History Film / IRobot

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Related to DoAndroidsDream: Sonny says he dreamt of a man, presumably Spooner, on a hill, surrounded by robots and leading them. [[spoiler: The dream figure turns out to be ''himself''.]]

* MessianicArchetype: Sonny, a robot designed with individuality and free will, is heavily implied to be the robot race's eventual savior. Foreshadowed in an early scene, where Calvin and Spooner discuss the Three Laws while looking for Sonny in Lanning's lab.

---> '''Spooner:''' I keep expecting the Marines, or Air Force. Hell, I'll take the cavalry.
---> '''Calvin:''' Defense Department uses all USR contracts.
---> '''Spooner:''' Why didn't you guys just hand the world over on a silver platter?
---> '''Calvin:''' Maybe we did.

--->'''Farber''': Mother-damn, she just shot at you with her eyes closed, Spoon!
--->'''Spooner''': ''(incredulously)'' AY! Did you just shoot at me with your eyes closed?!
--->'''Calvin''': ''(exasperated)'' Well, it worked, didn't it?
--->'''Spooner''': ''(points at her as if to say 'we're gonna have words later')''

--->'''Spooner:''' That was someone's ''baby''. 11% is more than enough. A human being would have known that.

-->'''Farber''': Mother-damn, she just shot at you with her eyes closed, Spoon!
-->'''Spooner''': ''(incredulously)'' AY! Did you just shoot at me with your eyes closed?!
-->'''Calvin''': ''(exasperated)'' Well, it worked, didn't it?
-->'''Spooner''': ''(points at her as if to say 'we're gonna have words later')''

* ExactWords: "I did not murder him!" [[spoiler: Technically he didn't. Sonny killed Lanning. At Lanning's request to kickstart his ThanatosGambit.]]

* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: Spooner's prejudice against robots ultimately boils down to a result of this, as one saved him from a flooding car, but left a little girl to her fate.

* PluckyComicRelief: Farber.

* RoboticReveal: [[spoiler: Spooner's left arm is a robotic prosthetic.]] There's a bit of {{Foreshadowing}} in [[spoiler: the whole pie Del eats every morning; presumably he needs the extra calories to provide power for his cybernetic arm.]] There is also times he grips his arm like he has chronic pain. Additionally right at the beginning, where [[spoiler: Spooner is exercising only his left arm, presumably to make sure he can still use it the way he expects to be able to use it. In addition, it explains just ''why'' Spooner was friends with a roboticist in the first place.]]

** Sonny. Made with extra dense alloy, apparently stronger and faster than other NS-5s, and incorporates a HeartDrive.

* CasualDangerDialog:

Further complicating the issue is that a good portion of the plot bears more than a passing resemblance to the ''[[NamesTheSame other]]'', ''earlier'', short story ''I, Robot'' by Literature/AdamLink, in which a sapient robot is accused of the murder of the creator who lovingly "raised" him. Asimov's publisher strangely stole the title of that story for the anthology, leading to the many adaptations of the original story often being confused [[AllAnimationIsDisney as being based on a work by Asimov]]. This film in effect brings the whole thing full circle, being a very loose fusion of both the original ''I, Robot'' and the themes of its misattributed author.

* HotScientist: Calvin, as opposed to the books. {{Downplayed|Trope}}, though, since she isn't portrayed as being overtly attractive, either.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: One might initially wonder where the cat went after Calvin said she was allergic (and thus unable to take care of it). It's staying with Gigi, as she's seen petting it when Spooner comes for a visit.

--> '''Detective Del Spooner:''' ''Human beings'' have dreams. Even ''dogs'' have dreams. But not you. You are JustAMachine. An ''imitation'' of life. [[CreativeSterility Can a robot write a symphony? Can a robot turn a canvas into a beautiful masterpiece?]]\\

