Starring: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, James Cromwell, Bruce Greenwood, Alan Tudyk, Chi McBride, Shia LaBeouf
Director: Alex Proyas
Producer: Topher Dow, John Davis, Laurence Mark, Will Smith

Under the Chicago skyline of 2035, as envisioned by director Alex Proyas and production designer Patrick Tatopoulo, and shot in a monochromatic palette of gun-metal grays by cinematographer Simon Duggan, the movie appears both cool and ominous from the very first moment.

Director Alex Proyas’ film was inspired by the most famous and justly admired robot stories in all of science fiction, Isaac Asimov’s ’40s series (later collected in his 1950 book “I, Robot”) about U.S. Robots, the company that produces these beings and Asimov’s legendary Three Laws of Robotics, which govern their behavior.

It isn’t a direct adaptation. The script by Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman (“A Beautiful Mind”) uses only Asimov’s framework, the Three Laws, two of the series’ recurring scientist-characters (Bridget Moynahan as Susan Calvin and James Cromwell as Alfred Lanning), and an idea or two from Asimov tales such as “Reason” or “Liar!”

“I, Robot” is about the robot-hating Spooner’s investigation into a mysterious death of top robot scientist Lanning. And it’s about Spooner’s increasingly nightmarish discoveries about what’s going on at Lanning’s company, the manufacturing giant that produced Sonny and is about to triple the country’s robot population, flooding the market with its latest housekeeping model, the NS-5 Automated Domestic Assistant.

Spooner (Smith) is a homicide detective and apparently the only person in the world who is skeptical about the endlessly patient and obedient robots who now make up most of the labor force for menial and domestic tasks. Spooner is a bit retro — his “old-fashioned” stero runs from a remote control, not voice direction, and he listens to the 1976 Stevie Wonder song “Superstition” as he pulls on some vintage (2004) Converse All-Star high-tops.

Dr. Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan) is a psychologist specializing in robot-human interaction, making sure that robots are designed to make humans feel comfortable with them. She works for Lawrence Robertson (Bruce Greenwood), the richest man in the world, the founder of the USR company. They are preparing for the biggest robot distribution in history, with one robot for every five people about to be delivered as an “upgrade.” It is important to Robertson that nothing interfere with the public’s acceptance of his robots.

The look of the film helps to tell the story and the special effects don’t let us down. The smallest effects are as seamless and important to the story as the big ones, from Spooner’s examination of 1001 robots standing in formation to massive fight and chase scenes to the wink of an eye.

Smith gets better and better. He has enough movie star charm and charisma to fill any screen and then some, even when competing with some very gee-whiz special effects and some very cool-looking robots. But Smith also shows great sensitivity and understanding in giving Spooner some depth and complexity without throwing off the balance of what is first and foremost an action movie. In brief appearances, Greenwood adds a smooth steeliness, Cromwell shows some longing and regret, and Shia LaBeouf, brings some humor ro the role of Spooner’s friend, whose slang is almost incomprehensible. But Moynahan is chillier and more expressionless than the robots her character tries to make more human.

The movie’s one drawback is the ending, a disappointing retread of too many Star Trek episodes. It has enough to keep both head and adrenaline engaged while watching, but the lack of imagination in its resolution mean that by the time your heart slows down again, your mind will already be long gone in a different direction.