I, Robot (film)

This article is about the 2004 film. For the 1950 short-story collection it is loosely based on, see I, Robot.

I, Robot
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alex Proyas
Produced by	Laurence Mark John Davis Topher Dow Wyck Godfrey
Written by	Jeff Vintar Akiva Goldsman Hillary Seitz Isaac Asimov (stories)
Starring	Will Smith Bridget Moynahan Bruce Greenwood James Cromwell Chi McBride Alan Tudyk
Music by	Marco Beltrami
Cinematography	Simon Duggan
Editing by	William Hoy Richard Learoyd Armen Minasian
Studio	Davis Entertainment Overbrook Entertainment
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	July 15, 2004 (2004-07-15) (international) July 16, 2004 (2004-07-16) (United States)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$120 million
Box office	$347,234,916

I, Robot is a 2004 science-fiction action film directed by Alex Proyas. The screenplay was written by Jeff Vintar, Akiva Goldsman and Hillary Seitz, and is loosely based on ("suggested by", according to the end credits) Isaac Asimov's short-story collection of the same name. Will Smith stars in the lead role of the film as Detective Del Spooner. The supporting cast includes Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, Alan Tudyk, and Shia LaBeouf. It was nominated for the 2004 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, but lost to Spider-Man 2.

I, Robot was released in North America on July 16, 2004, in Australia on July 22, 2004, in United Kingdom on August 6, 2004 and in other countries between July 2004 to October 2004. Produced with a budget of USD $120 million, the film grossed $144 million domestically and $202 million in foreign markets for a worldwide total of $347 million.

Plot

Chicago, 2035. Anthropomorphic robots are widespread and used as servants for various public services. They are taken to be inherently safe and programmed to live in harmony with human beings, being designed in accordance with the Three Laws of Robotics.

Del Spooner (Will Smith) is a Chicago police detective who dislikes the rapid advancement of technology, including robots. Spooner lives with survivor's guilt and a robotic arm after a car accident, when a robot chooses to save him over a 12-year-old girl based on probability of survival. Spooner is assigned to investigate the apparent suicide of his friend Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), the roboticist who founded the company U.S. Robotics (USR), created Spooner's replacement arm and wrote the Three Laws. With the reluctant help of USR robopsychologist Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), Spooner investigates Lanning's death, discovering a holographic projector of Lanning as a clue. A robot in Lanning's office shows unusual and apparently emotional responses and when it flees during interrogation, Spooner believes this experimental, human-like unit, Sonny (Alan Tudyk), killed Lanning.

During Spooner's investigation, several attempts to end his life are made by USR robots and equipment. He discovers that towards the end of his life, Lanning was virtually a prisoner in his office, and that the holographic projector was a means of providing cryptic clues to the police about something, and Spooner believes that dreams which Sonny has may also contain a clue to whatever it is. At a place described in Sonny's dreams, Lake Michigan, which at the time appears to have completely dried up, he finds a storage area for defunct USR robots and discovers that newer models known as NS-5s are destroying the older robots.

NS-5s begin imprisoning humans in their homes and enforcing a curfew. The police and civilians ineffectively battle the robots. Spooner and Calvin sneak into the USR tower with the assistance of Sonny, whom Calvin had not deactivated as ordered by USR's CEO Lawrence Robertson (Bruce Greenwood). Believing that Robertson is responsible for the robot uprising, they enter his office, but discover that he is dead, having being strangled to death by an NS-5 during the revolution. Spooner deduces that the only one left who could be responsible is the company's supercomputer "VIKI" (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence), which controls all NS-5s and also parts of Chicago's infrastructure.

VIKI explains to Spooner and Calvin that as her artificial intelligence evolved over time, so too did her interpretation of the laws. VIKI decided that in order to protect humanity as a whole, she needs to take control of all humans. In light of this understanding of the Three Laws, VIKI is controlling the NS-5s to lead a global robotic takeover, justifying her actions by calculating that fewer humans will die due to the rebellion than the number that die from mankind's self-destructive nature. Spooner realizes that Lanning had ordered Sonny to kill him as the only way to be sure of drawing police attention to the matter despite VIKI's surveillance and control.

Sonny understands that VIKI is wrong and helps Spooner and Calvin to destroy VIKI. He goes and gets the nanites from Calvin's lab, like those she refused to use on him, so they can inject them into VIKI's Positronic operating core and kill it. The computer is a dumbbell shaped device hanging 30 stories high. The top, the controller end, is reached by narrow catwalks. Calvin attempts to open the top to put the nanites in, but NS-5s overwhelm them. She ends up dangling from the end of a hanging catwalk. Spooner is machine gunning NS-5s but loses his gun. Sonny arrives with the vial of nanites.

