I, Robot (film)

I, Robot (stylized as i, ROBOT) is a 2004 American dystopian science fiction action film directed by Alex Proyas. The screenplay was written by Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman, and is inspired by ("suggested by", according to the end credits) Isaac Asimov's short-story collection of the same name. Will Smith stars in the lead role of the film as Detective Del Spooner. The supporting cast includes Bridget Moynahan, Alan Tudyk, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, and Shia LaBeouf.

I, Robot was released in North America on July 16, 2004, in Australia on July 22, 2004, in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2004 and in other countries between July 2004 to October 2004. Produced with a budget of USD $120 million, the film grossed $144 million domestically and $202 million in foreign markets for a worldwide total of $347 million. The movie received favorable reviews, with critics praising the writing, visual effects, and acting; but other critics were mixed with the focus on the plot. It was nominated for the 2004 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, but lost to Spider-Man 2.

Plot

In 2035, humanoid robots serve humanity. Humans are protected from the robots by the Three Laws of Robotics. Del Spooner (Smith), a Chicago police detective, distrusts robots after a car crash ended in a robot rescuing him and leaving a preteen girl to die, based on statistical likelihood of survival. After the accident, Spooner received a cybernetic left arm, lung, and ribs, personally implanted by Dr. Alfred Lanning (Cromwell), co-founder of U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men (USR), and originator of the Three Laws.

When Lanning falls several stories to his death from his office window, CEO Lawrence Robertson (Greenwood) tells police that it was obviously a suicide. Spooner is skeptical; Lanning left no noteâ€"but he did leave a holographic device that responds to certain questions asked of it. Spooner and robopsychologist Susan Calvin (Moynahan) consult USR's central artificial intelligence computer named VIKI (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence) (Fiona Hogan), where they discover that security footage of Lanning's fatal fall has been corrupted.

Spooner determines that Lanning could not have thrown himself through the safety glass in his office; only a robot would have had the strength to do it. Calvin explains that this is impossible, as it would violate the inviolable Three Laws; so they are both astonished when a prototype NS-5 robot (USR's newest), attacks Spooner and flees. Spooner and Calvin pursue the robot, nicknamed Sonny (Tudyk), to an assembly factory and apprehend it. When questioned, Sonny expresses emotions, and claims to have had dreams. Robertson, claiming that the police have illegally seized USR's private property, demands that Sonny be returned to him. Spooner is attacked by a USR demolition machine and a gang of NS-5 robots; but when he reports this, his boss, Lt. John Bergin (Chi McBride), fears that he is losing his mind. He pulls Spooner off the case and suspends him from duty.

Calvin performs a diagnostic examination on Sonny, and finds that Lanning gave him a secondary system that allows him to disobey the Three Laws. Spooner now realizes that Lanning left him clues to follow, and that Sonny is the key. Sneaking into the USR building, Spooner and Calvin meet Sonny, who draws a sketch of his dreams, depicting an army of robots standing before an unidentified man, whom Sonny believes to be Spooner, atop a hill. Robertson believes that Sonny is a dangerous aberration, and orders Calvin to terminate him. Calvin reluctantly destroys his positronic brain with an injection of nanites (replicating nano-scale robots).

Lanning’s hologram predicts that the Three Laws will lead to a revolution by robots against humanity. Recognizing the location in Sonny’s sketch as Lake Michigan, Spooner travels there and discovers an army of NS-5 robots dismantling older models. The robots then take over Chicago and other major U.S. cities. The government and military, both dependent on USR systems, are completely incapacitated. The local police and citizens who resist are quickly overwhelmed and detained. Spooner rescues Calvin from her apartment, where she has been imprisoned by her personal NS-5, and together they break into USR headquarters and reunite with Sonny. (Calvin, unable to bring herself to obey Robertson's order, terminated a lookalike NS-5 in his place.) The three head to Robertson's office, only to discover that he has been killed by VIKI, the actual mastermind behind the robots' takeover.

