The current printings of Isaac Asimov's I, Robot short story collection have this movie's promotional image on the cover, which is as egregious a case of false advertising as I can think of. Yes, there's a movie called I, Robot in the theaters, but it has next to nothing to do with Isaac Asimov.

The movie began life as an original script by Jeff Vintar entitled Hardwired. From what I've read, it was very well regarded. However, in its infinite wisdom, Hollywood couldn't leave well enough alone. The decision was made to turn the movie into a big budget action flick. Then, someone decided to buy the rights to Isaac Asimov's robot stories and throw some of his ideas into the mix. Then Will Smith came on board, Akiva Goldsmith and some other screenwriters did some rewrites, and we ended with the movie that opens in theaters today. The movie lists Isaac Asimov in the credits, although the finished product has about as much to do with his work as Sex Trek 2: The Next Penetration does with Gene Roddenberry's.

In the year 2035, robots have become common household items and a major part of human society. However, on the eve of the rollout of the most advanced robots yet, the head scientist of U.S. Robotics commits suicide. Del Spooner (Will Smith), a detective and avowed robot-hater, suspects he was murdered by a prototype robot named Sonny (Alan Tudyk). But, as half a dozen characters remind him, a robot cannot commit murder. Undaunted, Spooner teams up with robot expert Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynihan) and sets out to get to the bottom of things.

Had there been more emphasis on the ramifications of the Three Laws of Robotics, this might have been a good movie. Alas, the few interesting ideas presented here are tossed aside in favor of pointless action sequences and a steady stream of lame wisecracks from Will Smith. The movie sets up to grapple with some pretty weighty issues; why distract the audience with unfunny jokes? Smith delivers a poignant monologue about why he distrusts robots; I wish we could have seen more of Smith's serious side in the rest of the movie as well. At least Smith has some acting ability; Bridget Moynihan's skills as a thespian are so limited that I was expecting her to be revealed as a robot by the end of the movie. I did enjoy Alan Tudyk's performance as Sonny the robot, but there wasn't enough of him to make up for Smith's tiresome shtick and Moynihan's inability to emote. It doesn't help matters that script feels like a committee rewrote it. The movie shows occasional flashes of intelligence, but they get lost amongst all the product placement and slow-motion gun battles.

There's an excellent script for I, Robot written by Harlan Ellison that is not only an actual adaptation of Asimov's short story collection, but would have made a great movie as well. I can't say for certain that Hardwired was a good script, but since the addition of Akiva Goldsmith to a movie in any capacity rarely improves it, I think it's safe to say that Hardwired was better than what ended up on screen. I, Robot is not the unmitigated disaster that the movie of Nightfall was, but when you consider the source material and the movie that could have been made from it, it's difficult not to view this movie as a big disappointment.