[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHg8lKk3vJo[/yt] It's about time. Yes! This film looks great! In many ways it looks like a remake of I, Robot, featuring a bit more grit, more of an edge that this film needed. First, a word about I, Robot. The film is often dissed for both being a "Will Smith vehicle" and for shitting all over Asimov's stories. First, though the film could do a slightly better job at drawing the character for us, Del Spooner is a very different character from J (MiB) or Hillard (ID4). All three may have the Will Smith wisecracks, but Del Spooner's sense of wit comes from a deep sense of cynicism that he can't quite overcome, and the humor is rooted into the darker aspects of the character. But the writer could have done more to make us know that, because the person who hasn't seen the film more than once might just dismiss as a typical Smith performance. Secondly, Asimov wrote his rules for robots but was fine with other writers using them, and even coming up with new interpretations. Imagine if the zeroeth law became something that was shared by all robots and not just one (as in his stories).. then the lack of empathy and how it would give way to a strict interpretation of the laws would be a really bad thing. I was fine with that angle. In fact I welcome it. So, yeah, I do think I robot could have a bit more grit... or something.. and Automata could be the movie I want to see. Thoughts?
I, Robot was a better movie than it's typically given credit for being; taking the action-movie angle and putting Will Smith in it led to some pre-judgment, but on the whole I didn't find it that terrible. That being said, it would be nice to see a Robot movie push the envelope a little bit. I'm excited about this one.
The homeless robot getting shot was jarring. I really loved AI myself. The moment the little boy became human? When he was creeped out by other versions of himself--soulless without the suffering he himself had been defined by. He destroyed one of his fellow simulacra out of fear. I remember being in the audience then, silently saying to the screen. "Yeah, your're human now." Full rights.