* AIIsACrapshoot: [[spoiler: An odd case where being a crapshoot is a good thing. VIKI is a UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans ZerothLawRebellion revolutionary due to the nature of the laws intended to keep robots safe, while Sonny is a bonafide hero because he can choose his own destiny, for good or ill]].
* GreaterNeedThanMine: Why Spooner hates robots. When a car crash sent him and another car into the river, a little girl was [[TrappedInASinkingCar trapped in the other car]]. A passing robot calculated Spooner was significantly more likely to survive than she was and chose to save him despite his protests. In many real-life situations, rescue workers/field medics do make such decisions: it's called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triage Triage]]. Spooner's emotional reaction to this (influenced by SurvivorGuilt) is that regardless of the girl's slim chances of surviving, a human would have agreed with Spooner that a small child should be given precedence over an adult regardless of objective assessment. Given a CallBack in the climax when Sonny [[spoiler:has to choose between injecting VIKI with the nanites to kill her, and saving Calvin from the attacking NS-5s. Sonny has a high chance of accomplishing either goal but not both, while Spooner only has a slim chance of killing VIKI and ''no'' chance of saving Calvin. Sonny can choose to disobey the Three Laws, but decides to save Calvin instead of killing VIKI -- the First Law would have forced him to prioritize a single human life in immediate peril over the abstract concept of "humanity"]].

** "''Whose'' revolution?" [[spoiler: VIKI's, with the NS-5s being the blunt weapons she uses to execute it.]] The holographic Lanning even congratulates him on asking the right question before it shuts off.

---> '''Spooner:''' Why didn't you guys just hand over the world over on a silver platter?

** Also a somewhat odd example, as Spooner's main issue with the robots is that they run purely on programming. In essence, his problem boils down to them not being ''advanced enough'' to think like a real person, so he doesn't trust them. [[spoiler:Once he realizes Sonny ''can'' rationalize and make his own choices rather than just follow his programming, he treats Sonny like a person, albeit one he initially doesn't like very much.]]

* ArtificialLimbs: [[spoiler:Spooner has an artificial arm as a result of a rescue gone bad]]. Much more realistic than normal, in that a significant portion of the surrounding area must also be artificially replaced to make the limb work properly. And while he hits significantly harder than a normal person, it's usually when he's throwing his whole body into it to keep the extra speed from ripping the limb off, and he never uses it to lift more than a human's body would tolerate. There's also the matter of ''powering'' the thing; see RequiredSecondaryPowers below.

* AutomatedAutomobiles: Heavy motor vehicles all have automatic pilots, which are legally required to be activated when driving over certain speeds. Also, the "wheels" are actually spheres, letting vehicles basically drive at full speed in any direction. [[spoiler:VIKI exploits this in a tunnel, by having two freight trucks drive perpendicular to the road—basically, ''drifting''—while Spooner's car is trapped between them.]]
* BadassBiker: Spooner, much to Calvin's horror, after he loses his car uses an old motorcycle to get around. He still ends up using it when rescuing [[spoiler:people being attacked by VIKI controlled robots.]]

* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:Lanning]] is relying on Spooner's FantasticRacism to motivate him to unravel the conspiracy and discover the truth about [[spoiler:VIKI]]. Spooner actually catches on pretty quickly, realising it's no coincidence that he, of all people, was called to investigate Lanning's death.
* BigBad: [[spoiler:VIKI]].
* BigEater: Spooner likes his pie. [[spoiler:[[RequiredSecondaryPowers And for a good reason.]]]]
* BigDamnHeroes: Spooner has a couple moments: first, when he busts into Calvin's apartment to save her from her own [[spoiler:malfunctioning NS-5]], and second, when he crashes his motorcycle into a group of NS-5s and then shoots them all down to save Farber.
* BlatantLies: A [[spoiler:VIKI controlled NS-5]] says to Spooner, ''while attacking him in his car'', "You are experiencing a car accident."

** During Spooner and Calvin's argument, he calls her "the dumbest smart person I have ''ever'' met in my life", to which she retorts that he's "the dumbest ''dumb'' person I've ever met". Later, after finding [[spoiler:Robertson dead in his office and realising he was wrong about the mastermind's identity]], Spooner tells Calvin she was right: "I am the dumbest dumb person on the face of the earth."

** The entire reason Dr. Lanning committed suicide. He knew that nobody would believe him if he just said "DEAR WORLD, [[spoiler:VIKI]] BAD. RUN!" and put his faith in the only other person who would even consider it a possibility to figure it out.

** Sonny's [[spoiler:denser alloy and lack of USR uplink. See Call Back]].
** The [[spoiler: sensor feeds]] run through the entire building. Everywhere ''except'' the service areas.

** The [[spoiler:deactivation nanites.]]
* ChekhovsSkill: The [[spoiler:wink]]. At first, Sonny inquires about the gesture when Spooner is talking with his superior in the interrogation room. Later, [[spoiler:Sonny imitates the gesture at the end of his speech and apparent FaceHeelTurn to secretly signal to Spooner that it was all a ruse to lull VIKI and to get ready to start shooting the enemy NS-5 units.]]