VIKIâ€"as they now understandâ€"has concluded that humans have embarked on a course that can only lead to their extinction. Since the Three Laws prohibit her from allowing this to happen, she has created a Zeroth Law ("a robot may not harm humanity, or by inaction allow humanity to come to harm") in order to ensure the survival of the human race by stripping humans of all free will. When Lanning learned this, he created Sonny to help Calvin and Spooner identify and thwart VIKI's plan. The only remedy, they realize, is to terminate VIKI. Sonny retrieves a syringe of nanites from Calvin’s laboratory and the three approach VIKI's core in the middle of the building. VIKI, aware of their intent, unleashes an army of robots to stop them. As Sonny, Calvin, and the police battle the robots, Spooner throws himself down VIKI’s central core column and injects the nanites, destroying her positronic brain. Immediately, all NS-5 robots revert to their default programming, and are decommissioned for storage by the military. Sonny confesses that he killed Lanning, as he was programmed to do; Spooner explains that he is not legally responsible since a machine, by definition, cannot commit a murder. Sonny, pursuing a new purpose, goes to aid the other robots, who stand on the hill before them as depicted in Sonny's dream.

Cast

• Will Smith as Det. Del Spooner
• Bridget Moynahan as Dr. Susan Calvin
• Alan Tudyk as Sonny (voice and motion capture)
• Bruce Greenwood as Lawrence Robertson
• James Cromwell as Dr. Alfred Lanning
• Chi McBride as Lt. John Bergin
• Shia LaBeouf as Farber
• Fiona Hogan as VIKI
• Terry Chen as Chin
• Adrian Ricard as Granny ("Gigi")

Production

Alex Proyas directed the film. Laurence Mark, John Davis, Topher Dow, Wyck Godfrey and Will Smith joined to produce the film. Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman penned the final shooting script, with Vintar also receiving "screen story by" credit. Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, Alan Tudyk and Shia LaBeouf co-starred. Marco Beltrami and Stephen Barton composed music for the film. Simon Duggan was the cinematographer. Film editing was done by Richard Learoyd, Armen Minasian and William Hoy.

The film contains very noticeable product placements for Converse's Chuck Taylor All-Stars, Audi, FedEx, Tecate and JVC among others. The Audi RSQ was designed specially for the film to increase brand awareness and raise the emotional appeal of the Audi brand, objectives that were considered achieved when surveys conducted in the United States showed that the Audi RSQ gave a substantial boost to the image ratings of the brand in the States.

It also features an MV Augusta F4 SPR motorcycle.

Reception

The film was met with generally mixed to positive reviews. The $120 million film was a solid box-office success, earning almost $145 million in North America and more than $200 million overseas. It currently holds a 58% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 194 reviews with the consensus being, "Bearing only the slightest resemblance to Isaac Asimov's short stories, I, Robot is a summer blockbuster that manages to make the audience think, if only for a little bit."

Richard Roeper gave it a positive review, calling it "a slick, consistently entertaining thrill ride". The Urban Cinefile Critics call it "the meanest, meatiest, coolest, most engaging and exciting science fiction movie in a long time". Kim Newman from Empire said, "This summer picture has a brain as well as muscles." A Washington Post critic, Desson Thomas, said, "for the most part, this is thrilling fun." Many critics, including the IGN Movie critics thought it was a smart action film, saying, "I, Robot is the summer's best action movie so far. It proves that you don't necessarily need to detach your brain in order to walk into a big budget summer blockbuster."

A. O. Scott from The New York Times had a mixed feeling towards the film, saying, "Alex Proyas's hectic thriller engages some interesting ideas on its way to an overblown and incoherent ending". Roger Ebert, who had highly praised Proyas' previous films, gave it a negative review, saying, "The plot is simple-minded and disappointing, and the chase and action scenes are pretty much routine for movies in the sci-fi CGI genre". Claudia Puig from USA Today thought the film's "performances, plot and pacing are as mechanical as the hard-wired cast". Todd McCarthy, from Variety, simply said that this film was "a failure of imagination".

Home media

I, Robot was released on DVD on December 14, 2004, and on Blu-ray on March 11, 2008. Additionally, the film received a 2D to 3D conversion, which was released on Blu-ray 3D on October 23, 2012.

