502: I, Robot

[00:00:00] 2.9 Let's get to the first film that I'm going to be discussing which is all about artificial intelligence in film, so mostly dealing with robots and things like that.

[00:00:11] I figured this would be sort of an interesting unexpected topic to cover because AI is starting to take more of a place in our society. Unfortunately, as every day goes by and I feel like I noticed it more and more movies have been in one way or the other telling that kind of story for decades.

[00:00:37] Some are more cautionary as we'll get to others are more goofy and more just about action, but I figured it would be a discussion with a lot of variety and movies that I either love or ones that aren't amazing but still have a lot of interesting insights and concepts.

[00:00:56] So hopefully it's appealing to you. But let's get into I, Robot from 2004, Directed by Alex Proyus, Star as Will Smith, Bridget Monahan, Bruce Greenwood, Alan Tudick, Shialabuff, James Cromwell, few others.

[00:01:18] And the Snapses is in 235, a technophobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot which leads to a larger threat to humanity.

[00:01:32] So this is one when I was a kid. I was I think 10 when this one came out. I thought this was one of the coolest movies ever.

[00:01:41] Kicking things off though, this was I'd say around the peak of Will Smith's career where he was just killing it left and right. And I mean really the 2000s was peak Will Smith.

[00:01:55] Alex Proyus had also done already the Crow and Dark City, a very underrated director. I wish he would get back into filmmaking because I think he has a very unique vision but he's not very prolific.

[00:02:08] I think his last movie was Gods of Egypt, which is unfortunate.

[00:02:15] I wanted to start off with this one and if there are any others that you want to see covered in one way or the other, please let me know in any of the contact information in the show notes.

[00:02:26] With AI as I was talking about at first, I feel like even the last six months or so but especially at least the last year.

[00:02:38] There it seems like every day I'm waking up and I'm seeing AI used or mentioned in some other form of whether it's business design like art design software marketing whatever and this film only taking place.

[00:02:55] In 2035 that's almost 10 years away. That's pretty crazy.

[00:03:01] But I've seen it countless times over the years to many to count, I think Will Smith is fantastic in this and he brings a lot more depth to the character than what is on the page because I mean it's an interesting character but he really makes it what it is.

[00:03:18] Some just sporadic notes that I love the design of the robots.

[00:03:25] The newer robots and also the older versions who are more colorful and a little bit lengthier in awkward whereas the new ones they have that milky white skeleton to them and there's just something so memorable unique and a simple yet really effective design

[00:03:46] and that immediately stuck out to me and I feel like I always know that silhouette.

[00:03:53] The idea of this movie taking place around a murder that seems to be done by a robot, that's very creative and it's done where I'm always really caring about finding out what's next who did it and that whole narrative of the mystery is very compelling.

[00:04:13] One aspect of the film that honestly makes it what it is in terms of being more emotionally gripping and you really feeling for Will Smith is the backstory of why he hates robots.

[00:04:28] Because when he first meet him, he says grumpy cop who he doesn't want anything to do with robots, he doesn't trust them and you're like okay what's the deal here?

[00:04:36] Like I get hey if you just don't trust technology, there's plenty of people out there who feel the same way but he's almost overly distrustful where there has to be something else underneath.

[00:04:51] It's largely because of Will Smith's performance in that one scene where he's telling the story to the female doctor about what happened and just if you need a refresher or if you haven't seen it.

[00:05:04] He was in a car crash.

[00:05:07] There was a young girl in the other car and they both went over the side of a bridge or highway and crashed into a body of water of some kind and they're both sinking.

[00:05:19] Then a robot sought jumped in and saved Will Smith rather than the teenage girl because he was quote unquote the logical choice of who would survive.

[00:05:34] I'm paraphrasing here but he basically goes on to say that was someone's baby.

[00:05:41] The percentage of life that she had to possibly survive should be more than enough to have gone for her first rather than me.

[00:05:50] He ends off by saying a human being would have known that.

[00:05:56] And that's so true because if I jump into or you know if I see a wreck, especially if it's in water or something.

[00:06:05] I jump in and I see a seemingly healthy adult male and then I see a early teenage girl trapped in another car.

[00:06:15] I'm going to go for that girl first and almost every situation because I would think as a human.

[00:06:23] The adult has a much better chance of breaking out of that car and swimming to safety on his own than would the girl whereas a robot would not think that.

[00:06:33] Unless they had some sort of particular programming.

[00:06:38] That motivation for him that trauma let's call it.