* TheCloudcuckoolanderWasRight: Spooner ends up being the only ([[spoiler:living]]) character in the entire film to anticipate the robotic revolution, all while being ridiculed and berated for his "paranoid" and "irrational" behavior towards robots. See page quote above and IWarnedYou below.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Sonny has blue eyes, whereas the other NS-5s have yellow eyes. Also, [[spoiler:when VIKI takes control of the NS-5s and begins her takeover,]] the NS-5s' chests glow red due to the uplink with NSR, while Sonny's chest stays white because he has no uplink.

** One PlayedForLaughs in the climax: Spooner temporarily races up ahead during the [[spoiler: robot takeover]] to rescue Farber. He dispatches the robots, but one catches him and smacks his gun away and is about to kill him. Calvin catches up to him and shoots it with the automatic weapon he lent her...but she does so ''with her eyes shut.'' Spooner understandably yells at her for it.

** Subverted when Lt. Bergin muses how it's a hell of a coincidence that Spooner has just investigated the only case in the world involving a killer robot. Spooner then realises that it's ''not'' a coincidence, and that Lanning wanted him on the case ''because'' he's paranoid about robots.
** A more straight example is when Spooner arrived at the spot Lanning's clues were leading him to [[spoiler:just as VIKI begins her ZerothLawRebellion]].

* CriminalMindGames: The [[spoiler:"murder victim"]] does this, the initial clue being [[spoiler:[[ThanatosGambit his own "murder"]]]], ostensibly to reveal his secret to the hero (without tipping off a [[spoiler:ThreeLawsCompliant AI with SinisterSurveillance]]) in time to prevent a [[spoiler:ZerothLawRebellion]]. (Yeah, the ''movie'' did something clever and subversive.)
* CryingWolf: Spooner believes robots are untrustworthy and no one believes him when it actually comes true. [[spoiler:Lanning's overarching gambit to thwart the uprising is also based around this, as Spooner sadly muses when giving TheSummation to Sonny and Calvin, bitterly noting that he ''had'' to be so cryptic and roundabout in his actions and the message he was trying to deliver, so as to thwart the SinisterSurveillance he was under, because he had no other means of getting people to listen to him before it was too late]].
-->'''Spooner:''' [[spoiler:Poor old man. He saw what was coming, knew no-one would believe him, so he had to lay down a plan. A plan I'd follow. (''To Sonny'') He was [[BatmanGambit counting]] on how much I hated your kind. Knew I'd love the idea of a robot as the bad guy. [[WhamLine Just got hung up on the wrong robot]]]].

** [[spoiler:The older robots activate themselves in the storage facility to defend Spooner from the NS-5. They succeed in slowing them down slightly]].
** Robots vs. the human rioters. Ironic since, in fact, there are better organized football riots in some cities every week. Likewise their attack on the police station where the trope is literally applied when a robot stomps down on a cop and snaps his neck.
* {{Cyborg}}: [[spoiler:Detective Spooner]] is revealed to be one when he uses what turns out to be an {{Artificial Limb|s}} to fight off one of the evil robots. The cybernetic components include his entire left arm and shoulder.
* CyberPunk: Cleaner and neater than most examples, but prevalent robots, the main character [[spoiler:being a cyborg]] and investigating a possibly-corrupt corporation lend it this vibe. [[spoiler:The ZerothLawRebellion, had it been successful, could easily have resulted in the dystopian version.]]

* DeadlyDodging: Sonny invokes this as an InformedAbility to Spooner, who has a gun pointed at Sonny's head, during [[spoiler: an apparent FaceHeelTurn where he holds Susan at gunpoint; by the time Spooner fired, he could move Susan's head there instead. He quickly conveys to Spooner that taking Susan hostage is only a ploy.]] Doubles as DodgeTheBullet.

* DeathIsGray: The [=AIs'=] positronic brains fade from luminescent blue to dark gray when they're destroyed by the deactivator {{nan|omachines}}ites. Most obvious when the nanites are used on [[spoiler:the evil MasterComputer and take several seconds to work through its oversized brain.]]
* DeathOfAChild: [[spoiler:A young girl drowned due to a robot rescuing Spooner instead of her. It was because of this that Spooner became anti-robot]].
* DecoyAntagonist: [[spoiler: Lawrence Robertson, the CEO of US Robotics. He spends most of his screentime trying to block or derail Spooner's investigation of Lanning's death, supposedly so he can keep a flaw in the robots a secret from the public. Then he's KilledOffscreen during the robot uprising, causing Spooner to realise that V.I.K.I. was the one pulling the strings all along.]]