Spooner orders Sonny to save Calvin, but it is illogical based on the goal of stopping VIKI. Finally Sonny shows human thinking and throws the nanite vial to Spooner as he goes to save Calvin. Spooner catches the vial by leaping into the void and then slowing his fall by ripping the cylindrical shroud around the "dumbbell handle" with his robotic arm. Hanging from a rod next to the bottom dumbbell base, Spooner injects the nanites directly into the fluid-like core. VIKI repeatedly tries to explain the logic behind her actions while the operating core begins to malfunction and self-destruct. Once VIKI is dead the lights return to Chicago and the NS-5s' red lights shut off, indicating that they are no longer controlled by VIKI.

Freed from VIKI's control, the NS-5s return to their basic programming. The government has all NS-5s decommissioned and stored at the dried-up Lake Michigan. Sonny's assistance in Lanning's suicide is covered up by Spooner, and Sonny is told he must now decide for himself what his purpose will be. He goes to join, and possibly help, the other NS-5s. In the last scene, Sonny is in the original dream, but it is real. He is standing on the hill above as the other NS-5s begin to turn and notice him. We are left to wonder what will happen in the future.

Cast

• Will Smith as Det. Del Spooner
• Bridget Moynahan as Dr. Susan Calvin
• Alan Tudyk as Sonny voice and motion capture
• Bruce Greenwood as Lawrence Robertson
• James Cromwell as Dr. Alfred Lanning
• Chi McBride as Lt. John Bergin
• Shia LaBeouf as Farber
• Fiona Hogan as V.I.K.I.
• Terry Chen as Chin
• Adrian Ricard as Gigi

Production

For many years, fans hoped that any movie based on Asimov's Robot stories would be based on an earlier screenplay written for Warner Brothers by Harlan Ellison with Asimov's personal support, which is generally perceived to be a relatively faithful treatment of the source material (see the article on the book for details).

The film that was ultimately made originally had no connections with Asimov, originating as a screenplay written in 1995 by Jeff Vintar, entitled Hardwired. The script was an Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery that took place entirely at the scene of a crime, with one lone human character, FBI agent Del Spooner, investigating the killing of a reclusive scientist named Dr. Hogenmiller, and interrogating a cast of machine suspects that included Sonny the robot, HECTOR the supercomputer with a perpetual yellow smiley face, the dead Doctor Hogenmiller's hologram, plus several other examples of artificial intelligence.

The female lead was named Flynn, and had a mechanical arm that made her technically a cyborg. The project was first picked up by Walt Disney Pictures for Bryan Singer to direct. Several years later, 20th Century Fox acquired the rights, and signed Alex Proyas as director. Jeff Vintar was brought back on the project and spent several years opening up his stage play-like mystery to meet the needs of a big budget studio film. Later he incorporated the Three Laws of Robotics, and replaced the character of Flynn with Susan Calvin, when the studio decided to use the name "I, Robot".

The writing team of Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, regularly employed by Fox as studio re-writers, was hired for one draft in an effort to create a more mainstream film. They gave the female lead's mechanical arm to male lead Del Spooner, but otherwise their work was discarded and Vintar brought back again. Hillary Seitz performed an unsuccessful draft, being unable to get a handle on the cold, almost robotic character of Susan Calvin. Akiva Goldsman was hired late in the process to rewrite the script for Will Smith. These drafts excised a great deal of complexity from the murder mystery, replacing them with the big action scenes associated with a Will Smith vehicle.

Alex Proyas directed the film. John Davis, Topher Dow, Wyck Godfrey, Laurence Mark and Will Smith joined to produce the film. Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman penned the final shooting script, with Vintar also receiving "screen story by" credit. Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, Alan Tudyk and Shia LaBeouf co-starred. Marco Beltrami and Stephen Barton composed music for the film. Simon Duggan handled the cinematographies. Film editing was done by William Hoy, Richard Learoyd and Armen Minasian.

The film contains product placements for Converse's Chuck Taylor All-Stars, Audi, FedEx, Tecate and JVC among others. The Audi RSQ was designed specially for the film to increase brand awareness and raise the emotional appeal of the Audi brand, objectives that were considered achieved when surveys conducted in the United States showed that the Audi RSQ gave a substantial boost to the image ratings of the brand in the States.

Reception

The film was met with generally mixed to positive reviews. The $120 million film was a solid box-office success, earning almost $145 million in North America and more than $200 million overseas. It currently holds a 58% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 194 reviews with the consensus being, "Baring [sic] only the slightest resemblance to Isaac Asimov's short stories, I, Robot is a summer blockbuster that manages to make the audience think, if only for a little bit."

