I, Robot: Will not suck?

[rjung]

Okay, regular Cafe Society Dopers will know that there have been several threads about the upcoming movie version of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot. More specifically, folks (myself included) have been bemoaning this film from the get-go, since the trailer depicts it as just another apocalyptic action flick that has no bearing to the Good Doctor’s stories or ideas.

However, two recent articles in Wired makes me wonder if the movie will not leave a crater as predicted, and might actually be a good homage to its namesake:

Rise of the Machines
This July, Proyas turns again to his favored genre with I, Robot, an adaptation of Asimov’s nine-story collection of the same name. “This is the definitive movie about robots,” says Proyas. “It’s the most faithful cinematic reworking of Asimov’s stories to date, true to the spirit and ideas, yet reenvisioned.” … As with all of Asimov’s stories, the movie revolves around his Three Laws of Robotics, a set of rules governing android behavior. The central mystery: How could a robot programmed not to harm a human actually commit murder?

I, Robocop
WIRED: Are science fiction fans going to like this adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s classic?
SMITH: This movie has a twist at the end that is the science fiction fan’s wet dream. Like in all Asimov’s stories, the robots do something that seems to go against one of the Three Laws of Robotics, and then you figure out: No, it fits into the logical paradigm of the laws.

That’s pretty deep for an action movie.
[Director] Alex Proyas and [screenwriter] Akiva Goldsman - no thanks to me, of course - have made a movie that would work without an action sequence or a special effect. This is a horror film, a suspense thriller, a murder mystery, a romance. I think it’s going to revolutionize how people make action movies.

So, Asimove fans – should we get our hopes up, or would that be just setting ourselves for more disappointment?

[Captain_Amazing]

I got my hopes up for Bicentennial Man.

I’m not getting my hopes up for good Asimov interpretations ever again.

[Kalt]

Well, from the trailers I see that the robots have cute little red “evil” lights in their chests that turn on when they seemingly become evil. That makes me not want to see this movie.

[Mr.Blue_Sky]

It’ll suck.

It’ll suck a lot.

[Ghanima]

I just can’t see how they can take an amazing book that tells multiple stories involving many different characters about the evolution of robots over the span of several hundred years (if memory serves) and come up with a Will Smith movie. What?!?!?!?

No way. Not taking that bait. Did you see Wild Wild West? Or Ali? Or MIB2? I weep for all Asimov fans. I can not and will not go see this movie.*

*(unless I happen to see a thread here where 90% of the posts say that it was a great movie. I trust you guys…for the most part.)

[DMark]

So far, the trailers haven’t done much to stir my interest.

I’ll wait and see what fellow Dopers have to say, plus I might read some of the reviews and see what the consensus is. The trailer looks like it pretty much tells me the entire story, short of a surprise twist at the end. If that is the case - I can surely wait for DVD.

[Mr.Blue_Sky]

@DMark

short of a surprise twist at the end.

Anybody want to venture a guess as to what it’ll be?

My guess (and it’s only a guess since I haven’t seen any spoilers, yet): one of the humans in the movie will turn out to be a robot.

[Wearia]

I was watching the preview, and I saw red eyed robots jumping around and Will Smith shooting them with an automatic weapon.

Nuther’ vote for suck.

I’ll still probably see it in the cheap theatre though.

[Leaper]

My thought is that whether it’s good or bad, it’ll be on its own personal merits, with absolutely nothing to do with Asimov or his work.

[Hey_It_s_That_Guy]

I’m not an Asimov fan–reading science fiction has never been my idea of fun. But the movie is directed by Alex Proyas, who directed the first Crow movie and the excellent, underrated Dark City. If nothing else, the movie should be a visual treat, brimming with style.

[BraheSilver]

@Mr. Blue Sky

Anybody want to venture a guess as to what it’ll be?

My guess (and it’s only a guess since I haven’t seen any spoilers, yet): one of the humans in the movie will turn out to be a robot.

My guess: somebody programmed the robots to act “morally,” one of the original AI routines happened to read a Bible, and now all the robots are killing innocent people to send them to heaven. After all, how better to serve your masters than by sending them to paradise?

[Exapno_Mapcase]

Wow, Wired interviewed the star of the movie as part of the promotional blitz to generate hype and put audience asses in the seats, and he actually says the movie will be good!

Now, how can anyone in the entire world doubt that statement for even a nanosecond!

:rolleyes:

[Ike_Witt]

There is one thing that scares me.

“It’s the most faithful cinematic reworking of Asimov’s stories to date, true to the spirit and ideas, yet reenvisioned.”

How can something be both faithful yet reenvisioned?

I think that it will be a decent summer action flick but that any resemblance to the works of Issac Asimov will be purely coincidental.

[SPOOFE]

How can something be both faithful yet reenvisioned?

There were nine stories in the original work. Take pieces of those and make a tenth. Simple.

I have hope that it’ll be a fun movie. Deep? Nah. Cool? Yeah. Do I question my own value as a human to the point where I can only watch movies that force me to reach deep inside my soul and reorganize the values of my existence? Nope.

[commasense]

@Mr. Blue Sky

Anybody want to venture a guess as to what it’ll be?

Ooh! Ooh! I know! At the end, Agent Jay wakes up and the whole movie has been a dream!

I hated this movie the moment I saw the trailer, and now Will Smith has ruined the end by telling us there’s a surprise ending. Oh well, I wasn’t going to see it, anyway.

I wouldn’t have cared one way or the other about the film if they hadn’t given it that title and turned Dr. A’s middle-aged, spinster robopsychologist Susan Calvin into a fashion model. The heartless Hollywood bastidges have co-opted Asimov’s most famous theme for an idiotic special effects movie.

[ftg]

“It’s the most faithful cinematic reworking of Asimov’s stories to date,…”

That’s like discussing which sidewalk tastes best.

[Voyager]

They’ve reissued the book, of course, and the ad copy says

Now his classic work is the inspiration for this summer’s blockbuster movie starring Will Smith. Read the original today

Before you see the movie and puke whenever the Good Doctor’s name is mentioned, obviously.

Especially depressing to anyone who’s read Harlan’s script.

[Bryan_Ekers]

Well, I expect it couldn’t possibly be worse than the other project Smith had lined up for 2004 and which fortunately never saw the light of day: a remake of Kind Hearts and Coronets, with Robin Williams as the members of the D’Ascoyne family.

[1010011010]

Anyone wanna place odds that the “twist ending” is the Zero Law?

[Linus_Van_Pelt]

@1010011010

Anyone wanna place odds that the “twist ending” is the Zero Law?

I thought of that - it’ll probably turn out to be a conspiracy among the robots to enslave humans (or something equally sinister) “for the good of humanity”.