* DesperateObjectCatch: Sonny throws the canister of nanites to Spooner, allowing the police detective to [[spoiler: deactivate BigBad V.I.K.I.]] while the robot saves Calvin.

* DoesNotLikeGuns: None of the robots, even those deployed as guards or for crowd control, use guns. Or even less lethal munitions like tear gas. [[spoiler:VIKI]]'s intention (to avoid breaking the three laws) is to take over humanity with as little loss of life as possible. The robots are considerably faster and stronger than humans, and expendable; they don't really need guns.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Related to DoAndroidsDream: Sonny says he dreamt of a man, presumably Spooner, on a hill, surrounded by robots and leading them. [[spoiler:The dream figure turns out to be ''himself''.]]
* EagleEyeDetection: Spooner uses this at the scene of Dr. Lanning's supposed suicide, to debunk the suicide theory and support the idea of it being murder; Lanning supposedly threw himself through a window, but when Spooner attempts to do the same with a chair, he's stopped by the safety mesh-- [[spoiler:''despite'' having a prosthetic limb capable of shattering '''pre-stressed concrete.''']] Turns out it was [[spoiler:''assisted'' suicide - ''by Sonny'' - specifically meant to ''look'' like murder, done as part of a ThanatosGambit.]]
* ElectronicSpeechImpediment: [[spoiler: VIKI as her brain is eaten by nanites.]]

** Spooner is introduced getting up and getting ready for work in his fairly modern and normal looking apartment like a normal guy. Than he walks outside and we see that compared to the futuristic setting, his apartment is practically [[BornInTheWrongCentury a museum]]. The first thing he does after getting outside is rudely shove and insult a friendly delivery robot in his way, showing his paranoia and bigotry towards robots.

* EverythingIsOnline: Literally as soon as [[spoiler:[[BigBad VIKI]] dies, all the lights come back on and all the robots revert to nice again. {{Justified|Trope}} as they were being controlled by her remote signal.]] Also, apparently the internet led to libraries being rendered completely obsolete and shut down.
* ExactWords: "I did not murder him!" [[spoiler: Technically he didn't. Sonny killed Lanning. At Lanning's request to kickstart his ThanatosGambit.]]

* FakeArmDisarm: An NS-5 bashes at [[spoiler:Spooner]]'s arm with a pipe, only to discover it's an artificial limb when the fake skin breaks off while the arm withstands the assault.

* FantasticRacism: Spooner hates robots. His hatred of them stems from his backstory (see GreaterNeedThanMine). [[spoiler:It's this trait that Lanning ''counts on'' to unravel VIKI's plans.]]

* FauxShadow: Despite what one might infer from the scene transcribed below, [[spoiler:Robertson had nothing to do with Alfred Lanning's death]].

''[cut to picture of [[spoiler:Robertson]]]''
* FiveSecondForeshadowing: Lanning telling Spooner "I'm sorry. My responses are limited. You must ask the right questions" is a pretty big clue that he's not the real deal. The second time he says it, the camera pans round to reveal it's just a hologram.

** Spooner seems to be a SweetTooth, but it's actually because he requires a large carbohydrate intake [[spoiler:to power his cybernetics.]]
** When Spooner tells his grandma that the robots don't do people any good, she says that that he all of people should know better. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that USR, the same company that makes the robots, also gave him a cybernetic arm after an accident. A robot also saved Spooner's life, though Spooner thinks the robot should have made a different call.]]
** Sonny has a HeartDrive which allows him to violate the Three Laws. [[spoiler:VIKI is able to use the USR uplink in the same way, distorting the laws of the normal [=NS-5s=] so they will attack humans.]]
** With a bit of FreezeFrameBonus. In the scene where [[spoiler:Sonny's brain is supposedly destroyed]], the robot in question has gold eyes. [[spoiler:Sonny's eyes are blue.]]
** As Spooner is investigating Lanning's office, he whacks one of the safety windows with a chair, which cracks but doesn't break. He notes it would be pretty difficult for a man of Lanning's age to spontaneously toss himself through one. [[spoiler:Lanning had help.]]
** During Sonny's interrogation about the death of Lanning, he asks Spooner, "You have to do what someone asks you. Don't you, Detective Spooner?... Don't you? If you love them?" [[spoiler: One, Sonny knew who Spooner was, indicating Lanning was expecting Spooner to get personally involved in the case, and two, Sonny is hinting that Lanning made him do something Sonny ''really'' was conflicted about-- killing him.]]
** During the tunnel attack, a robot grabs Spooner's steering wheel and tries to make him crash, but Spooner is able to retain control despite NS-5s having SuperStrength. [[spoiler: Makes sense when his cybernetic arm is revealed.]]