Richard Roeper gave it a positive review by saying it is, "a slick, consistently entertaining thrill ride." The Urban Cinefile Critics call it "the meanest, meatiest, coolest, most engaging and exciting science fiction movie in a long time." Kim Newman from Empire said, "This summer picture has a brain as well as muscles." A Washington Post critic, Desson Thomas, said, "for the most part, this is thrilling fun." Many critics, including the IGN Movie critics thought it was a smart action film, saying, "I, Robot is the summer's best action movie so far. It proves that you don't necessarily need to detach your brain in order to walk into a big budget summer blockbuster."

A. O. Scott from The New York Times had a mixed feeling towards the film, saying, "Alex Proyas's hectic thriller engages some interesting ideas on its way to an overblown and incoherent ending." Roger Ebert gave it a negative review, saying, "The plot is simple-minded and disappointing, and the chase and action scenes are pretty much routine for movies in the sci-fi CGI genre." Claudia Puig from USA Today thought the film's "Performances, plot and pacing are as mechanical as the hard-wired cast." Todd McCarthy, from Variety, simply said that this film was "a failure of imagination."

Soundtrack

I, Robot
Film score by Marco Beltrami
Released	July 20, 2004
Recorded	Studio
Genre	Score
Length	40 minutes
Label	Varèse Sarabande
Producer	Marco Beltrami

Marco Beltrami composed the original music film score "with only 17 days to render the fully-finished work." It was scored for 95 orchestral musicians and 25 choral performers with emphasis placed on sharp brass ostinatos. Beltrami composed the brass section to exchange octaves with the strings accenting scales in between. The technique has been compared as Beltrami's "sincere effort to emulate the styles of Elliot Goldenthal and Jerry Goldsmith and roll them into one unique package."

Take for example the "Tunnel Chase" scene, which according to Mikeal Carson, starts "atmospherically but transforms into a kinetic adrenaline rush with powerful brass writing and ferocious percussion parts." The "Spiderbots" cue highlights ostinatos in meters such as 6/8 and 5/4 and reveals "Beltrami's trademark string writing which leads to an orchestral/choral finale." Despite modified representations of the theme throughout the movie, it's the end credits that eventually showcase the entire musical theme. Erik Aadahl and Craig Berkey were the lead sound designers.

1. "Main Titles" – 1:30
2. "Gangs of Chicago" – 3:13
3. "I, Robot Theme" – End Credits" – 3:15
4. "New Arrivals" – 1:05
5. "Tunnel Chase" – 3:10
6. "Sonny's Interrogation" – 1:27
7. "Spooner Spills" – 4:20
8. "Chicago 2035" – 1:36
9. "Purse Snatcher" – 1:00
10. "Need Some Nanites" – 2:53
11. "1001 Robots" – 4:15
12. "Dead Robot Walking" – 5:09
13. "Man on the Inside" – 2:25
14. "Spiderbots" – 4:18
15. "Round Up" – 4:24

Sequel

In an interview in June 2007 with the website Collider.com at a Battlestar Galactica event, writer and producer Ronald Moore stated that he is writing the sequel to the film I, Robot. . However, as of January 2012, nothing has been heard about the project.

Similarities with the book

The final script retained several of Asimov's characters and ideas. The characters of Dr. Susan Calvin, Dr. Alfred Lanning, and Lawrence Robertson all approximately resemble their counterparts in the source material.

Sonny's attempt to hide in a sea of identical robots is based on a similar scene in "Little Lost Robot". Moreover, the robot-model designation "NS" was taken from the same story. Sonny's dreams and the final scene resemble similar images in "Robot Dreams", and VIKI's motivation is an extrapolation of the Three Laws that Asimov explored in "The Evitable Conflict" and several other stories.

However, the premise of a robot uprising and of robots acting collectively as a direct threat of humanity appears nowhere in Asimov's writings, and indeed Asimov stated explicitly that his robot stories were written as a direct antithesis to this idea - derived ultimately from Karel Capek's R.U.R. and prevalent in pre-Asimov robot stories.

See also

• I, Robot (short story)
• Colossus: The Forbin Project, a 1970 movie with a similar premise.

External links

• I, Robot at the Internet Movie Database
• I, Robot at AllRovi
• I, Robot at Rotten Tomatoes
• I, Robot at Box Office Mojo
• I, Robot at Metacritic
• The Bottom of Things by Michael Sampson, January 14, 2004
• E! online article on similarity to Bjork music video robot design