To you, a robot is just a robot. But you haven’t worked with them. You don’t know them. They’re a cleaner, better breed than we are. This film uses Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics: 1. A robot must not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Apart from the Three Laws, the film is a total departure from the collection of short stories that make up Asimov’s I, Robot. In short, this is not a film adaptation of the book, it is just loosely based on some of the stories, a couple of ideas from “Reason” and “Liar!” For example, Dr. Susan Calvin, the “robopsychologist,” is a beautiful young scientist and not a 70-year-old woman, which is a welcome change. The film revolves around the life of Del Spooner, played by Will Smith, a robot-hating detective that investigates a mysterious death of a top robot scientist and his nightmarish discoveries about what’s going on at the company. The company is named U.S. Robotics, which is a bit nostalgic for me. I remember when a company named U.S. Robotics made the best modems in the world, but I guess I am aging myself.
Sonny, voice played by Alan Tudyk, is the surprise character in the film. He truly brings out the “humanity” of the character and manages to touch lightly on the concepts of humanization that is so prevalent in Asimov’s work. He plays the robot with the naivete of a child trying to find his station and purpose in life and his connection with Dr. Calvin’s character is palpable. The film has all of the suspense, explosions, and high-tech wizardry that you would expect from a summer blockbuster. It also has the acting performances are what you would expect in an action film. Will Smith, as always, is very charismatic. Apart from the very rushed and nonsensical ending, this film is very entertaining and worthy of a summer afternoon at the movies. |
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