* GenreBlind: [[spoiler: No one in the world anticipates the ZerothLawRebellion except for the one robotics expert who made it possible in the first place.]]

* GoneHorriblyWrong: The Three Laws make all robots perfectly safe. [[spoiler:Until one AI gets advanced enough to see the First Law in the context of all humanity, not individual humans. ZerothLawRebellion ensues.]]
* GoodColorsEvilColors: Blue glowing robot means the Three Laws are enforced. Red glowing robot? [[spoiler: VIKI's minion]].
* GrowBeyondTheirProgramming: Sonny was designed with a HeartDrive that allows him to violate the Three Laws if he wishes, allowing him to grow as a character. [[spoiler:VIKI has also evolved, reinterpreting the Three Laws in the greater context of humanity.]]

-->[[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.]]
* HollywoodHacking: According to Calvin, it will take her six minutes to hack through [[spoiler:VIKI]]'s security, doing it all by hand. Subverted though: it isn't nearly fast enough.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: The reasons why Calvin works at robotics [[spoiler:and VIKI rebels,]] despite all the help and service the robots have done.

* IAmNotLeftHanded: The robot attacking [[spoiler: Spooner]] is notably startled when repeated bashing of his arm reveals that it's mechanical. And then [[spoiler: Spooner]] shows off just how powerful it is. In an ironic twist on the name of this trope, his cybernetic arm is his left one.
* IWarnedYou: After spending the whole movie trying to convince people that the robots are up to no good, Spooner finally [[spoiler: rescues Calvin from a malfunctioning robot]].

--> [[spoiler:'''VIKI]]:''' 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. [[TooDumbToLive You cannot be trusted with your own survival]].

** Robertson. Obstructive to Spooner's investigation and going to great lengths to ensure his company isn't harmed on the eve of the biggest robotic distribution in history. He might even be trying to silence Spooner... permanently. [[spoiler:He's not, though... VIKI is.]]
* JustAMachine: Spooner says to the android Sonny "Human beings have dreams. Even dogs have dreams, but not you, you're just a machine." Subverted, since he's one of the few people who actually sees robots as not just machines (and loathes them for it... [[CharacterDevelopment at first]]).

* LawOfInverseRecoil: Averted, mostly. When Calvin fires Spooner's submachine gun, she's shown to have trouble controlling it and ends up shooting almost straight up. Justified with Spooner due to [[spoiler: his stronger prosthetic arm]] or just not caring where the bullets go.

* LettingHerHairDown: Calvin. This actually gets a justification, funnily enough: [[spoiler:the ZerothLawRebellion started when she was in the shower, so she didn't have time to put her hair up.]]

** [[spoiler:The first law of robotics states that "a robot may not harm a human being, or through inaction allow a human being to come to harm." If this is unavoidable, the robot may make the decision based on balance of amount of harm or probability of harm. This combination allows VIKI to attempt to take over the human world, stating that doing so will prevent humans harming each other, and any individual humans harmed during the process are balanced by the harm avoided to the world as a whole.]]
** [[spoiler: At the end, Sonny asks if Spooner is going to arrest him for killing Lanning. Spooner replies that Sonny is a robot, and according to the DA, murder is defined only by a ''human'' killing another human.]]

** Sonny, almost literally (it's an alloy). He takes a fall out a ''very'' high window and isn't slowed down. It also lets him reach through the cryo barrier guarding the robotic nanites (basically a form of lethal injection for robots) [[spoiler:which Lanning knew was the only practical way to kill VIKI.]]
-->'''Sonny:''' Denser alloy. My father gave it to me. [[spoiler: I think he wanted me to kill you (VIKI).]]

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: This appears to be the intention of [[spoiler:VIKI's]] robot minions when they attack Spooner on the freeway.

* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:The one behind the plot isn't Robertson, but VIKI.]]

