don't cheat yourself and wait for video - this film deserves to be seen on the big screen!

Will Smith is a Great Star

As a typical Summer popcorn flick, I Robot should be familiar to any regular moviegoer. It plays like a highlight reel of many android/smart computer movier of the past 25 years. The actual short story collection serves as little more than a vaguely familiar name to hang the whole enterprise on to lend it an air of legitimacy. I'm pretty sure Asimov would have been appalled by this movie just as Homer would have been appalled by Brad Pitt's Troy. In I Robot, little tiny bits of the short stories are mixed with The Matrix, The Animatrix, the 1st 2 Terminator movies, the 2 MIBs, Minority Report, Blade Runner, the original Star wars trilogy, 2001 and A.I, among others. Will Smith proves that he is just about the most charming, likable and talented actor working today by his ability to hold this movie stew together. He's great, the CGI is great and the action is fun. Worth the ticket price if you don't expect arthouse cinema.