Old themes, good fun

I, robot general release

I, robot is set in Chicago in the year 2035, when automatons have become part of everyday life for business and well-to-do families, performing all manner of household tasks, shopping for groceries and collecting refuse for the municipality.
The inspiration for, and central theme of, the film are the ‘three laws of robotics’, devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov in the 1950s, namely:
1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second laws.

Will Smith plays the stubbornly Luddite detective, Del Spooner, who is suspicious of all things robotic. In one scene, a guest visiting his flat is puzzled when the hi-fi system (a blatant product placement for a well-known manufacturer) fails to obey her spoken commands and Spooner has to assist with a quaint, hand-held remote control unit. However, Spooner’s antagonism towards robots is equated to racist prejudice by his more ‘enlightened’ colleagues - an analogy made particularly well in a scene where he gives chase to a robot running with a woman’s handbag on an emergency errand because he assumes that it must be a bag snatching mugger.

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Of course, the reasons for this robophobia are buried deep in Spooner’s past and are later revealed in the same ‘twist’ that virtually every other film about human-robot conflict has used previously.
Smith gets involved when Dr Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), the scientific genius behind the US Robotics corporation, dies on the eve of the release of the latest generation NS-5 robot. Everybody else assumes that the death is caused by suicide, but our hero suspects foul play by a prototype NS-5 - ‘Sonny’ - who flees the scene. During interrogation, Sonny reveals an advanced level of consciousness and the capacity for human-like emotions, such as anger. However, Spooner’s efforts to pursue the matter are frustrated by his boss’s concerns about his objectivity, technicalities over the legal status of a non-human machine, the manufacturer’s determination to prevent scandal damaging a major product launch - and mysterious attempts to kill him (by robots). These attacks convince Spooner that he is on to something, but the absence of any witnesses only makes him appear delusional to colleagues already concerned about his mental health.

The NS-5 soon becomes the market leader, as people rush to upgrade to the latest model, but the technological revolution threatens to become a revolutionary uprising. How sophisticated can a slave become and still remain a slave? - the question starts to become more relevant. We then see a major rebellion by the robot class and Spooner, aided by US Robotics’ company shrink, Dr Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), and another unexpected ally, seek to save humankind from servitude to its former servants.

I, robot is good entertainment with some dramatic action scenes, and I would recommend it as harmless summer fun, especially suitable for viewing with children. However, the core philosophical themes of this film - the nature of human consciousness, artificial intelligence, obedience to authority, prejudice, exploitation versus service, etc - have all been covered previously, and much more intelligently, by the likes of Bladerunner and even Star trek: the next generation.
Steve Cooke

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Old themes, good fun

I, robot general release

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