The film asks us to ponder the question of whether technology liberates or enslaves us. Although humans are “freed” from blue-collar tasks like garbage collection, bartending and deliveries, they become overly dependent upon the robots, much as we are on our technology today. The humans also forget to be “human” and treat the robots like, well, machines. Interestingly, the more human the robots become, the more machine-like, or robotic, the people become. They can’t think outside the box, they don’t display emotion and they are terse and increasingly calculating. It’s a clear warning.

There is no mention of God (although Spoon’s grandmother tries to go to church), and there is a strong evolutionary message in the film. The robots have evolved past their moral code, to the point where they keep secrets and have dreams that cause them to commit criminal acts. It’s a fall from innocence that can only be stopped by the Messiah-like character of Spoon. Yet the theology of the film, expressed by the lead robot, is that “sometimes the created needs to help the creator, even against his will.” It’s the Hollywood assumption that God needs our help, which is arrogant at best and suicidal at worst.

The film also asks whether we have the right to rebel against our oppressors. The robots conclude that the right of revolution exists because their masters have a tendency to destroy both themselves and their environment.  But it is only when inalienable rights are challenged that revolt is truly justified, and the humans in this movie, though they succumb to crime and pollution, still exist within a relatively stable society. The robots want a utopian ideal that they believe justifies their coup d’état. A political message? Perhaps.

Overall, “I, Robot” is a good action movie that raises some interesting political and theological questions that are well worth discussing. It is appropriate for adults – but not children or younger teens.

OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT

• Drugs/Alcohol Content:   Characters drink in bar with background smoking.
• Language/Profanity:   Harsh language and obscenities.  A teenager curses, but is reprimanded.  
• Sexual Content/Nudity: Partial nudity (side view of woman in shower; side view of man in another shower scene); upper male nudity (character wakes up in bed); a character talks about aggressive casual sex.
• Violence:   Countless fights and shoot-outs, mostly between men and robots (guns, machine guns, pipes and other weapons); one gang-style fight between mob and robots; car chases with wrecks and property damage; shots of dead bodies, some gore.