The film opens. We’re under water. The credits bubble up, just the producers and the films title. And there. We see a girl, trapped in a car which is sinking. And then Will Smith wakes up. He does not like this dream. So he puts on Superstition on his CD player and cracks open a new pair of Converse All-Stars. Dips his finger into some pie and heads out for the day.
Cut to the outside. Its a normal street scene but, what’s this, the cars don’t seem to have wheels and there are all these robots about. SHOCK! This film is set in the future!
That is the idea. The reality. I paid my four quid to see a film called I, Robot. The credit that came up in the underwater sequence says I, Robot. I know it is set in the future. I know what it is about. So this opening sequence does not work for me. And indeed does not work for everyone else in the cinema who knew what film they were going to see. Which, barring a couple of amnesiacs, would be everyone.