Wash in "I, Robot"

POSTED BY: Lucretia
UPDATED: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 15:06
VIEWED: 12324
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LUCRETIA

Monday, July 12, 2004 3:43 PM

Yes, for you Asimov fans out there you might be groaning over this movie. I was interested in the beginning until I heard Will Smith was in the movie. In any case I figured I'd see it anyway. I can't really figure out how the movie fits into the "I, Robot" short stories. Maybe it's just a conceptual fit. Or maybe it's something from the Complete Robot Stories book or something.

Anyway, good news for Firefly Fans. Alan Tudyk is playing the "bad robot" in "I, Robot" ala Golem from "Lord of the Rings". It will be nice to hear his voice again, even if I do end up cringing throughout the movie from the butchering of the story.

CLEANER

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 12:16 AM

The movie is only inspired by Asimov NOT based on.

The period its based in (about USR and the robot rollout) was never covered in detail by Asimov. He only wrote a few short stories about this time. These short stories don't lend themselves to a movie.

Go see the movie its scifi, support it. Again, inspired by Asimov, not based on Asimov.

QUICKSAND

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 3:29 AM

Since the script by Jeff Vintar (called "Hardwired") was written first, and separate, I'd hazard to say that THIS movie is inspired by Asimov in much the way your favorite soundtrack is "inspired" by so-and-so movie. Somebody, somewhere decided they could make more money if they slapped the "I, Robot" title on it... even though that somebody is, of course, quite wrong.

Anyone familiar with Asimov and his work will of course be horribly annoyed and raise their middle finger to salute the studio.

HOWEVER... as posted by another member here at FFN, "I would have no problem with this movie if it were called Will Smith vs. The Killer Robots of Doom."

Me neither. I've ranted elsewhere against script-doctor Akiva Goldsman (he puts the 'suck' in 'suckage'), but as a Huge Film Geek, here's the thing....

Lucretia writes that she got worried about the movie when she heard Will Smith was in it. Everyone should realize though (most of us forget this) that a movie is not made, or written, or shot by the lead actor. People refer to Tom Cruise movies, or Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, or Julia Roberts movies.... when all these people are, are actors who play their part, evoke an emotion, get paid.

Movies are made by many, many people. But the person with the Final Creative Vision is ultimately (hopefully) the director: folks you've heard of like Steven Spielberg or James Cameron, or people whose names aren't as famous, like Ed Zwick (The Last Samurai), Andrew Davis (Collateral Damage), or hey, Joss Whedon.

"I, Robot" was directed by Alex Proyas, who LEAPT to fame directing "The Crow" in 1994. His next big Hollywood project was "Dark City" a few years later... these are incredible films that both blew me, and hopefully you, out of my/your chair(s). And I wouldn't call "The Crow" a Brandon Lee movie, any more than I'd call "Dark City" a Jennifer Connelly movie, or a Kiefer Sutherland movie. Or a Rufus Sewell movie, if we're keeping the lead actor thing going.

Anyway, at the end of the day, I support everything about this movie except the title. It's a pretty dumb thing to fixate on, but as an Asimov fan first, the last thing I want ANYone to think is that this in any way relates to Asimov. I already avoided "The Stepford Wives" this summer because I DON'T trust director Frank Oz, however much I dig Nicole Kidman or Matthew Broderick or Christopher Walken's hair.

Please, everyone post on this; discussion is good. It's hard to support a movie but not its producers... I love talking about this stuff because I love movies, and I love literature, and I love directors and writers and the Firefly cast in all their glorious... uh, glory. But man, I learned years ago you can't follow a whole team just because of one guy...

... as any fan of Roger Clemens will tell you.

___\__/___
--------------- (Qs)

p.s. Alan Tudyk RAWKS, and yes, can still totally take Andy Serkis in a streetfight.

STANDING8

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 3:51 AM

looks good enough to watch. i dont expect to be blown away by it. but im sure its entertaining. what the hells wrong with will smith? hes never done or acted in anything to make me angry at him?

-Soul Rebel-

http://www.livejournal.com/users/standing8

updated: 7/12/04!

MOHRSTOUTBEARD

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 4:00 AM

Quote:
Go see the movie its scifi, support it.

Why should anyone support a movie that encourages the cheap cash-in of a well-known SF title just to make a few more bucks? But, you're right; the movie is "sci-fi." But it's not science fiction.

Harlan Ellison wrote an amazing screenplay for "I, Robot" that Issac Asimov loved. It would, and maybe someday will, make a great film. As it just so happens, Ellison also has something about the difference between SF and "sci-fi". . .

