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Updated! Review dubunked by Proyas himself!!! I, ROBOT a good movie' 'Vericium' thinks so!!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I'll be damned, but that below review turned out to be about as real as WMDs or Harry's womanizing claims... I mean, Elizabeth Taylor? Last summer? C'mon! hehe Anyway, apparently the below review was brought up to Proyas via his website and he responded with these words:
I think that "review" is pretty funny. The guy has obviously not seen the film.Hey, at least it was a positive review, eh? Hopefully the blow lying liar wasn't wrong about that part. Thanks to "Z" for giving us the heads up! For the original fabricated review, enjoy the below!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a rather positive early look at the Alex Proyas directed Asimov adaptation, I, ROBOT. According to the below review, the trailers we've been seeing for the film have been painting a sort of summer action/Will Smith cheeseball flick that the film really isn't. I sure hope this reviewer's right because I love me my Alex Proyas flicks and would be very sad to see him fumble a flick like this. Enjoy!
Hi, I've been at your site quite a few times and I really admire your
stuff. So I figured I'd send in a review of a film I just recently
saw.
I was invited to a test screening of I, Robot yesterday night.
Apparently the test screening was for only a few high-ups and a bit of
a random crowd (from the studio lot, so office workers, like myself)
to come in and see the film.
As you would expect the film was rough as hell and needs a heck of a
lot of work. Some of the sequences were basically all blue screen, and
at a few points we were actually treated to storyboards. Apparently
(according to the producer, who presented the film) they were heavy
into the CGI work and didn't have enough time to cut the rough CG in
at a few points. The funniest result of this was the fact that
sometimes there were guys walking around in tight blue suits on the
sets, it sort of made us laugh, so I don't think it was a good idea to
show us this cut, but, what can I say, lets move forward.
I've heard the complaints from a few of my friends that this looks too
much like a Big Willy Style film, and all I can say is that its
nothing of the sort. Will Smith does have a few funny moments, but its
a whole different spectrum of funny. The "sugar" line that was reviled
so much in the trailer shows up here, but if you get the moments after
the line, you realise that Smith is actually quite charming in a way.
And all the humor that he has really fits into that sector, rather
than the "crazy willy" stuff. I was so surprised by it, that I
actually felt warm when I laughed, however strange that may seem.
The story is your basic sci-fi stuff, an emotionally bankrupt cop is
sent into a perilous situation which will cause him to deal with his
inner demons. This just happens to consist of robots and the detective
is Del Spooner, who totally reviles the aforementioned steel beings.
This is very much Proyas territory, its basically one man's odyssey to
unveil his demons. He did it with The Crow, Dark City and now this.
And really he steals the show in this film, at least if your looking
for it.
The direction and the cinematography are all matter of fact, there's
nothing flashy here and it keeps the style very noir. Also the
supporting cast in the film fills the seams quite well, the main girl,
whose name escapes me was rather gorgeous. She is quite refined and
tight-assed (in numerous ways) at the beginning of the film, but by
the end she lets her hair down and I love the results. Luckily she
doesn't get a whole "love" sub-plot with Smith, its very business-like
between the two, and it fits with the characters.
Really I can't say anything about the CG because most of it wasn't
finished at all. They look like they have about a years work left with
them, and I hope they do get it all done because it has a lot of
potential. The action seems pretty good as is, the score was so temp
that it hurt, and the acting was spot on and very much an integral
part in the film.
The only unfortunate drawback are a few twists that come at the end, I
understand the whole robot deal and how everything is supposed to come
into play. And how robots are here to help, blah blah, conspiracy. But
when the film starts chucking red herrings like a bird-herderr it gets
ridiculous. The film throws you in about eleven directions at the end,
and when everything is finally unveiled I really couldn't give a shit.
With a few snips at the end, and some light cutting the film will be
just about perfect. I never really could understand why they'd show a
film with this much CG so early on, considering that I'm sure thats
most of the spectacle, but I guess its more about getting the story
straight etc. Everything was pretty clear and I felt very much (if not
a little weary) satisfied by the end of the film. They do open up for
a sequel, which is a little promising (considering some of the films
"losses") and I certainly hope they can have more caring characters.
Because the robot character, the main robot, was definitely a bit of a
let-down. It felt very wooden and i think we're supposed to care for
it, though I didn't really care at all. I dunno, maybe thats just a
nitpick, but I didn't like it much.
