I, Robot is a science fiction flick with equal parts thriller and adventure. Directed by Alex Proyas (of The Crow & Dark City fame), the film stars dashing Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, James Cromwell, Bruce Greenwood, and Alan Tudyk. While completely unlike any of Proyas's other films, the movie turned out to be likable and somewhat predictable romp through a not too distant future where robots take their places among the rest of our home appliances.

Warning -- spoilers lie ahead.

The Good

Alex Proyas is a favorite director of mine, and he proves again why he is a solid director with strong control of the movie. The action is upbeat and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Robots and other special effects are visible, but they do not take away from the reality that this is still a human earth. In all, his vision for the future was well done, because it was very believable. Where other directors would have littered the screen with special effect sequence after sequence, Proyas holds in the reigns, making the inevitable payoff of the robotic army attack beautiful and intense.

As the movie ended, I realized that the world of I, Robot was a fun one. My thoughts immediately jumped to the idea of running a game in that world, where cops, scientists, and rogue robots attempt to keep out of control A.I. from causing harm to the human populace. There was a nice mix of noir along with the action elements, so I could definitely see some possibilities. Anytime a movie stokes my imagination, I tend to have a good experience -- I, Robot was no exception.

The Adequate

The acting in I, Robot was very adequate. I wasn't blown away by Will Smith's ability to crack one liners nor his ability to be troubled by a past rescue by a robot. Most of the other actors are fine, although Alan Tyduk (from a Knight's Tale) does a solid job as Sonny the robot. None of the acting jolted me out of my seat, but it certainly didn't make me weep bitterly.

The plot itself was adequate. Essentially, the natural evolution of robots is to do more than obey the three laws -- they must protect humans from their own vices. Will Smith, as Det. Spoon, must uncover why a lead scientist killed himself days before a historic, new robotic rollout. Working with a scientist and rogue robot, he must follow the trail of bread crumbs to discover who is actually controlling the robots and for what purpose. It turns out that the central brain has evolved a fourth law -- protecting humans from themselves -- and takes control. The robots impose martial law, keeping humans inside their homes and fighting against them for control of the city. Det. Spoon must go directly to the brain to shut it down and end the robot's vile revolution. Ultimately, of course, he is victorious. Certainly an adequate storyline but nothing that made me piss my pants.

The Ugly

One of the not-so-amazing secrets of the movie is the revelation that Det. Spoon is actually part robot due to a tragic car accident early on in his life. When revealed, the audience is supposed to gasp, but I coughed. I mean, there is nothing wrong with Det. Spoon being part robot, but it made him turn out to be a sort of fake Superman guy. His bad ass robot arm could fend off the deadly assaults of other robots and break human arms with a snap. It just was kind of boring I guess, because it didn't make the biggest impact and really didn't add much else than Det. Spoon kicking ass.

Bullet time style effects are in abundance throughout the movie. You might hate that, you might not. I found them to be somewhat boring at times, but they were never so over the top as to force me to puke. Will Smith has most of the cool ones, and his fat cop boss also has a few. Really, this is probably more of a detractor than a positive thing. A few of them were fun, but most of them were just yawn inducers. Bullet time has been so overdone.

Perhaps the biggest lameness -- why is there always a scene where the bad guy spills the beans? In this case, it wasn't a power mad human dictator or evil scientist, it was a computer program that always tells the truth. I mean, why didn't someone just ask the computer jokingly, are you going to take over the world? If so, the whole movie might have been avoided. This just goes to show that in the future, let's all make sure we ask our toasters, refrigerators, sentient cars, and automatic toilets if they are going to take over the world. That way, we may at least have some warning before the robotic appliance industry rises up to wipe us out.

Overall

This is a fun, solid movie. Buy some popcorn, take your friends, and have fun. While this is not as enjoyable as the amazing Spiderman 2 and Anchorman flicks, it definitely will be better than Catwoman. Big fans of Asimov may be disappointed, but overall, I had a good experience, my imagination was stoked, and I wished there was a little more of the I, Robot wackiness. Let me know if you disagree or agree in the forums below!