Controversially, I think I, Robot is an excellent film. Whether it's what an Asimov fan would think Asimov would like, taken objectively, the film manages to cover a number of interesting concepts related to artificial intelligence, have mass appeal, and yet not go overboard on the sort of gung-ho "funny" action a la Independence Day.
Will Smith can act... there I said it. His best acting comes when he's not doing comedy - as I think he slips into automatic (Wild Wild West, Bad Boys, Men In Black, Independence Day). While he couldn't carry Ali (but who could?), his attempt to do so, and his role in Six Degrees of Separation show he has the aptitude to do real acting.
Now, I'm not comparing this performance to those, but the not-frequent-enough dramatic aspects allow one to glimpse Smith's talents.
Smith's character, Spooner, holds quite a bit of interest to me. He's accused of hating robots, yet he's the one who wants to treat them just as humans. He fears their incapacity for taking human consideration, but it seems he's the most fit to consider a robot equivalent to a human if they could. I thought he was built-up well, even if he wasn't as deep as I would have liked to have seen.
I like how Spooner's background is kept from the audience initially, and the dream sequences were done really well. The title sequence didn't seem to make sense the first time through, but watching it again showed just how much was shown but not understood. It's a ploy used at least once more in the film, when you see something that doesn't seem important at the time (at all, not like a setup), and then it plays an important role. Not that you gain anything from it, except that it makes the entire production seem a lot better thought-out.
I'm not generally a fan of mastermind theatre, in which someone plans out how to get someone to do things that need to be done and provides clues to get them to do so - Paycheck being the most recent example. I think it's handled well in the movie. I don't like it, but Spooner's obsession is almost a sufficient mechanism one could rely on.
The action scenes looked pretty, I suppose, but, if anything, I think scale lessened the dramatic effect that could be done. While seeing hundreds of NS-5s attacking Spooner (a few times), I think five or so would create better suspense, tension and reality. Make each one more of a challenge - or they just seem like they're only a problem in a swarm, not one-on-one.
The futuristic world is handled quite well, the progress is relatively subtle and evolutionary, except for the revolutionary ever-presence of the robots. Robots in almost every home, walking dogs, delivering packages, and performing errands. The lack of gadgetry (such as no flashy new guns) allows the audience to focus on the only important change - the robots.
An enjoyable and intriguingly well-balanced film worth watching, assuming you leave your Asimov fan credentials at the door. But leaving one with the after-taste that it could've been so well done with other approaches.