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I, ROBOT By Tom McCurrie
I, ROBOT is like too many movies nowadays: starts out awesome, then gets less memorable as it goes along.
(Warning: Spoilers Ahead!)
Loosely based on the classic Isaac Asimov book, and written by Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman, I, ROBOT has an intriguing premise: a robot is charged with murder. This is a fresh, thought-provoking concept for a megabudget tentpole. Do machines have a soul (and the violent impulses that go with it) or just something programmed to look like one? Can a robot be guilty of murder even if it was obeying orders? Heavy-duty philosophizing like this gives I, ROBOT a refreshing resonance, and a strong pull on the viewer.
Unfortunately, I, ROBOT soon devolves into a much less intriguing plotline, one about machines taking over the world. True, this leads to some top-flight visual effects -- in one outstanding sequence, the robots swarm over a speeding car like an army of red ants, trying to take out the driver. And it does allow Will Smith to strut his stuff as an action star, nearly drowning the screen in his charisma.
But though the machines vs. humanity plot provides for more action, it also makes I, ROBOT less memorable. That's because this plot is simply too familiar to have any punch. A sense of deja vu hangs over the proceedings: the mastermind of the robot rebellion, a security system called VIKI, is too reminiscent of Skynet from the TERMINATOR movies, while lead robot "Sonny" speaks in the same unctuous cadence as supercomputer HAL in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968). All this "been there, done that" eventually turns I, ROBOT into just another technology-run-amok thriller, and as such, into something fairly routine.
The script has some plotholes as well. VIKI says it wishes to take over the world to protect mankind from itself (i.e., its tendency to wage wars, etc.). But in I, ROBOT, mankind seems to be at complete peace, making this reasoning especially illogical for a computer. (In 1970's COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT, mankind's baser instincts were much more effectively dramatized, making Colossus' quest to run the world more understandable.)
Another problem is with Smith's character. It's established early on that he has a virulent paranoia about robots; he thinks they're evil beings waiting for the right moment to stab humanity in the back. All this is due to a traumatic incident in his past: a car wreck sent both Smith and a little girl into the river, and a nearby robot saved Smith instead of the girl because Smith had the mathematically-better chance of survival. Now it's reasonable that Smith would have survivor's guilt, and would maybe even resent robots in general for making him suffer that guilt. But this doesn't explain his belief that all robots are potentially violent criminals.
There has to be a better reason for Smith's distaste. Looking at the ALIEN movies provides an answer. Ripley didn't trust androids in ALIENS because one went loco in ALIEN and nearly killed her. Maybe if Smith witnessed a robot malfunction and kill someone (maybe even a loved one), his hatred for machines would be more understandable. A backstory like this would also help explain his hatred for himself -- in a good Second Act twist, it turns out that Smith is part robot too, having had some body parts replaced after the car wreck that nearly killed him. As it is now, this self-loathing feels forced.
I, ROBOT shows the good that can happen when a movie has a strong premise, and the bad that can happen when that premise is abandoned too soon.
Responses, comments and general two-cents worth can be E-mailed to [email protected].
(Note: For all those who missed my past reviews, they're now archived on Hollywoodlitsales.com. Just click the link on the main page and it'll take you to the Inner Sanctum. Love them or Hate them at your leisure!)
A graduate of USC's School of Cinema-Television, Tom McCurrie has worked as a development executive and a story analyst. He is currently a screenwriter living in Los Angeles.
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