wwong5

When I heard that this film was coming out back in the spring, I was excited. I had finished an entire session of analyzing "Le Morte d'Arthur" in my AP British Literature class and I wrote a 35 page paper about the topic. So, I was thinking, "What a great way to apply my knowledge to this film!"

Of course, that's not how it turned out.

1. The action scenes could have been done much better. Sure, the strategies that the archers used were interesting, and Artorius' attack against the Saxons seemed to be well-planned out, but there wasn't enough blood to be convincing. When a sword is pulled out of the body, there should be blood coming out of the body, right?

2. This particular King Arthur was based on the Roman general Ambrosius, whom existed several hundred years earlier than the more popular King Arthur. After doing a fair amount of research on him, I concluded that the battle was in the right place, but there should have been a reference about Arthur being the recorded Ambrosius.

3. Guinevere and Merlin didn't live as Pictis. Period. I liked that Guinevere had a more powerful part as an action hero rather than a damsel in distress, but she seemed to come out of nowhere.

4. The acting could have been better; Owens' lines were cheesy at times and choppy at others, but he did make the best of it. Ioan Gruffud was a good choice to be Lancelot; the relationship that he and Owens had as their characters was done with as much as they could give it.

Overall, it could have been done better. I give this a 6/10.

I saw "I, Robot" on opening night in a theater full of younger people who were obviously here for Will Smith (girls gasping at the shower scene early on in the film) or for the action scenes (boys cheering quietly for the robots beating people up). I had read Isaac Asimov's piece earlier so I got an idea of how the film might be (although Susan Calvin should have been much older). I think that Will Smith was a good choice for the hero here; his intellectual confusion and common people language helped his role. (I can see how other people see him as not suitable for this role, though; he did seem a bit like the MIB character from those films.) The special effects were well done, and some of the scenes were cleverly done. I liked Sonny ("I did not murder him!") and the way he was able to contort his body towards the end of the movie. The plot line was good, although I think that Proyas could have done a little better making everything connect.

I give this movie an 8/10.