i, robot

I've staved off watching I, Robot for months. When I finally saw a friend of mine with a DVD copy, I just thought I'd give it a try, even though everything I heard about it sucks. :) First off, let's just say that, when you buy a pirated DVD, make sure it's not recorded directly from the cinema. It's irritating, although funny, to see people moving around when you're watching a DVD.

On to the movie. It does suck.

Barely 10 minutes into the movie, and I've already been bombarded by ad after ad of brand names. JVC, Converse, Audi... and the list goes on. "Vintage 2004" my ass. I gotta hand it to the director though. It's the most time-saving commercial effort. Every 10 to 15 minutes, you'll see at least 2 big brand names displayed on screen. Kinda reminds me of watching local Malaysian TV with over 15 minutes of ad breaks in a 1-hour show. I wonder if Will Smith showing his ass twice is supposed to be an advertisment too.

Eyecandy-wise, there wasn't really much to go "ohh-ahh" about. Nothing to watch -- from realistic expressions on robot faces to the car chases, explosions, the robot attack finale -- that hasn't been done before. The car chase scene with the robots were kinda disappointing. With the number of robots attacking a single car, it's just not logical that they didn't succeed in killing Will Smith right there.

Besides the 3 laws, the movie title, and names like Alfred Lanning, there was basically nothing in the movie that actually reminds one of any of Isaac Asimov's novels. It's like a total new story, tailor-made for Will Smith to show off as the hero -- which wasn't very impressive either way -- and to cram in advertisement after advertisement to make a helluva lot of money.

All in all, I think just wasted 2 hours watching the show last night.