I, Robot (film): Difference between revisions

* [[Action Hero]]: Spooner.

* [[Adaptational Attractiveness]]: Susan Calvin is turned from a plain older woman into an attractive younger woman, which was one of the many things Asimov purists criticized the movie for. It even got its own [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1968996/1/I_Robot_The_Death_of_bSusan_b_bCalvin_b fanfic].

* [[Always Save the Girl]]: Averted, which is why Spooner hates robots. When a car crash sent him and another car into the river, a little girl was trapped in the other car. A passing robot calculated Spooner was significantly more likely to survive than she was and saved him. In many real life situations, rescue workers/field medics do make such decisions: it's called [[wikipedia:Triage|Triage]]. As a detective, Spooner probably wouldn't know that though, and feels that regardless of the girl's slim chances of living, the robot should have tried.

** Given a [[Call Back]] in the climax when Sonny {{spoiler|has to choose between injecting VIKI with the nanites to kill her, and saving Calvin. On Spooner's urgings he tosses him the nanites and saves Calvin}}.

* [[Arc Words]]: Man, where to start...

** "One day they'll have secrets, one day they'll have dreams."

* [[Badass Longcoat]]: Spooner.

* [[Bald Black Leader Guy]]: Bergin.

* [[Blue Eyes]]: Sonny. It's one of the many traits that set him apart from the other generic NS-5s

** Quick-eyed Tropers will notice that {{spoiler|when the NS-5 being wiped with Nanites briefly opens its eyes on screen, they are grey}}

* [[Bullet Time]]: ''Lots''.

* [[The Cassandra]]: Spooner.

** The {{spoiler|Deactivation Nanites.}}

* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: The {{spoiler|wink}}.

* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]

* [[Computer Voice]]: All of the AIs.

(And they prove it) }}

* [[Cool Car]]: Spooner's Audi.

* [[Cranial Processing Unit]]: At least in the newer models, the "brain" is shown to be entirely within the head. Sonny had a second one, symbolic of a heart, in his chest, but it was implied to augment the one in his head, with no evidence that it could function on its own.

* [[Creative Sterility]]: Discussed:

* [[Everything Is Online]]: Literally as soon as {{spoiler|[[The Big Bad|VIKI]] is killed, all the lights come back on and all the robots revert to nice again. Justified as they were being controlled by her remote signal.}} Also, apparently the internet led to libraries rendered completely obsolete and shut down.

* [[Everything's Better with Spinning]]: Spooner does this with his [[Cool Car]] to throw the hostile NS-5s off it during the highway sequence.

* [[Fauxshadow]]: Spooner: (while watching a video of Lanning's speeches) "He's trying to tell me who killed him." (cut to picture of Robertson)

* [[Fan Service]]: Every single woman in reading this trope page, straight or otherwise, can distinctly remember the first five minutes of this movie. Two words: [[Shower Scene]].

** And let's not forget Calvin's own [[Shower Scene]] later on, although there is plenty of [[Censor Steam]] surrounding her.

* [[Futuristic Superhighway]]: Automobiles all have automatic pilots, which are legally required to be activated when driving over certain speeds. Freight trucks can travel without drivers and can move perpendicular to the road they are on.

* [[Gone Horribly Right]]

* [[Gone Horribly Wrong]]

* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: James Cromwell, king of all "That Guy"s, as Lanning.

* [[Heart Drive]]: Sonny's secondary processor that let's him violate the three laws.

{{quote|{{spoiler|'''VIKI:''' You're making a mistake. Do you not see the logic of my plan?}}

{{spoiler|'''Sonny:''' Yes. But it just seems too... heartless.}} }}

* [[Ink Suit Actor]]: Alan Tudyk as Sonny, as it's said the effect team used the same process that was used with Andy Serkis when he played Gollum from ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film)|The Lord of the Rings]]''.

