tenpastmidnight blog
Making hay while the sun shines
» Sunday, August 08, 2004 «
I, Robot and other summer films
I went to see I, Robot (the film) yesterday with Alex F, while Alex M when to see Spiderman 2.
Without spoiling anything, I, Robot is OK... it's a pretty good action SF film, and while Isaac Asimov wouldn't have written anything so aggressive, or unintellectually stimulating, I don't think it'll have him spinning in his grave as I suggested earlier. There's probably a media studies student essay or two in spotting which films it references, we spotted Blade Runner, The Matrix, Terminator, and something I can't remember right now (I ought to get comments sorted out so Alex can prompt me.) One other comment: the product placement for Converse bordered on the silly, especially as it's for a shoe out now, they could have at least done it for one a couple of years in the future, though I suppose the joke is it's a retro shoe now, and they've forgotten that in thirty years time.
So far the summer season isn't giving any definitively good action film. Spiderman 2 has an annoyingly slow part in the middle as Peter worries about his life, I, Robot just isn't quite there. It' has a nice open ending - here's hoping they don't immediately make a sequel though - but like Minority Report last year it just misses being a very good film somehow. This might be my own prejudice at having read the stories both films were based on, I just prefer the written stuff. However, so far I think Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is my best mainstream film of the year, and it's got it's own faults, by telling the same story as the book it feels like an edit of a much larger story, as if it was two films edited down to one. I don't think this was really avoidable if they wanted to fit in as much as they did, but it does mean the film is a bit flawed.
Still, as we reflected walking away from the cinema, they could all be worse. They could be either of The Matrix sequels.
Without spoiling anything, I, Robot is OK... it's a pretty good action SF film, and while Isaac Asimov wouldn't have written anything so aggressive, or unintellectually stimulating, I don't think it'll have him spinning in his grave as I suggested earlier. There's probably a media studies student essay or two in spotting which films it references, we spotted Blade Runner, The Matrix, Terminator, and something I can't remember right now (I ought to get comments sorted out so Alex can prompt me.) One other comment: the product placement for Converse bordered on the silly, especially as it's for a shoe out now, they could have at least done it for one a couple of years in the future, though I suppose the joke is it's a retro shoe now, and they've forgotten that in thirty years time.
So far the summer season isn't giving any definitively good action film. Spiderman 2 has an annoyingly slow part in the middle as Peter worries about his life, I, Robot just isn't quite there. It' has a nice open ending - here's hoping they don't immediately make a sequel though - but like Minority Report last year it just misses being a very good film somehow. This might be my own prejudice at having read the stories both films were based on, I just prefer the written stuff. However, so far I think Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is my best mainstream film of the year, and it's got it's own faults, by telling the same story as the book it feels like an edit of a much larger story, as if it was two films edited down to one. I don't think this was really avoidable if they wanted to fit in as much as they did, but it does mean the film is a bit flawed.
Still, as we reflected walking away from the cinema, they could all be worse. They could be either of The Matrix sequels.
