Just as ‘Cruel Intentions’ was by Choderlos de Laclos’ ‘Les Liaisons dangereuses’ so ‘I, Robot’ is “suggested” by Isaac Asimov’s many ruminations on his three laws of robotics. It is a new inspirational credit which gives filmmakers free reign to alter and update a work of fiction in any way they see fit. Hence ‘I, Robot’ is not an adaptation of any one of Asimov’s texts but rather a completely new beast which takes his essential theories on robotics, a couple of character names and creates an entirely new story.

So then, have Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman (previously responsible for such crimes against sci-fi as ‘Batman and Robin’ and the risible ‘Lost in Space’) sucked the brains right out of Asimov’s work and delivered yet another generic blockbuster? Well, yes and no, though he is revered by geeks across the world, as a science fiction reader I have never been a huge fan of Asimov’s writing (most of his short stories read like bad jokes) so for me it would be impossible for Vintar and Goldsman to ruin a classic and in fact a noughties sensibility would be a welcome addition to Asimov’s fifties stories. What they have produced is a fairly standard blockbuster so far as mixing plot twists with big action set pieces and infused throughout with a strong sense of humour (usually provided by the wisecracking Smith). That’s not to say the film is wholly lacking in intelligence, though you sometimes feel they doubt ours as an audience. The exposition can sometimes be a little heavy handed and the screenplay uses Bridget Moynahan’s Dr Susan Calvin (one of the characters taken from Asimov) as a device to spell out any complex elements of the plot. The twists can be guessed from a mile off (if you’re looking) and the ending isn’t totally unpredictable, but that said the screenplay is still very successful, tightly structured and balanced.

Unsurprisingly if you’ve seen the film’s poster, this is as much a Will Smith vehicle as it is anything else. Thankfully Smith is fantastic, as an actor he positively oozes charisma and is almost impossible not to like. This is a slightly more in depth action performance than we’ve seen him produce before, Spooner has a past and a secret (like ALL fictional homicide detectives) and Smith has to devote almost as much screen time to brooding as he does to charming the audience. Where he’s most successful is in his ability to deliver one liners and one in particular made the entire audience at my multiplex laugh out loud (an increasingly rare occurrence in this day and age). For me the jokes were never inappropriate and in fact Smith’s trademark sense of humour was integral in letting the audience know this is a film which doesn’t take itself too seriously (a fatal mistake in science fiction). Not every performance is as successful and Bridget Moynahan’s confusing combination of wide-eyed innocent and ice maiden does little to endear her character to an audience. That said as a plot device she works perfectly well and seems very much in keeping with Asimov’s own less than convincing female characters (perhaps she was suggested by it).