October 22, 2004
I, Robot
Dollared this on Wednesday. Yet another good experience. I think weekdays (all ratings) or opening days (only for rated R) are the key to quiet audiences.
Will Smith stars as Will Smith here in a story with a good premise but the wrong starring actor and too many slow-motion moments. If Smith hadn't filled the film full of one-liners and his general bad-ass funny-guy antics (or hadn't been in the movie at all), it would have been much improved. How many times can you remind us you're a black man, Will? Really. Come on.
What shined in this movie was the different direction the story took (a little deeper than I expected considering it was a Will Smith flick) and the robots themselves. The contrast between the oudated models and the new models--and the dynamics between the two--played a more important role than I had expected. The facial expressions and the logic of the more feeling-centered robots were cool.
The story, while a creative premise, lacked a little in that in a split second, the entire story falls into place when Will's grandma mentions the word "breadcrumbs." This isn't Citizen Kane; we need a little more to actually make us believe that a guy like Smith's character could figure things out. Some of the plot catalysts were a little bit too convenient.
Anyway, all this to say I was actually pleasantly surprised to find I enjoyed myself despite the movie's flaws. Maybe I just like these futuristic ideas, but for some reason it still seemed to work for me in the end.
Posted by wendytime at October 22, 2004 01:36 PM | TrackBack