Great Film: I, Robot
Excellent film
The maker of a film adaptation has three choices. First, he can try to
translate the original medium as faithfully as possible, striving as
much as possible to preserve the spirit and content of the original
while re-imagining the story as a film. Peter Jackson's Lord of the
Rings films exemplify this approach. Second, he could instead try to
capture the essence of the original, while largely abandoning the
particulars of the original, as in the intelligently satirical but
hard-hearted film version of Starship Troopers. Third, he can try to do
something original with the material, drawing inspiration from the
written story, but creating a unique film with a unique vision. I,
Robot is more the the third than the first or second. While little
remains of Asimov's stories in this killer robot metropolitan fantasy,
the film is informed by, and offers no disrespect, to the good Doctor's
creations.
Will Smith plays a Jack Slater-styled maverick cop. If it's old, it's
good.
He wears vintage converse, listens to Stevie Wonder, and apparently
regards sweet potato pie as a food group. Will Smith's acting is a
naturalistic shuffle, a Columbo-like pastiche of mumbling, sarcasm, and
unexpected outbursts of charisma and off-balancing interrogation
techniques. He delivers his one-liners with unnecessary seriousness.
While in Men in Black, he aimed for the ballparks with his
power-swinging action-comedy style, here his conscientious style gets
in the way, suggesting a character who stands in front of the mirror
practicing his zingers like a Tuesday night comic. It's not entirely
Smith's fault, as the movie itself can't seem to decide if he's
standing in for Bogart or Schwarzenegger, or if the character had a
life of his own before the film starts rolling. His performance is
intelligent, marred by occasional "Gotcha, suckaz!" moments that remind
us that all films made in Hollywood are made in Hollywood.
His opposite, Bridget Moynahan, fits her role more surely. She's an ice
queen in the classic action movie tradition, a stiff-necked,
self-important, lonely woman who has been absorbed by her work so
completely she remains a teenager at heart, awkward, vulnerable, and
searching for the approval of others. Moynahan's bug-eyed discomfort
and clipped, TV-sarcastic delivery are those of the quintessential
comedy sidekick. Nonetheless, in rare moments, she invests the
character's personal revelations with warmth, doubt, and a glow of
determination and moral purpose. While Smith vacillates between
supercop and Bogie, Moynahan seems to have found a happy medium between
the Saturday matinée and the midnight marathon, a mixture of fun and
humanity with a carriage of seriousness appropriate to what is
essentially a monster movie.
The robot, Sonny, is a character himself, a curious, frightened
creature that seems capable of anything. Could Sonny be the murderer?
We hope not, and yet, we see the grim possibility that a machine might
consider itself more than a human being. We understand Sonny's drive to
live and grow. As human beings, we know what lengths we would go to to
ensure our survival, whatever the moral charges facing us.
A top scientist has been murdered, and there are no human suspects, so
the powerful US Robotics corporation (no relation to the modem
manufacturers) convinces the powers-that-be to consider his unexpected
death a suicide. Spooner (Will Smith) alone searches for the truth of
the matter, fueled by hatred for robots and a personal debt to the dead
scientist. Dr. Calvin (Moynahan) feels his intrusive investigation is
unnecessary, although new pieces of evidence appear that gradually
shake her confidence. Robots are programmed by the Three Laws to serve
humanity, but Spooner is convinced one of the new NS-5 units, a unique
prototype, is the murderer. As Spooner gets deeper to the heart of the
mystery, the story explodes with robotic violence. Like all good
mysteries, the real question is not "Whodunnit?" but "Why?" The heroes
do some things for the wrong reasons, and the villains do some things
for the right, rational reasons. Although I, Robot hardly pauses for
introspection, it does asks us, "What makes a human being superior to a
machine?" There are twists and surprises, although in the end, the
movie plays out in the only way it can, a band of brave heroes trying
to throw the ring into Mt. Doom while the armies of evil march. And
yet, the movie leaves us wanting more. What is the future of humanity?
How will we control our machines, and how will we prevent the machines
from becoming our masters?
While not as ambitious as A.I., it is more successful, and while not as
intelligent as Robocop, it is better played. While the movie does
suffer from inconsistencies in mood and philosophy, such hiccups are
secondary to the emotionality and drive of the film, its fury of
thought as well as action. In moments, I, Robot is a terrifying vision
of the future. Too few science-fiction movies manage to scare us with
the power of technology, but future shock is vital to the
science-fiction story. Modern science-fiction truly began with the
detonation at White Sands. The Atomic Age has given way to the Digital
Age, but we still have not solved the problem of how to wrest the power
of technology from the creatures of the id.
Cast
- Lt. John Bergin played by Chi Mcbride
- Sonny played by Alan Tudyk
- Del Spooner played by Will Smith
- Chin played by Terry Chen
- Granny played by Adrian Ricard
- Dr. Alfred Lanning played by James Cromwell
- Lawrence Robertson played by Bruce Greenwood
