Enemy within

No, these aren't projections into the distant future... they're headlines from today's newspapers. Set just 30 years in the future, I, Robot stars Will Smith as Detective Del Spooner in a high-tech thriller inspired by the book of short stories by visionary author Isaac Asimov.

In the year 2035, technology and robots are a trusted part of everyday life. In this film, that trust is broken and only one man, alone against the system, sees it coming.

I, Robot employs spectacular visual effects innovations to bring a world of robots to life. The character of Sonny, a special robot who holds the key to a murder - and perhaps the survival of the human race - represents the cutting edge in photo realism. Indeed, the filmmakers say Sonny is the most realistic, emotionally complete, three-dimensional CGI character ever created on film.

"What attracted me to this film is the concept that the robots aren't the problem," says Smith. "The technology is not the problem. It's the limits of human logic that is the problem, and essentially we are our own worst enemy.

"I, Robot is a particularly interesting mix of genres," Smith continues. "It's a high-tech action movie, a special effects film, a romantic drama, and a murder mystery. How director Alex Proyas took the film back and forth through all of these different types of genres is brilliant.

"Usually there's a real conflict between the structure of a mystery and the structure of an action movie. They have different climactic builds, but Alex is breaking genre rules and creating something that is going to be new and special."

I, Robot provided new challenges for Smith. "As an actor, it's very rare that you're actually able to act in an action movie. For me, it's interesting to play a troubled character, because I've been so successful playing happy-go-lucky guys that save the world. I generally haven't played characters that have deep emotional scars and trauma, and I loved diving into the mind of a troubled character. So it's a different twist for me."

The filmmakers worked to make the character of Detective Del Spooner stand out from typical genre figures. Spooner's aversion to technology - and to robots, in a world where they're an essential part of everyday life - was a critical element.

"Spooner loves older clothes and older music, and he yearns for the simple times," says Smith. "He doesn't like the robots, so he's really the perfect detective to investigate this murder, because he already wants to find something wrong."

Spooner's relationship with roboticist Dr Susan Calvin is central to the story, and Bridget Moynahan embraced the character's complexities.

"Susan's struggling to stay committed to logic, because that is what she has based her life on. But as the story progresses, she hits a scientific and emotional wall' that really changes her and her beliefs. So it's fun to watch that journey," she explains.

Bruce Greenwood portrays Lawrence Robertson, Chairman of U.S. Robotics, the money man' who built an empire on robots. The story begins on the eve of the rollout of the NS-5 personal robot. "We're about to offer this wonderful, brilliant technology to the world... at an affordable price," deadpans Greenwood. "We're introducing a new generation of robots that is far more sophisticated than earlier versions. It's as big a change as the Industrial Revolution, but it's going to happen overnight.

"One of the overriding themes in this movie is about artificial intelligence versus natural intelligence," adds Greenwood. "When does artificial intelligence cease to become artificial and become organic?

"If a computer or a robot begins to think, what's artificial about that? I find it all quite interesting."

James Cromwell plays Dr Alfred Lanning, the technical genius behind the rise of U.S. Robotics, whose death begins the film. Cromwell wanted to be involved with I, Robot because of the issues it raises.

"The film asks a lot of intriguing questions," says Cromwell.

"What's the morality of the choices we make? What are the ramifications of intelligent machines and how human beings react to them? I appreciated the way the filmmakers took a straightforward detective story, and expanded it into an examination of some of the problems that would be posed by these questions."

Having discovered 'a ghost in the machine' that threatens the safety of the human race, Lanning creates holograms of himself that, after his death, provide clues to Detective Spooner. "I communicate to him what the problem is and how to proceed". As he describes, "It's like Hansel and Gretel' following the breadcrumbs along the trail."