I, ROBOT

US, 2004, 118 minutes, Colour.
Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Allan Tudyk, James Cromwell, Bruce Greenwood.
Directed by Alex Proyas.

Isaac Asimov was one of the great science-fiction writing pioneers of the 20th century. He introduced robots before they were a fashionable topic for fiction and fantasy. He also introduced the three laws of robotics designed to safeguarded the humans who had engineered the robots and who now used them as servants.

This line of imagination has been fruitful in speculating about human nature and technology, about human intellect and feelings. Interesting films in this genre include Blade Runner, AI – Artificial Intelligence, Bicentennial Man and such entertainments as Forbidden Planet and The Stepford Wives.

Here, Asimov’s stories are taken as the basis for an updated plot. The Chicago world of 2035 is sufficiently recognizable in its ordinariness, although it has the kind of building developments and technology centres that are quite imaginable. Robots are key figures and new line models are being continually improved in automated serving skills.

Will Smith plays a detective who has an antipathy towards the machines and their seemingly impeccable logic: he had been saved be a robot in a car drowning accident instead of the child he thought should have been saved. He is so edgy that he pursues a robot through the streets thinking he was a mugger when (we knew) that he was only getting medication for his owner. But this edginess means that he is the best contact that a frightened engineer can make to try to reverse a malevolent trend in the main computer which is turning the new robots against the humans. What follows is part detective work, part action thriller, part final confrontation with an army of computer-graphic rogue robots.

It is not as if the message were exactly new now. But, that is not the point. Humans need reminding of their pride in thinking that they can conquer all worlds and harness artificial intelligence for their own needs. The machines think that humans sometimes need protection from themselves and this logic leads them to apply violent methods ‘for the humans’ own good’.

It is always interesting to see again that, in a world which continually hails scientific advances, one of the roles of movies is to warn against dangers by telling the Frankenstein monster story over and over again in new guises.

1. The work of Isaac Asimov, his reputation as a writer, the influence on science fiction literature in the 21st century?

2. Asimov and robots, robotics, the three rules of robotics for the protection of humanity? The impact in the 40s and 50s, later, the post-2001 attitude towards robots and computers? The familiarity of audiences with the issues? The serious issues of machines, artificial intelligence, control? The comic aspects? The possibility for revolution and turning against humans? The limited human intelligence and understanding of computer technology and machines?

3. The world of the future, its being made plausible, the imagination of the film for robots, the cities of the future? Close to the present, yet…?

4. Chicago in 2035, its appearance, the blend of the old and the new, the neighbourhoods and their ordinariness, the modernistic buildings, the technology, money and power, the role of the police, authority and order?

5. Science in the 21st century, inventors, companies and finances, the advances in robotics, human versus the machine, the importance of the criticism of an exclusive machine culture, Del Spooner and his use of old machines, wariness of robots? The failure of people to understand basic machinery, Susan and her inability to work the CD player?

6. The central computer, its power? The development of robots, the machinery, their appearance, flexibility, choreography, voices? Their serving? The continual improvement in the models? The use of holograms, the scientist and his last will and testament in hologram? The central computer and its control, its inventor having to deceive it? The culmination of the fight between Spooner and Susan and the central computer? The climax to destroy it?

7. Del Spooner, the break-up of his marriage, getting up, the beginning of his day, memories of his past and his being wary of robots, robots making intellectual decisions and deciding that the drowning child was not worth saving (and this recurring in his dreams)? His being saved, the doctor reconstructing him? His pursuit of the robot with the bag and his making a fool of himself when the robot was serving the asthmatic woman? The attitude of the police, the police chief?

8. The death of Professor Lanning, his appearing on the hologram, his message about his death, his suicide? The Hansel and Gretel stories, breadcrumbs as clues, Spooner and his having to follow these back, the end and his realisation that Lanning was trying to deceive the central computer? His attitudes towards Sonny, shunning him, fighting him, finally realising the truth, following him, the discovery, Sonny and Susan collaborating to rectify the situation? Sonny’s heroics?

9. Del as the hero, Granny and her care of him, rousing on him? Seeing him at work? Meeting Susan, the clash, the more emotional versus the more cerebral approach? His relationship with the professor, his antagonism towards the robots, the various clashes with Sonny? The chases? Seeing the hordes of robots, the factories, trucks? The car chase? The attack? The need for control, the danger, the city becoming a battlefield? Persuading Susan to help? The build-up to the finale and the attempt to destroy the central computer?

10. Susan, the scientist, cold, wary, her suspicions of Del, the interactions with him, her loyalty to the professor, to Lawrence Robertson? Learning the truth, the attraction towards Del, the discussion of theories, emotions? Her relationship with Sonny, his about to be destroyed, and not destroying him? Her participation in the heroics?

11. Sonny, the original disobedient computer, his refusing to live by the rules of robotics? His look, behaviour? The confrontations with Del? His about to be terminated, the discussions with Susan? Her not terminating him? His being part of the professor’s plan, to antagonise Del to make him investigate further? Sonny and his support and loyalty at the end?

12. Lawrence Robertson, the boss, seeming sinister, audiences expecting him to be in control, the irony of his being killed?

13. The police, their mocking Del, thinking that Del was always crying wolf, especially about computers? The uprising of the computers and the police chief and leading the force against them?

14. The spectacular special effects for the robots, as individuals, as a group, as a military force, in the trucks, the red light burning within them signalling danger, their returning to their servant role?

15. Society, machines, machines at the service of humans, their being used and exploited? Their operating solely on logic? To protect and destroy humans even to protect them? Themes of the future and the roles of machines, technology and humans?