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"LAW I: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
LAW II: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law.
LAW III: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law."
The above is found printed on-screen at the beginning of this sci-fi action film.
This movie is loosely based ("suggested by," according to the end credits) on Isaac Asimov's short-story collection also entitled "I, Robot."
Some people don't seem to like this movie, but I found it interesting.
This movie is set in Chicago in the year 2035. By this time, anthropomorphic ("human-looking") robots are doing menial tasks for humans. All robots have as their core programming the three laws indicated above. But something seems to go wrong and a human is found dead. (Not just any human, but a genius roboticist played by James Cromwell.)
Enter homicide detective Dell Spooner (Will Smith who also was one of this movie's executive producers) who has to try to solve exactly what happened. A robopsychologist (Bridget Moynahan) aids Spooner in his investigation. (Believe it or not, even robots need shrinks.)
Yes, this movie has plenty of action and special effects. The action, though, is not mindless and I found myself pausing to think. As well, the special effects were done well and did not take over the movie. I liked especially how the robots interacted with humans. (The technique used for the robots was "motion capture" and I found it to be quite effective.)
As I said, this is an action movie that gives you pause to think or consider artificial intelligence and even what it means to be human with respect to such things as consciousness, uniqueness, death, having a purpose in life, free will, creativity, and evolution.
This movie has good background music that aided each scene.
Finally, the DVD itself (the one released Dec. 2004) is excellent in picture and sound quality. It has several extras.
In conclusion, this is a good, futuristic sci-fi movie that causes you to think. And don't worry: no actual robots were hurt during the making of this movie!!
(2004; 1 hr, 55 min; wide screen; 39 scenes)
<<Stephen Pletko, London, Ontario, Canada>>
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