Day 154 - 5/3/09 - Movie #154
BEFORE: Another movie that I've been TRYING to watch for a couple years, since bringing home one of those promo Academy screeners. OK, so it's not really an "apocalypse" film, it's more like a murder-mystery with robots - but it is a depiction of a bleak future where the robots are threatening to take control, and I'm not interested in watching any Terminator film without Ah-nold in it. This looks like it might be a cross between "I Am Legend" and "Wall-E" ?
THE PLOT: In the year 2035 a techno-phobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity.
AFTER: When I was a kid, I read the Isaac Asimov story that this is based on, so I'm familiar with the "three laws" that are supposed to govern robot behavior - the first one says that robots are forbidden to harm humans, but it seems like someone forgot to tell these robots! Either the robots have evolved, or there's some kind of loophole that Will Smith's character has to uncover. Any conflict in their programming should cause a HAL-type meltdown, but the film sidesteps this is a rather neat way.
I found the multi-layered tanks full of robots to be VERY similar to the Battle tanks in Star Wars: Episode I, and the logic behind the robot takeover to be a thinly-veiled take on the Patriot Act. The robots need to destroy humans' freedoms to keep them safe...or something like that. The climactic ending actually seemed more like "The Terminator" crossed with "The Matrix".
And hey, cool, the lead robot, Sonny, was "played" by Alan Tudyk, aka Steve the Pirate from "Dodgeball". Didn't care too much for the female lead, she just seemed like Sandra Bullock Lite. Another thrilling action movie with Will Smith - doesn't this guy ever get tired?
RATING: 8 out of 10 positronic doohickeys.
Today's my test for "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - Movie Edition". There better be at least one question about a movie I've seen in the past 2 weeks, or else I've made a horrible miscalculation.
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How did you get a hold of a promo academy screener??
ReplyDeleteI didn't really care for this film nor was I interested in it but happened to catch it on a plane. Though I never read the Asimov books, I am familiar with the 3 laws.
While I didn't catch that Alan Tudyk played the lead robot, he should always be referred to as Wash, and nothing else.
And while I am at it, I would have to say that Terminator 3 lacked any redeeming qualities, even though it had Ah-nold in it. I enjoyed Terminator 4 more than I expected. You may want to check it out.