Anyway, overall I think its going to be quite different than what the
trailers have seemed to lead into. And I think that this will unleash
Alex Proyas onto the world with a vengeance, and maybe now he can get
some great movies out there. I just hope this one does well, because
with the CG and cuts in place, it should be a rather good B-Action
movie. Which is hard to come by.
Just call me Vericium, thanks.
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+ Expand All
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If Proyas gets final cut then this may not be so bad after all. Hmmm!...Studio interference ahead.
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Just kidding. But I wouldn't be too surprised if he or the love interest turn out to be robots anyway.
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Dr Scott? It's me Janet. Help me. My white shoes are stuck to the transvestite's floor!
Please... and with all respect to the contributors, could somebody edit these reviews? At this time of the night I get bored with trying to decipher poor grammar. Nobody needs perfection but readable isn't too much to ask?
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They're school'n the world.
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Jun 09, 2004 5:48:51 AM CDT
I wonder when we'll get a review by anyone who's ever read any A
by raw_bean
'Cause a "rather good B-Action movie" is all well and good, but there's no reason to go and call it 'I, Robot' unless they at least *attempt* to make it worthy of the Good Doctor.
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A good tough guy action hero needs a little grit. Clint Eastwood has grit. John Wayne has grit. Arnold has his own pecular kind of grit. Russel Crow has grit. Hell, even Matt Damon has grit as Jason Borne. But Will Smith.....he has no grit. He's tall, and muscular, but in a "I go to the spa" kind of way. He just doesn't look like a rought and tumble tough guy. I just can't picture him with calouses on his hands, rough skin and a five day old beard. I just can't buy into Will Smith as a gritty action hero.
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The 3 laws of robotics. The philosophy of control. An exploration of the perils of artifical intelligence. A Will Smith vehicle with acton set-pieces, plot twists and crazy robots! The film may very well be a good piece of action film-making (Proyas is a stalwart) but using the name I, Robot makes me feel dirty. *Sigh*
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Because he sucks in them. Anyone remember Wild Wild West? Bad boys2? Independence Day? I can't think of a single action role that had Will Smith in it that would not have been better had it been cast with someone else. It might not have salvaged the film, but at least it could have been an actor who I could take seriously. I see Will Smith and I always think fresh prince of bel air. Where's Carlton?
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Yeah, we'll ignore the review, and just focus on the bad grammar, missing words and comments about feeling warm inside. Analysing such irrelevant things only says more about you lot that the person who sent it in. Though it must feel really stupid to watch a movie with men in blue suits substituting for CGI. No way can this review be taken for granted until the movie's finished. Could be good, could be bad. But it sounds promising.
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Jun 09, 2004 9:26:54 AM CDT
"They look like they have about a years work left with them"
by dastickboy
Well they better hurry up, cos the film's out in a month or two.
Seriously, is this review 8 months old?? -
Jun 09, 2004 9:46:25 AM CDT
If they replaced all of the robots in this film with Benders, th
by osmosis jones
"Bite my shiny metal ass, BROTHER!"
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on Alex Proyas's website, said by the man himself
"I think that "review" is pretty funny. The guy has obviously not seen the film."
http://mysteryclock.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=826 -
Okay, let's print a review with zero details, from an unconfirmed screening. Everything written could be deduced from the trailer, with a few hail mary's thrown in. B.S.
It's exactly like the first "Day After Tomorrow" review they posted, entitiled "THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW is aces for this reviewer!!! by Mad Rodent
all B.S. extrapolated from the trailer. -
Even with a
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Jun 09, 2004 4:09:38 PM CDT
"I, Robot" + "should be a rather good B-Action movie" = "no, tha
by ar42
In other news, there's this new movie of Moby Dick coming out. should be a rather good indie horror flick. Once they finish all the CGI, that is.
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Jun 09, 2004 7:35:46 PM CDT
The trailer seems to indicate no respect whatsover for the sourc
by darthcorleone
Now I know trailers can be extremely deceiving, but this one gives me a headache. Look at the robots! They're going crazy! Will Smith was right: they DO murder people! It's been a while since I read the book, and I remember only liking it rather than loving it. However, what I did appreciate about it was Asimov's clever, thoughtful pacing as several levels of philosophy related to the implications of robots and their laws were revealed with each vignette. If there's any semblance of that in the movie, the trailer does a terrific job of disguising it.
