i, robot, shit

I got around to watching I, Robot yesterday and I thought it was pretty shit. It managed to retain hardly anything of note from the books (as hinted at by the ‘suggested by the books of Isaac Asimov’ credit on the opening titles) except for the 3 laws (although these do play a pretty integral role in the plot), the occasional mention of the nature of life and whether a robot could ever be classed as a sentient being. Even worse was the drab quasi-futuristic setting. It somehow managed to be like now, but greyer and with flashier cars. I know it’s meant to be set in the near future, so not much (perhaps) will have changed, but there was something that just didn’t sit right. It just felt bland and empty and uninspired with all the usual flashy staples of hi-tech: fast computerized cars, pervasive computer networks and, obviously, robots. But Will Smith’s character was straight from Bad Boys (or even the Fresh Prince) and managed to come across like a complete twat most of the time, as did most of the other characters. And the action was standard big budget, flashy, by-the-book Hollywood. Where was the verve, the style, the invention of the director that made Dark City and the Crow? Instead the robot action scenes looked like a cross between the Matrix (except, as with most films that copy bullet-time, the slow-mo was unnecessary and intrusive) and Star Wars Episode 1 & 2.

I wish people would stop wasting money on making this shit. And I wish people would stop thinking this shit was good, a quick glance at the reviews on IMDB shows most people rating it 7 or 8 out of 10. I do, however, agree with VIKI’s comments about the nature of humanity (the best bit in the film), perhaps she’d stop this kind of generic trash being made if she were in charge? Categorized firmly with A.I. in my book.

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And speaking of A.I. (also mostly shit) there’s a great bit about it on the Donderevo site, see the ‘ski’ section for the AI debate and other fine writings.