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	I, Robot
	Alex Proyas Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, Alan Tudyk 2004		The late sci-fi author Isaac Asimov might be agonizing on the astral plane. The film "I, Robot" copped its title, its three laws of robotics and little else from a seminal book of Asimov short stories. According to the credits, it was "suggested by" Asimov's writing, rather than adapted from it. So the screenwriters took a hint and turned it into a Will Smith project. As special-effects-driven action fare goes, it isn't appalling. Smith, likeable star of "Men in Black," plays Del Spooner, a Chicago P.D. detective in the year 2035. It's an era of sophisticated robots programmed to serve humans, but Del doesn't trust the mechanical miracles. When a robotics expert (James Cromwell) is found dead in an apparent suicide, Del suspects a robot named Sonny of murdering the scientist. The scientist died at U.S. Robotics; company psychologist Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan) defends Sonny. Something does not compute. With shaky logic, techno-babble, throwaway characters, and Smith cracking as wise as his fans expect, "I, Robot" never settles on a single coherent tone. Is it a dystopian nightmare, "Robots Gone Wild," from its director Alex Proyas, whose sci-fi noir "Dark City" was a superior movie? Or is it a CGI shoot-'em-up with comic relief from Smith? It does neither to the utmost and can't measure up to the smarter, similarly themed futurism of "Blade Runner" and "Minority Report."


	Wednesday, December 18, 2024





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