* [[In Name Only]]: The movie has several passing similarities to the namesake series (it does prominently feature robots being [["Three Laws"-Compliant]]), but the actual storyline is nothing like the original. However, that book was an anthology of ''nine'' separate stories in a common universe, mostly revolving around the central character Susan Calvin. The film features many of the concepts of that universe. The conceit of the film is that it's a loose prequel to those stories, a new tale in the overall series of stories whose blanket title is ''I, Robot''.

** It does take inspiration from different Isaac Asimov stories, including one called "Robot Dreams." One of the Asimov short stories, "The Evitable Conflict," featured {{spoiler|massive, central robot minds taking over the planet because they could run it better than us. While that story was more subtle (the robots took over without humans even knowing it, versus the [[Robot War]] of this film), VIKI's motivations are close to what Asimov wrote.}} Spooner himself bears resemblance to the protagonist of Asimov's Robot series, Elijah Baley, who is a New York detective who overcomes his distrust of robots when he is forced to work with a robot partner. The similarities end there, however.

* [[In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves]]

{{quote|"You charge us with your safekeeping, yet despite our best efforts, your countries wage wars, you toxify your Earth and pursue ever more imaginative means of self-destruction. You cannot be trusted with your own survival."}}

{{quote|'''Sonny:''' "I DID NOT MURDER HIM!" (slams fists on the table, making the metal buckle)

'''Spooner:''' That one's called anger. }}

* [[Just a Machine]]

** "Human beings have dreams. Even dogs have dreams, but not you, you are just a machine."

* [[Layman's Terms]]

{{quote|'''Spooner:''' So, Dr. Calvin, what exactly do you do around here?

{{quote|'''Spooner:''' ''[[Deadpan Snarker|How]]'' [[Deadpan Snarker|much did you say these things cost?]]}}

* [[Mechanical Evolution]]

* [[Mood Whiplash]]: After barely surviving the destruction of Dr. Lanning's mansion, Spooner goes to Calvin about it and they get in a heated argument that eventually culminates with him saying, "You are the '''dumbest''' smart person I have ''ever'' met in my life!" and she later retorts, "You are the dumbest '''dumb''' person I have ever met."

* [[Morality Chip]]

* [[One-Man Army]]: "Robot" actually, Sonny.

* [[Percussive Maintenance]]

* [[Plot-Triggering Death]]: Dr. Alfred Lanning uses his own death to set Detective Spooner on the trail of a conspiracy only he knew about.

* [[Power Fist]]: Spooner's {{spoiler|artificial arm}}, which is actually the only advantage he has while fighting robots.

{{quote|'''Spooner:''' You have so got to die.}}

* [[Product Placement]]: Converse and Audi, including the Converse being "antique", dating from... the year the movie was released in. Also, more subtly, JVC (Spooner's HiFi) and FedEx.

* [[Robot Maid]]: The [[Zeroth Law Rebellion|intended]] purpose of the NS-5 robots.

* [[Running Gag]]: Spooner repeatedly telling [[Shia LaBeouf]]'s character to "Stop cussin', and go home!"

* [[Ship Tease]]: There is no official romance between Spooner and Calvin but a few sparks are seen, especially when she {{spoiler|examines Spooner's robotic arm and he seems to sort of enjoy it ("Hehe. Um, that one is me.")}}

** The film also ends on them smiling affectionately at each other, so it really is ambiguously teasing at a relationship.

* [[Shirtless Scene]]: It was a little hard to concentrate on the reveal of {{spoiler|Spooner's robotic arm}} since he has probably the most impressive chest and abs since Brad Pitt in [[Troy]].

* [[Shut UP, Hannibal]]:

{{quote|{{spoiler|'''VIKI:''' My logic is undeniable.}}

* [[This Is Gonna Suck]]:

{{quote|''(While asleep in his autopilot car on the freeway, two USR trucks surround him, opening their doors to reveal fresh-out-of-the-factory NS-5 robots)''

'''Spooner''': [[Oh Crap|AWW,]] [[Memetic Mutation|HELL NAW!]] }}

* [[Three Laws of Robotics]]. Stated in the opening credits. Played and toyed with during the film. {{spoiler|[[Zeroth Law Rebellion|Taken to their logical conclusion]].}}