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If the trailers are any indication then this movie will have no relationship to Asimov's work at all other than the title and the laws of robotics. If they turn this into a technophobic killer robot flick then it will be a total ass rape of everything that Asimov was about. IA was an optimist who wanted to demystify and embrace technology, scientific discovery and the future. A message of "fear the robots" is exactly the opposite of what he wanted to convey. I had held out some scant hope for this flick even when I heard that Fresh Prince was going to star in it but after i saw that trailor with the shifty eyed bots and Will Smith saying "I told you so," I knew it wa a lost cause. The thing is, a killer robot movie could still be good (Terminator, Westworld)but I wish they wouldn't coopt Asimov's title when all it will do is piss off real fans of the books. I have long hoped for a series based on the FOUNDATION trilogy but I shudder to think what Hollywood would do to it. No doubt they would telescope the whole 1000 year story into a weekend, cast the Rock as completely invented character and make the whole movie about him fighting the Mule (played by Keifer Sutherland). Stanley Kubrick could have handled FOUNDATION with vision and intelligence but I don't know anyone else who would. (Morgan Freeman should be Hari Seldon, though).
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From mystery clock forum
[quote]
How can you call yourself a big fan of asimov's work?
Based on what I saw in this trailer you've taken one or two ideas from asimov, then made something not like anything asimov has ever written.
There's a beautiful movie that would be so popular just waiting to be made, but I think you've missed the queue altogether. The asimov world is based on robots NOT being able to break the three laws, then asimov twisted his stories in interesting ways to bend the laws. But you've got what looks like a straight robot as menace story. It's for this reason that no sci-fi fans will take your movies seriously.
[/quote]
I agree. Yes, eyeball, you can make a qualified opinion just from the trailers IF you have actually read 'I, Robot.' There is nothing in the book remotely or vaguely similar to the trailer's plot. Period.
They mention the three laws of robotics, big deal, so does Asimov's other robot novels. Spoiler, at least for the book - The novel is a collection of company - US Robotics - case studies regarding positronic malfunctions of many different robots. This is a book about positronic 'psychology' not human. The main character is an older woman, a 'psychiatrist'. Now, I don't know if Will has gotten a sex change or he can REALLY stretch but this of course is the first MAJOR problem. 2nd , she's not a cop. 3rd, this collection of case studies was to be an official history about the challenges met and overcome by US Robotics! It is not a murder mystery or dark noir of human social and psychological manifestations.
Maybe Alex should have remade 'Nightfall.' I think that Asimov novel would have been VERY interesting if done by Alex. Dark, moody and a testament to human foibles.
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Jun 09, 2004 10:38:51 PM CDT
No offense, but I'd like nothing better than for this to be a go
by happyhamster
Ooops, that the vindictive side of me getting the better of me for a while. I better bottle it up like I normally do. :)
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Jun 09, 2004 11:41:40 PM CDT
I guess he saw the robot effects and said "Nah, this is just som
by judge doom
So hi is Dumb or a plant. Or maibe both.
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I think the only way the Foundation series could be done is on the Sci-Fi Channel. That's what I want to be done with Childhood's End, as well. The only way they could end it the way CLarke did is by doing it on television, for an audience that will tune in to see it done closer to the source material than what a Hollywood movie would do with it. I don't even care about the effects, as long as they tell the story right.
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Jun 10, 2004 1:01:45 AM CDT
Is it me, or do the robots all look like Chris Elliott and Tim B
by mosquito march
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It looks like a sci-fi film that could have been directed by anybody else. I don`t see the Proyas dark tones and dream-like athmosphere. A shame really. Fuck when I want a Woody Allen, I don`t want to see Invaders from Mars, same thing, here: Alex Proyas had a nice thing going by doing unusual subjects with his own touch on the material but throw that all away with the bland Asimov crap.
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"I was an ardent science fiction reader in the 1930s and I became tired of the ever-repeated robot plot. I didn't see robots that way. I saw them as machines-advanced machines-but machines.....So, in 1939, at the age of nineteen, I determined to write a robot story about a robot that was widely used, that was not dangerous, and that did the job it was supposed to do.....As a result, the old-fashioned robot story was virtually killed in all science fiction stories above the comicstrip level. Robots began to be viewed as machines rather than metaphors by other writers too. They grew to be commonly seen as benevolent and useful except when something went wrong, and then capable of correction and improvement." - Isaac Asimov.
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Those things look very similar to the Bjork video ones. Anyone else see the resembalance?
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What if the robot design and casting were reversed, with a white man dealing with dark skinned, brown-eyed 'bad' robots, instead of a black man (hero) dealing with white, blue-eyed evil robots. Double standard. The so-called black "leaders" would be all out of breath shouting about how "racist" a film like that would be.
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