kitty
07-20-2004, 08:03 AM
Eye Candy of I, Robot
Perhaps we're finally seeing the return of the sci fi film. After a lengthy sabbatical, during which time such fantasy flicks as Lord of the Rings triumphed over breakthrough blockbuster science fiction as the Matrix, I, Robot just might be signalling America's returning tolerance for grittier imaginings of technophile futures.
Starring Will Smith as himself (while the man is quite a tasty-looking morsel, no one ever accused him of being a talented actor; in this film, his character's is detective Del Spooner, though he is really more of an unholy mating between Craig David and Kurt Russell with the usual Will Smith, pretty-boy charm), I, Robot is a screenplay loosely based on Isaac Asimov's novel of the same name, with most of the intellectualized, slow-paced mystery excised and a lot of expensive special effects and mindless action tossed in. Essentially, it's the perfect summer blockbuster.
Spooner, a die-hard technophobe trapped in an origin story for the Matrix, finds himself unravelling the mystery behind Dr. Alfred Lanning's (James Cromwell) apparent suicide. Lanning is a good friend and president of the biggest robotics firm of the nation. Enlisted in Spooner's half-cocked vendetta is Dr. Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), a psychiatrist who had been hired by Lanning's firm to anthropomorphize the newest line of robots scheduled to be distributed later that week, and a mysterious android (voiced by Alan Tudyk) who had borne witness to Lanning's death and is the primary suspect for what Spooner believes is a murder case, is the final member of the film's cast.
Of course, what first catches the eye in I, Robot, is the blistering special effects. Direct Alex Proyas is completely cognizant of what draws audiences to a film of this callibre, and he wastes no money in producing some mind-blowingly extravagant action, all of which is greatly benefitted by the fact that few if any of the best action scenes were shown in the trailer, thus maintaining the element of surprise when they are revealed in the course of the film's plot. As revolutionary as when bullet-time was first introduced, Proyas' use of CGI effects and other cutting edge camerawork technology allows for some intricate and edge-of-your-seat action climaxes, that leave the audience breathlessly satisfied. More importantly, Proyas also uses his tech budget to add some well-placed bells and whistles to Spooner's world, creating a rather complete and detailed universe of high-tech gadgetry, perfectly capturing the context in which the story is told.
Moreover, Alan Tudyk is compelling as the voice actor of the emotional android that Spooner suspects to be the Lanning's murderer. The CGI department designed Tudyk's character extremely well, melding the iPod-esque feel of new-age technology seamlessly with an expressive and disturbingly human face, that makes Tudyk's android one of the most charming and passionate characters of the film.
What is a little annoying, if the audience stopped to think about it, was the film's unfortunate lack of attention to plot and predictable, albeit occasionally witty, screenplay. While the story is fine for a summer blockbuster, there certainly could've been room to add a little more intellectualism to the story. The best aspects of the screenplay were derived from Asimov's work, and while there is certainly food for thought inherent in I, Robot's premise, Proyas doesn't expect his audience (of primarily male 13 year olds, one assumes) to want to exercise their brains, and so the 'mystery' of Lanning's death is actually hardly a mystery at all. Rather, it's all an excuse to lead Spooner from one death-defying stunt to another.
While I, Robot also delivers enough plot to rationalize the character of Dr. Susan Calvin, this reviewer is still left to wonder what exactly it is about mainstream Hollywood films that require any ethnic male protagonist to be shackled to a white female heroine. Though not nearly as bad as the supposed premise that introduced Tea Leoni as the white female of the day in Smith's earlier work in Bad Boys (1995), Moynahan's character still feels superfluous and rather unnecessary. It seems that Hollywood feels that a male person of colour cannot, by himself, carry a movie, even if it's Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, or Jet Li. In fact, most if not all of Jet Li and Jackie Chan's American movies feature a Caucasian woman to play either theoretical (rather than portrayed) love interest, or as scenery to hold the attention of the white male moviegoer. And let us not forget the travesty that is Morgan Freeman's recent roles, such as Along Came a Spider and High Crimes. The only exception to this rule seems to be if you've got two or more male protagonists of (usually differing) racial minorities, such as with Rush Hour or From the Cradle 2 The Grave. Here, in order to shy away from that United Nations feel, Hollywood opts to forgo the white woman heroine for women of at least one of the protagonist's ethnicities.
So, it is with a grain of salt that one examines the role of Dr. Susan Calvin in I, Robot, knowing that Bridget Moynahan is little more than a Hollywood ploy to give the white audience members a reason to watch a male protagonist they 'cannot identify with'. Still, the racial politics of filmmaking aside, I, Robot is an entertaining bang for your buck, and this reviewer predicts it will be the best (and prettiest, both in terms of the special effects and the man-meat) of this summer's blockbuster hits.