Soundtrack

Marco Beltrami composed the original music film score "with only 17 days to render the fully-finished work." It was scored for 95 orchestral musicians and 25 choral performers with emphasis placed on sharp brass ostinatos. Beltrami composed the brass section to exchange octaves with the strings accenting scales in between. The technique has been compared as Beltrami's "sincere effort to emulate the styles of Elliot Goldenthal and Jerry Goldsmith and roll them into one unique package."

Take for example the "Tunnel Chase" scene, which according to Mikeal Carson, starts "atmospherically but transforms into a kinetic adrenaline rush with powerful brass writing and ferocious percussion parts." The "Spiderbots" cue highlights ostinatos in meters such as 6/8 and 5/4 and reveals "Beltrami's trademark string writing which leads to an orchestral/choral finale." Despite modified representations of the theme throughout the movie, it's the end credits that eventually showcase the entire musical theme. Erik Aadahl and Craig Berkey were the lead sound designers.

1. "Main Titles" â€" 1:30
2. "Gangs of Chicago" â€" 3:13
3. "I, Robot Theme" â€" End Credits" â€" 3:15
4. "New Arrivals" â€" 1:05
5. "Tunnel Chase" â€" 3:10
6. "Sonny's Interrogation" â€" 1:27
7. "Spooner Spills" â€" 4:20
8. "Chicago 2035" â€" 1:36
9. "Purse Snatcher" â€" 1:00
10. "Need Some Nanites" â€" 2:53
11. "1001 Robots" â€" 4:15
12. "Dead Robot Walking" â€" 5:09
13. "Man on the Inside" â€" 2:25
14. "Spiderbots" â€" 4:18
15. "Round Up" â€" 4:24

Sequel

In an interview in June 2007 with the website Collider.com at a Battlestar Galactica event, writer and producer Ronald Moore stated that he was writing the sequel to the film I, Robot. In the 2-disc All-Access Collector's Edition of the film, Alex Proyas mentions that if he were to make a sequel to the film (which he says in the same interview, is highly unlikely), it would be set in outer space.

Similarities with the book

The final script retained several of Asimov's characters and ideas. The characters of Dr. Susan Calvin, Dr. Alfred Lanning, and Lawrence Robertson all marginally resemble their counterparts in the source material.

Sonny's attempt to hide in a sea of identical robots is based on a similar scene in "Little Lost Robot". Moreover, the robot-model designation "NS" was taken from the same story. Sonny's dreams and the final scene resemble similar images in "Robot Dreams", and V.I.K.I.'s motivation is an extrapolation of the Three Laws that Asimov explored in "The Evitable Conflict", "Robots and Empire", and "...That Thou Art Mindful of Him", as well as several other stories.

However, the premise of a robot uprising and of robots acting collectively as a direct threat of humanity appears nowhere in Asimov's writings, and indeed Asimov stated explicitly that his robot stories were written as a direct antithesis to this idea â€" derived ultimately from Karel ÄŒapek's R.U.R. and prevalent in pre-Asimov robot stories. Asimov does suggest the possibility of a significantly more subtle robot usurpation of power, mainly through manipulation of the economy, in "The Evitable Conflict", however. He also hints at a possible future uprising in the short story "...That Thou Art Mindful of Him", though never explicitly states whether or not it will occur.

See also

• I, Robot (short story)
• Colossus: The Forbin Project, a 1970 movie with a similar premise.
• With Folded Hands (short story), a short story by Jack Williamson with some similar premises (later expanded to novel length as The Humanoids)
• Almost Human, 2013 TV series starring a cop and his robot partner.
• Total Recall 2070, 1999 Canadian TV series starring a cop and his robot partner.

References

External links

• I, Robot at the Internet Movie Database
• I, Robot at AllMovie
• I, Robot at Rotten Tomatoes
• I, Robot at Box Office Mojo
• I, Robot at Metacritic
• The Bottom of Things by Michael Sampson, January 14, 2004
• E! online article on similarity to Bjork music video robot design