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I, Robot - Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Alan Tudyk, Alex Proyas

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

What will you do with yours?

Will Smith stars in this action thriller suggested by the classic short story collection by Isaac Asimov, and brought to the big screen by dynamic and visionary director Alex Proyas.

In the year 2035, robots are an everyday household item, and everyone trusts them, except one slightly paranoid detective (Will Smith) investigating what he alone believes is a crime perpetrated by a robot. The case leads him to discover a far more frightening threat to the human race. I, Robot uses a spectacular, state-of-the-art visual effects technique to bring a world of robots to life.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film action crime police science fiction robot

Persons of interest

Will Smith .... Detective Del Spooner
Bridget Moynahan .... Susan Calvin
Alan Tudyk .... Sonny
James Cromwell .... Dr Alfred Lanning
Bruce Greenwood .... Lawrence Robertson
Adrian Ricard .... Gigi
Chi McBride .... Lieutenant John Bergin
Jerry Wasserman .... Baldez
Fiona Hogan .... VIKI
Peter Shinkoda .... Chin
Terry Chen .... Chin
David Haysom .... NS4 Robots
Scott Heindl .... NS5 Robots
Isaac Asimov .... Author
Jeff Vintar .... Storywriter
Akiva Goldsman .... Screenwriter
Jeff Vintar .... Screenwriter
Hillary Seitz .... Screenwriter
Alex Proyas .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

I, Robot official movie site
I, Robot QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS - Oscars) 2005: Nominated: Best Visual Effects
Visual Effects Society Awards 2005: Nominated: Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Motion Picture (Rachael Haupt, Mark Tait Lewis, Nick McKenzie, Geoff Tobin)

See also Bicentennial Man
Studios and distributors:

20th Century Fox

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

I, Robot is less a robot biography than it is I, Will Smith. This is not the fault of Will Smith but of Jeff Vintar, who took an anthology of intriguing and unique short stories and turned them into Die hard. Susan Calvin is no less the hero than any other character in the book despite being a bitter, twisted and lonely harridan; one thing she is not is a beautiful young woman who is afraid of commitment and masks it with an icy veneer. Del Spooner doesn't exist but has vague references to the detective Elijah Baley. NS5s don't exist as the series only goes up to NS2. As the credits advise, this movie is only suggested by the book, which is to say that Jeff Vintar took some interesting concepts and wrote a screenplay around them, completely ignoring any kind of faithful reproduction of those concepts.

The special effects are occasionally less than realistic, which is unacceptable in this day and age. There is a "look and feel" to I, Robot that reminds me of Minority report and a "look and feel" to the robots that reminds me of an iMac. The action is generally uninspired (even though it tries hard) while Will Smith is the funniest thing on the screen (in that Will Smith kind of way).

I, Robot never lives up to its promise and that's a shame because the book has so much to offer. Maybe, if we're lucky, there'll be a remake.

Oh yes, shame on whoever was responsible for the product placement. While product placement (ie advertising which you have paid to see) is bad in any situation, in I, Robot it is overwhelming. Four big brands in the first five minutes. Give us a break, guys!

Also, watch out for Will Smith's bum (and other over-developed muscles). It's tight but it's got nothing on Brad Pitt in Troy.