[00:06:44] There's not really I can never really think of a yeah but it's like immediately I'm thinking alright I'm with you robot suck.

[00:06:53] Screw him I want to follow your path let's take him down so I think that is such an effective part of the film.

[00:07:02] Especially on rewatch makes it even better.

[00:07:05] The flashbacks that Alex Poyos injects with the using the wreck and will Smith yelling at the robot to go and save the girl and the robot not listening it's all very emotionally powerful.

[00:07:20] Action wise movies good and there are a few effects especially the bigger things like explosions and stuff that don't look amazing.

[00:07:28] At this point but that doesn't really bother me having seen it when it first came out and the kind of movie that it is I do think though that the robots still look great.

[00:07:42] The highway tunnel where Will Smith is driving like it's really an iconic sequence and there's a lot of them in the movie.

[00:07:52] This huge robot carrier suddenly turns on him and they all start jumping at his car and he's going at a super high speed and then he crashes one of them survives fights him for a little bit but then when the cop show up the robot runs away and nobody believes him.

[00:08:11] The scene when Will Smith is looking for sunny the robot in that line of robots like a formation.

[00:08:20] He tricks him by looking like he's going to pull the trigger like just a little bit and then you see sunny dodge the bullet or dodge what would be the bullet very quickly and he's like I got you.

[00:08:33] The destruction robot when Will Smith is at the scientist house and the bad guys in the movie had designed or programmed the robot to do the destruction early so then Will Smith gets trapped in there and has to try to escape while the house is being destroyed.

[00:08:53] Besides the design I love the character of sunny and Alan Tudik's performance is fantastic but everything to do with that character is.

[00:09:04] Top notch I just find it to be so emotionally compelling relatable.

[00:09:09] How he is incorporated into the story and there are those moments of suspense where you think he might be killed and then he's able to get out of it or somebody helps him.

[00:09:22] Not that she's bad I think one of the only weak links is.

[00:09:27] Bridget Moyna hand if I'm saying that right the character is just a little flat and her performance doesn't really she doesn't do it Will Smith does and really elevating it she's just kind of there.

[00:09:39] So while I don't really mind spending time with her especially since she's usually with either Will Smith or sunny it's not that big deal.

[00:09:49] But otherwise very good across the board.

[00:09:55] And another thing that holds up very well is the humor Will Smith is very, very funny in this and really the whole movie has a lot of good earnest comedy that doesn't feel forced and it's just very off the cuff fun humor that I could see these people saying or injecting into these conversations.

[00:10:17] Everything to do with sunny's dream that's so fascinating and how it's presented and there's the group of robots looking up at this I guess it's a bridge or something but all that sketching and alluding to what it might be and them trying to figure it out.

[00:10:35] And on top of that how the laws of robotics are incorporated into it and the scientists, holograms recordings presenting how no a robot couldn't do this or maybe he could and will Smith trying to crack that and convince others of whatever the current topic may be.

[00:10:54] And I haven't really seen many other films that actually do that as forefront as this one does.

[00:11:03] Then those montage back stories of him explaining the behavior of the robots like when you see that group of shipping containers and the robots are being kept in there why they're together in a group in the corner as opposed to just being apart from one another as you would think it would be.

[00:11:24] So there's a lot of what ifs like oh wait that is really interesting or like oh cool like how did they why are they doing that why are they not doing this.

[00:11:34] Also, Shilobuff this was really I guess around the time he was in holes and then he would go on to be in transformers and Indiana Jones I don't really mind him in this most of the time maybe is a little too at 11 at a 10 he's just always yelling and cursing but I think there's humor there.

[00:12:19] Everything with Will Smith's mom.

[00:12:20] And so the other issues is the third act does essentially become good versus bad stop the bad guy flip the switch kind of thing which isn't inherently terrible it's still entertaining and it doesn't go on too long and it still looks good and still got some good action and suspense but it does lose the depth or intrigue that the first two acts have.

[00:12:45] But the robot uprising in that third act is awesome and that really even though it's very blockbuster in nature theoretically it's not crazy to see that in some future that could happen if things were done the wrong way or things were ignored when it comes to AI.

[00:13:08] So in the end I still really really like it probably more than most do and I know some of that is nostalgia or when I saw it.

[00:13:19] I'm also glad actually that it did not get a sequel I don't know if that was in the works or not or planned but I'm glad that it is just a self contained story they don't feel the need to go back and try and inject some sequel story I like that it's its own thing and that's it.

[00:13:38] So that one is a heavy four out of five.