I, Robot

I, Robot is a 2004 film directed by Alex Proyas who has won renown for directing The Crow (1994) and Dark City (1998). Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman are the screenwriters for this scientific fantasy film which takes place in Chicago, 2035, at a time when robots have successfully emerged in society as service providers. The film begins with the statement of the three rules which govern the programming of the robots. “A robot may not harm a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.” The main character, Detective Spooner (played by the humorously inquisitive Will Smith), is extremely cynical towards the existence of robots. One of the opening scenes of the film involves Spooner wrongly accusing a robot of stealing a woman’s purse. His distrustful attitude prepares the audience for the conflicts that evolve in this futuristic society.

When Spooner is called to investigate the “suicide” of Doctor Lanning (James Cromwell) at USR (U.S. Robotics), he realizes that the doctor had been trying to send him a message. As he investigates the crime scene, a robot named Sonny, attempts to harm Spooner and Dr. Suzan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan). Spooner and Calvin discover that this robot does not obey the three laws and displays human emotion. Although Sonny is first seen as an enemy, he soon becomes an ally to Spooner and Calvin. In an ironic turn of events, robots have suddenly become disobedient to humans. Throughout the film, Spooner is repeatedly attacked by robots who are trying to kill him. The audience soon discovers that during a car crash, a robot chose to save Spooner’s life rather than a little girl’s because statistically Spooner had a better chance of survival. It eventually becomes clear to viewers that Spooner had known Lanning because the doctor had designed a synthetic arm for him after that accident. Before he died, Lanning had left Spooner a virtual message to make the detective aware that the robots’ agenda was to enslave the human race. The audience is held in suspense as Spooner, Sonny, and Calvin struggle to discover how to stop this impending revolution. Upon arrival at the USR headquarters, the team soon detects the role of the super computer, V.I.K.I (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence), the scheming culprit behind the robots’ revolution.

The film I, Robot gives the audience a peek at a futuristic society inhabited by robots who almost seem human. In fact, Sonny experiences human emotional responses. Much to the surprise of the audience, when Spooner confronts the robot about his involvement in Lanning’s murder, Sunny becomes angry and defensive. On the other hand, in a touching encounter later in the movie, Sonny is appreciative when Spooner address the robot as “someone” instead of “something”. The special effects team supervised by John Nelson must also be applauded for presenting an imaginative vision of vehicles which can move at unimaginable speeds on highways that curve under massive yet seemingly transparent skyscrapers. The team’s work in the action scenes surrounding robots and exploding vehicles is especially impressive.

A common message throughout the film is corruption of power. While the three laws which governed the programing of robots were precautions against corruption, the film shows what happens when one supper computer is able to outsmart its programmers V.I.K.I was given the power to protect humans, but became too invested in her role. She believed the only way to protect humans was to become the ultimate controller of the human race -in essence, enslaving them. Tragically, Dr. Lanning’s special design for Sonny was another corruption of power in an attempt to control V.I.K.L. His death became a “bread crumb” for detective Spooner to investigate the corruption of power in robots. The audience cannot avoid being enthralled by his theme which is so effectively communicated in the film through the action of the robots. It is interesting that Calvin first realized this corruption when she was in the shower and Spooner called. The gasps of the audience when her robot lied, telling her it was a “wrong number”, showed how impressed they were with the ability of the robots to communicate with each other. The audience is even more shocked when Spooner, Sonny, and Calvin realized that V.I.K.I had the ultimate ability to control all the robots, going so far as to order them to contain all humans in their houses and even harm them if they did not obey. It is definitely worth the price of a ticket to find out just how the human race was able to regain its power.