There is a moment early on in I, Robot when it appears that screenwriters Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman are about to take us out of the normal, safe realm of summer blockbusters and into a more deeply meaningful sociopsychological statement on identity, racism, and humanity. Lawrence Robertson (Bruce Greenwood), head of United States Robotics, confronts our hero Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) about his seemingly irrational suspicion of robots. Says Robertson to Spooner: "You just don't like their kind." The subtext is quite clear. A white man confronts a black man to say, not so subtlely, "See, you can be racist, too." However, Spooner doesn't miss a beat, and the line is forgotten almost immediately, because this is not a movie that wants to make a statement about racism or humanity. Nor is it a movie that wants to explore the ever-approaching moral quandary of artificial intelligence and consciousness.

No, I, Robot is a movie about Will Smith taking on an army of killer robots. Fans of Asimov should check their knowledge of the master's novels at the door. The only aspect of Asimov's vision to make it into the film intact are the Three Laws of Robotics:

The First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

The Second Law: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

The Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Asimov's short story collection, which the film claims to be "suggested" by, explores the laws in excruciating detail. The film explores ways for Smith to destroy hoardes of evil robots in ever more increasingly explosive ways.

The limp plot starts with the murder of Dr. Alfred Lanning (the criminally under-used James Cromwell), the man behind modern robotics. The only possible suspect is a next-generation robot named Sonny (voiced by the inimitable Alan Tudyk). Of course, for Sonny to have killed Lanning is impossible, as every character on screen except Spooner insists incessantly, as such an action would directly violate the First Law. This mystery leads Spooner and robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin (the wooden Bridget Moynahan) along a trail of increasingly improbable clues on toward an explosive but sadly predictable ending.