Quote:
The concepts that abound in fantastical literature have the magical capacity to inspire dreams that become enriching reality. Science fiction, like The Whole Earth Catalog, is only an implement, a tool of the mind's imagination. It employs the technique called extrapolation, allowing us to play the game of what-if?. A game of intellect and daring, of special dreaming and determination not to buy into all those boneheaded beliefs that always tell use we're too stupid and too inadequate to prevail. That we need some kind of mythical alien or supernatural babysitter to get us over the rough spots. Science fiction says otherwise. It is an idea-rich literature that is, at core, hopeful and progressive, that always says--with a nod to the reawakening of a competent human spirit--there will be a tomorrow. It may be troubling, and it may require us to get a lot smarter, but there will be a tomorrow for us to work at.

"Sci-fi," that hunchbacked, gimlet-eyed, slobbering village idiot of a bastardized genre, says only that logic is beyond us, understanding must be crushed underfoot, that the woods are full of monsters and aliens and conspiracies and dread and childish fear of the dark. The former is a literature that can open the sky to all the possibilities of change and chance; the latter is hysterical and as overripe as rotten fruit, that can turn all rational conjecture into a nightmare from which one escapes only by phenobarb-laced applesauce or a slug of grape Kool-aid straight up with cyanide. The former says responsibility for your life is the key; the latter assures you that you ain't got the chance of a hairball in a cyclotron.

Now, maybe that's just arguing semantics. But I think there is a clear distinction between Issac Asimov - and science fiction - and what this movie is giving us. Now, I haven't seen it, and I'm certainly not going to pay to, so you might say it's unfair to judge. Wrong. As soon as they decided it was alright to rape Asimov's corpse and capitalize on his name and legacy for some quick cash, it lost it's credibility.

In other words, do not support studios cheap marketing tactics just because you feel some loyalty to a genre.

(I will, however, support Alan Tudyk by going to see Dodgeball. As far as I know, they are not trying to capitalize on Issac Asimov's awesome tale of the future "Dodgeball: 2051 - In Soviet Russia, Ball Dodges You!")

"You've just gotta go ahead and change the captain of your brainship, because he's drunk at the wheel."

SERGEANTX

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 4:01 AM

I can't say much for Will Smith's choices in leading roles, but anyone who thinks he can't act needs to see "Six Degrees of Separation".

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

QUICKSAND

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 4:05 AM

Will Smith never made me angry, but I think we can all agree that the following movies never happened: "Wild, Wild West," "Enemy of the State" and "Men in Black II."

Other than that, he's in the clear.

THATWEIRDGIRL

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 4:13 AM

this is a netflix one.

Change the name, maybe I'd see it. But the thing is, it's I,Robot. Make a movie called I,Robot actaully adapted from I,Robot and I would see it. Make a movie called Attack of the killer Robots and I might see it too. But this, just hurts.

www.thatweirdgirl.com

MER

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 5:49 AM

I'm expecting it to be a bad movie so I don't get Let Down if I thought it was supposed to be good beforehand.
I'm all for the evil robots and Alan. :)

So far any movies Will Smith has been in (that I know of) has yet to annoy or disappoint me as well. *shrugs* He's a perfectionist. I hope he does good in this movie. Otherwise, it'll give him something else to dwell on so the next project will be gold.

SIKKUKUT

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 10:22 AM

Quicksand, you do me a great honor by quoting me. I think I might have said "Will Smith Vs. The Killer Death Robots from Hell," but I don't remember.

Alan Tudyk's post in that other thread about this movie was pretty sobering.

And actually, I saw a hint of what he's talking about in the 3rd trailer ( www.apple.com/trailers), which features some actual interaction between Sonny and Spooner. That was the first thing that really made me want to see the film.

Sonny: You still seem suspicious of me, detective.
Spooner: Well, you know what they say about old dogs.
Sonny: Not really.

I expect to be bored to death during the big action scenes, honestly. They just look awful, and the car chase clip on apple.com is not inspiring at all. However, the other clip is actually really cool, it's awesome that it's such a big role for Alan, and I support the general trend toward actor-driven CG characters. If the plot's half as layered as Alan says, I'll appreciate it, especially if it really is a detective story. A detective story about a robot acting crazy would be true to Asimov's stories... would BE an Asimov story, really. It's the army of robots part that worries me.

If I weren't broke, I'd go see it. As it is, I have to see Spider-Man 2 as soon as I have enough money for a movie ticket.

Does anybody else find it completely impossible to recognize Alan's voice, even knowing that it's him?

EDIT: Right, the Harlan Ellison thing. It was a brilliant script... according to whom, Harlan Ellison? That man has an inflated sense of self-importance.
____________________________
"You're mean. Firefly's making me reconsider my lifelong devotion to Star Trek." --My mother

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