Starring: Will Smith (I), Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood (I)

7 out of 10

Director Alex Proyas proves that Garage Days wasn't an aberration and that he does have some sort of a sense of humor with the surprisingly solid I, Robot.

A lean, dramatic science fiction tale, told without too much existential claptrap, is a rarity these days, so it doesn't take substantial effort to overlook the weak beginning of the film, the frigid performance of the usually more genial Bridget Moynahan or the liberties taken with the source material by science fiction legend Isaac Asimov.

Asimov's book was really a collection of short stories, that seemed more like mental exercises for their author. Asimov imagined a future wherein robots were integral to human existence (and space exploration) and all were bound to the Three Laws of Robotics:

• A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
• A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
• A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

In each tale were situations where the robots seemed to be acting in ways contrary to those laws, but in each, Asimov's characters deduce that circumstances outside of the very practical laws had put the robots in conflict.

The previews for the film, with robots piling onto star Will Smith's car, suggested the very opposite of Asimov's concept. This put many into a prejudicial mood, even though some of them had no basis for that standpoint.

A number of years ago I was in a diner and overhead the conversation of two waitresses. They were decrying the new Demi Moore vehicle, The Scarlet Letter, based upon Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic book. They were thoroughly disgusted (along the "Who does that tramp think she is.." line) but seemed a little vague on just how Roland Joffe's film abused the text (which it did in several meaningful ways). I eventually asked them if they'd ever read "The Scarlet Letter." Neither had.

It seems the same sense of disgust surrounds I, Robot. People have a general, overprotective perception that Asimov's text has been corrupted, even though most haven't read the thing since around the time "Omni" went out of business, and many haven't read it at all.

It turns out, in a sort of clever fashion (though not entirely), that Proyas and screenwriters Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman (whoops, make that Academy Award-winner Akiva Goldsman) have actually maintained some sense of allegiance to the Three Laws, which may be the most surprising, and laudable aspect of the film.

There are a few characters from the book that make it into the film as well, including Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), the father of robotics and Dr. Susan Calvin (Moynahan), who in the book ages from Lanning's protégée to the grand madam of robotics, but here is mostly in hottie mode.

Entirely missing from the stories is Del Spooner (Will Smith), a technophobic detective (which is an anomaly in 2035 when robots are everywhere) who is called to the case of the first-recorded "murder" of a human by a robot. Dr. Lanning ends up on the pavement several stories below his U.S. Robotics (USR) corporate office and Det. Spooner suspects Sonny (voice and movement by Alan Tudyk), an NS-5, the new robot line from the company.

Sonny seems to corroborate Spooner's suspicions as he takes off on the lam, exhibits violent emotions, and admits to dreaming. Spooner isn't allowed to follow-up, however, as Sonny is whisked away by the head of USR, Lawrence Robertson (a one-note Bruce Greenwood -- and he's never one-note). Is Robertson trying to cover up the danger that Sonny may pose as the company is on the verge of a massive rollout of NS-5s?

Proyas keeps it light and fast. Unlike his more somber Dark City or The Crow, he's corralled his penchant for the morbid and sadistic. But when he lets those dogs out, ever so slightly, the film has a nifty noir edge to it. It tries to achieve it at the outset with a number of flat rejoinders from Spooner, but this character is more interesting doing something. Smith is imminently watchable, as always, as the Luddite Spooner.

Also worthy of consideration are the visual effects supervised by John Nelson. The creation of Sonny is one marvel, as it's one CGI character that actually has some depth of emotion to it, which must be the result of the gambit combining the voice and motion of Tudyk with some top-line CGI (I say gambit because a robot, unlike, say, Gollum, wouldn't seem to need the integration: it does). The large-scale work is also impressive. It's a fairly seamless, often exciting world they've created.

Smith's performance, Proyas on Prozac, and super special effects equals one entertaining, respectable science fiction movie.