Perhaps we're finally seeing the return of the sci fi film. After a lengthy sabbatical, during which time such fantasy flicks as Lord of the Rings triumphed over breakthrough blockbuster science fiction as the Matrix, I, Robot just might be signalling America's returning tolerance for grittier imaginings of technophile futures.
Starring Will Smith as himself (while the man is quite a tasty-looking morsel, no one ever accused him of being a talented actor; in this film, his character's is detective Del Spooner, though he is really more of an unholy mating between Craig David and Kurt Russell with the usual Will Smith, pretty-boy charm), I, Robot is a screenplay loosely based on Isaac Asimov's novel of the same name, with most of the intellectualized, slow-paced mystery excised and a lot of expensive special effects and mindless action tossed in. Essentially, it's the perfect summer blockbuster.
Spooner, a die-hard technophobe trapped in an origin story for the Matrix, finds himself unravelling the mystery behind Dr. Alfred Lanning's (James Cromwell) apparent suicide. Lanning is a good friend and president of the biggest robotics firm of the nation. Enlisted in Spooner's half-cocked vendetta is Dr. Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), a psychiatrist who had been hired by Lanning's firm to anthropomorphize the newest line of robots scheduled to be distributed later that week, and a mysterious android (voiced by Alan Tudyk) who had borne witness to Lanning's death and is the primary suspect for what Spooner believes is a murder case, is the final member of the film's cast.
Of course, what first catches the eye in I, Robot, is the blistering special effects. Direct Alex Proyas is completely cognizant of what draws audiences to a film of this callibre, and he wastes no money in producing some mind-blowingly extravagant action, all of which is greatly benefitted by the fact that few if any of the best action scenes were shown in the trailer, thus maintaining the element of surprise when they are revealed in the course of the film's plot. As revolutionary as when bullet-time was first introduced, Proyas' use of CGI effects and other cutting edge camerawork technology allows for some intricate and edge-of-your-seat action climaxes, that leave the audience breathlessly satisfied. More importantly, Proyas also uses his tech budget to add some well-placed bells and whistles to Spooner's world, creating a rather complete and detailed universe of high-tech gadgetry, perfectly capturing the context in which the story is told.
Moreover, Alan Tudyk is compelling as the voice actor of the emotional android that Spooner suspects to be the Lanning's murderer. The CGI department designed Tudyk's character extremely well, melding the iPod-esque feel of new-age technology seamlessly with an expressive and disturbingly human face, that makes Tudyk's android one of the most charming and passionate characters of the film.
What is a little annoying, if the audience stopped to think about it, was the film's unfortunate lack of attention to plot and predictable, albeit occasionally witty, screenplay. While the story is fine for a summer blockbuster, there certainly could've been room to add a little more intellectualism to the story. The best aspects of the screenplay were derived from Asimov's work, and while there is certainly food for thought inherent in I, Robot's premise, Proyas doesn't expect his audience (of primarily male 13 year olds, one assumes) to want to exercise their brains, and so the 'mystery' of Lanning's death is actually hardly a mystery at all. Rather, it's all an excuse to lead Spooner from one death-defying stunt to another.
While I, Robot also delivers enough plot to rationalize the character of Dr. Susan Calvin, this reviewer is still left to wonder what exactly it is about mainstream Hollywood films that require any ethnic male protagonist to be shackled to a white female heroine. Though not nearly as bad as the supposed premise that introduced Tea Leoni as the white female of the day in Smith's earlier work in Bad Boys (1995), Moynahan's character still feels superfluous and rather unnecessary. It seems that Hollywood feels that a male person of colour cannot, by himself, carry a movie, even if it's Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, or Jet Li. In fact, most if not all of Jet Li and Jackie Chan's American movies feature a Caucasian woman to play either theoretical (rather than portrayed) love interest, or as scenery to hold the attention of the white male moviegoer. And let us not forget the travesty that is Morgan Freeman's recent roles, such as Along Came a Spider and High Crimes. The only exception to this rule seems to be if you've got two or more male protagonists of (usually differing) racial minorities, such as with Rush Hour or From the Cradle 2 The Grave. Here, in order to shy away from that United Nations feel, Hollywood opts to forgo the white woman heroine for women of at least one of the protagonist's ethnicities.
So, it is with a grain of salt that one examines the role of Dr. Susan Calvin in I, Robot, knowing that Bridget Moynahan is little more than a Hollywood ploy to give the white audience members a reason to watch a male protagonist they 'cannot identify with'. Still, the racial politics of filmmaking aside, I, Robot is an entertaining bang for your buck, and this reviewer predicts it will be the best (and prettiest, both in terms of the special effects and the man-meat) of this summer's blockbuster hits.