I, Robot

[rowyn]

Lut and I went to see the film "I, Robot" yesterday. I'd been figuring to see this movie since I saw the trailers. The trailers made the movie look like it had no connection whatsoever with the collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov. However, it still looked like a fun flick, so I figured I'd just pretend it was called something like "Robots of Doom" and watch it anyway.

The movie is considerably better than I'd expected it to be. I'm going to leave it at that to avoid any possible spoilers. Maybe I'll write a spoiler entry later. But if you enjoy sf-action movies, "I, Robot" is well worth seeing.

On a related note: it's hard for me to say if Will Smith is a good actor or not, because in all the movies I've seen with him, he's always playing the same character. Different backgrounds, different settings, same action-hero smartaleck. However, I can say one thing for sure: he's a fine performer. A lot of fun to watch. He may always be playing the same character, but that character always feels like a real person. He's very much the star of this film, and he carries it well.

Comments

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

I agree, and I agree on Will Smith. He's always(?) the same character, but, you know what? I don't mind! =) Will Smith is cool, he's likeable, and Will Smith movies are generally worth seeing. Complaining that he's playing "the same character" is something like complaining in a gaming group that someone always plays "the same type of character"; so what, as long as everybody's having fun? (Now, mind you, if it's an annoying character, then I say that's the root problem - not that there inherently must be some sort of imposed "variety".)

[rowyn]

Good way of putting it. :) I think we regard "it's always the same" as a bad thing because it's very common for people who do "the same thing" to be doing it badly. An actor who always plays the same one-dimensional villain, for example, or the RPGer who alwyas plays the same flat "I swing my sword at it!" warrior.

But portraying the same type of character can be very entertaining -- if it's a good, well-drawn, well-realized character. :)

[jim-lane.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip!

I'd been sitting on the proverbial fence re: seeing the movie, mainly because of the title/story disparity. Still, I, too, am a Will Smith fan, so I guess I'll have to catch it before it heads to DVD.

Ciao!
Jim

[rowyn]

Don't get me wrong: the title/story disparity very much exists! But while it's not Asimov's I, Robot, the film id definitely enjoyable.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

On a related note: it's hard for me to say if Will Smith is a good actor or not, because in all the movies I've seen with him, he's always playing the same character.

See Six Degrees of Separation. (Ha! I beat Kendra to this recommendation!)

[rowyn]

OK. :)

[ceruleanst.livejournal.com]

The title you're looking for is "Hardwired." That's what it was called before the studio got their hands on the rights to the title "I, Robot" and decided to slap it on.

[rowyn]

Even though the plot is wholly unlike any Asimov story, the "I, Robot" movie is tied in closely with the Three Laws. The studio would've needed to pay Asimov's estate regardless or re-write the script.

And it's even less like Hardwired. ;)

[level-head.livejournal.com]

There are actually several of the Asimov robot short stories that are paid homage to in this film. For example, the "sea of robots" visible in the trailer (and the situation, and the name Nestor) is from "Little Lost Robot" as I recall.

===|==============/ Level Head

[batratblue.livejournal.com]

The '____ always plays _____' syndrome is nothing new. People get typecast into a role and rarely get to leave it. Schwarzenegger is another good example, as is Jackie Chan. In fact, most modern actors to a greater or lesser extent are being routinely paid to play a particular kind of character that they have played well in numerous other movies.

I would hazard a guess that today the actor market is so saturated that it is better to do one thing very well and make a name at doing that one thing than to be seen as a classical 'all around' actor capable of doing myriad roles.

[rowyn]

I think it's partly audience demand, really. Most people will like a given actor because they like the character they've seen him play. They don't want to see the *actor* again -- they want to see that *character* again. Much the same reason that there's a lot of audience demand for sequels (of both books and movies.)

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can see that to a certain extent, but I also think that part of what makes the character appealing in the first place is what the actor brings to it. I doubt that Han Solo or Indiana Jones would be quite the same character, if it weren't Harrison Ford playing him, for instance. In a sense, Han Solo ended up "stealing the show" to a significant degree from the movie's apparent chosen hero.

And, to a certain degree, action heroes at the very least can't afford to always play exactly the same character. As they get older, they seem to migrate more into "mentor" or "father" roles. Witness how in "Terminator 2", Arnie is blatantly a sort of "substitute father" for the kid. But there are still those mannerisms, a certain element of that grit or gusto or wit or whatever it was that made us really stick to the character. Sure, witty dialogue goes a long, long way, but it also matters how you deliver the lines.

Sure, I like the "character" I see, and want to see it again ... but what I like, and what I want to see again I think is a certain amount of fusion between the fictitious character that appeals to me, and the life that this particular actor or actress breathed into it.

[botsp0t.livejournal.com]

Monitoring this has been queued.

One nit with Smith

[garyamort.livejournal.com]

I found his charector perfect in Men In Black - the smart alec sidekick.

The problem is, when he is the main charector, I keep looking for the Hero for him to be a sidekick to. I felt kinda lost in MiB 2 untill the Hero was brought back onto the scene.

Still an interesting, funny charector, but something seems missing at times.

Sorta like how Robin had to be completely redesigned as Nightwing to work as a main charector. I never really found him beleivable in Teen Titans.