I, Robot (Alex Proyas 2004)
Posted on February 28 at 10.09, 2005 by Eric Mahleb
Why, why, why? I know why, but why? Why do solid and intelligent science fiction concepts and stories (especially this one by the master Asimov) have to be turned into comic, light hearted and action driven spectacles? Yes, i know, because it sells more. But what a shame. Great story turned into a mediocre one, top notch special effects (the robots are amazing), stereotypical and annoying hero who can’t deal with his past, isn’t afraid of anything, makes silly jokes even at the most dangerous times and has a way with ladies (of course), and you have standard Hollywood fare, another film contributing, sadly, to the reputation of Science Fiction as a non-serious genre.
My vote: 
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2 Responses to “I, Robot”
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I am Legend - Quiet Please - Film reviews by Eric Mahleb Says:
February 14, 2008 at 12.15[…] One of the most annoying trademarks of Hollywood blockbusters, at least to me, is the supposedly funny one-liners that the hero typically spurts out in the most improbable situations. Normally used to alleviate tension and to bring lightness where there should be none, the blockbuster funny one-liner dumbs down and cheapens the cinematic experience. I was able to count only one in I am Legend (‘I like Shrek’) which is a major improvement over the number that can be found, for example, in two of Will Smith’s previous Sci-Fi efforts, Independence Day (1996) and I, Robot (2004) or in Michael Bay’s most recent disaster, Transformers (2007). One is also the figure I came up with for the number of really poorly scripted scenes (Bob Marley Sr.), which, again, is quite an achievement for a film this expensive and this heavily marketed. […]
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Diaspora - Quiet Please - Film reviews by Eric Mahleb Says:
June 26, 2008 at 20.43[…] As I have posted several times before, one of the drawbacks of many Sci-Fi representations and stories brought to the silver screen, is the difficulty in reaching the right balance between depicting a credible future, sometimes a distant future, while at the same time preserving some sense of ‘normality’ as well as traditional frames of references in order to not alienate the viewer. Unfortunately, this balance is rarely reached and most of Hollywood’s visualizations tend to be very limited and writers or directors seem content to show us the same old humans with the same old problems, values and physical characteristics, regardless of when in the future the story might be occurring. Just place these archaic visions of the past in front of a couple of futuristic looking buildings, add some fancy cars with doors that slide vertically and complete the package with the occasional gismo to obtain your average run-of-the-mill Sci-Fi flick. […]