I, Robot. You, Jane.

I saw the Will Smith SF actioner, I, Robot, tonight with the wife. This is the first time I saw it, having missed it in the theaters due to a severe allergic reaction to movies that have nothing to do with the source material they're purported to be based upon.

You know what? I didn't hate it. It wasn't nearly as bad as I was fully prepared for it to be. It had nothing to do with Asimov's writings at all, despite the window dressing of "The Three Laws" and naming a charater Dr. Susan Calvin. It was, in almost all ways, your standard, run-of-the-mill Hollywood action piece, with the standard set pieces and twists that aren't twists because everyone already knows to expect them. The area where I, Robot mainly comes up short in is lack of imagination. Throughout the movie I kept being reminded of Minority Report by the designs, the action sequences and the police interaction. Only Minority Report was far superior in those areas, so I suppose the latter film could be dismissed as a pale imitation of the former. Except that I, Robot didn't lead me on for nearly two hours, thinking that it was a great film, only to abruptly turn into the biggest stinking pile of regurgitated fecal matter this side Battlefield Earth. No, I, Robot maintained consistency in its mediocrity, and if there's one thing I can appreciate, it's consistency.

I do have to own up to one unfair cheap shot I took at the movie before I saw it, however. When I make mistakes, I 'fess up to them in public, and don't shirk responsibility for my errors or make excuses. In the feature article I wrote for RevolutionSF back in the months preceeding I, Robot's release (Aye-Yai-Yai Robot!), I made a snarky, bold prediction intended to denigrate the creative abilities of Hollywood screenwriters. In the article, I bet $20 that by the end of the movie it would be revealed that Will Smith's character is actually a robot. I was wrong. Will Smith's character is revealed to have only a robot arm. Screenwriter Jeff Vintar can email me at jblaschke@hotmail.com to arrange pickup of his $20. I hope he'll take a check.

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