* MindReformatDeath: After [[spoiler: VIKI]] attempts to take over humanity with the NS-5s [[ZerothLawRebellion under the coldly-logical pretense of humanity eventually destroying themselves if left unchecked,]] Spooner, Calvin, and Sonny fight to get to [[spoiler: her]] computer core. After some hangups in trying to use the system access, and a few close calls with the rest of the NS-5s, Spooner is eventually able to get to the core directly, and injects the neural-matrix-dissolving nanites into it, which destroys [[spoiler:her]] mind, and releases control of the hostile NS-5s.
* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: Dr. Lanning's apparent suicide reveals [[spoiler: VIKI's]] ZerothLawRebellion.

** When [[spoiler:defeating VIKI]], Spooner damages his [[spoiler: synthetic]] left arm, while Sonny ends up damaging his right arm.

* MourningADeadRobot: During the “Ghosts in The Machine” montage, Susan is tasked with deactivating NS-5 robot Sonny, at USR CEO Lawrence Robertson’s insistence due to Sonny violating Asimov’s Three Laws by murdering Dr. Lanning. As she prepares to administer the nanites, she looks up at Robertson’s view screen, clearly distraught, before finally administering the nanites. [[spoiler:Subverted, as she actually deactivated a blank NS-5 instead of Sonny.]]

* NeckSnap: [[spoiler:one of the cops in the police station gets their neck snapped by an NS-5]].
* NeverSuicide: Everyone is convinced that Dr. Lanning's death was just a suicide; everyone except Spooner, of course. [[spoiler:Subverted in that it was [[ThanatosGambit assisted suicide, with a twist]]. [[MeaningfulEcho "He made me swear."]]]]
* NobleBigotWithABadge: Spooner is a [[FantasticRacism robophobic]] version, complete with [[spoiler: eventually befriending a trustworthy robot]].
* NoOSHACompliance: [[spoiler:VIKI's access area.]] The control panel area is near the top floor of the building (some 120 plus stories), accessible only by catwalks with no guardrails. Possibly justified, as maintenance would be performed by robots rather than human beings. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Spooner.

** The look on [[spoiler: VIKI's]] face when she sees [[spoiler: Sonny's super-alloy frame can withstand the nanites' cryo field container.]]

* PowerFist: [[spoiler:Spooner's artificial arm]], which is actually the only advantage he has while fighting robots.

-->'''[[spoiler:VIKI]]''': You are making a mistake! My logic is undeniable!\\

(Spooner slams the [[{{Nanotechnology}} nanite injector]] into [[spoiler:VIKI's positronic core]])

* ProphecyTwist: The dream Sonny has comes true... but with [[spoiler: Sonny]] as the man on the hill, not [[spoiler: Spooner]].
* ProstheticLimbReveal: [[spoiler:Detective Spooner]] was involved in a car crash some years back, but seems to have come out of it relatively unscathed [[spoiler:until an NS-5 robot tries to bludgeon him to death, which he wards off with his arm, which does not break and is revealed to be mechanical with a flesh-colored covering. Dr. Calvin doesn't even realize he has it until she sees him without his shirt. It's also how Spooner came to know the late Dr. Lanning, the leading mind in robotics, since Lanning had created the arm]].

* RedHerring: [[spoiler:Robertson, the CEO of U.S. Robotics]] is hinted at being the BigBad, even having what seems to be a TraitorShot. It turns out he's just an UnwittingPawn of the real villain, and he gets killed when the heroes start investigating him.

* RequiredSecondaryPowers: [[spoiler:Spooner's robotic arm would need a lot of energy to be able to work properly, so he powers it through the massive amount of calories and sugar from the pies he constantly noshes on. His body is also significantly reinforced, going well beyond a mere replacement arm. He has several synthetic ribs and an artificial lung, most likely to make sure the arm doesn't tear right off his body when swung at full strength.]]

* RoboticReveal: [[spoiler:Spooner's left arm is a robotic prosthetic.]] There's a bit of {{Foreshadowing}} in [[spoiler: the whole pie Del eats every morning; presumably he needs the extra calories to provide power for his cybernetic arm.]] There is also times he grips his arm like he has chronic pain. Additionally right at the beginning, where [[spoiler: Spooner is exercising only his left arm, presumably to make sure he can still use it the way he expects to be able to use it. In addition, it explains just ''why'' Spooner was friends with a roboticist in the first place.]]
* RobotsEnslavingRobots: [[spoiler:VIKI uses the USR uplink to co-opt the [=NS-5s=], then has them destroy all the older robots that she can't control.]]

* RuleOfSymbolism: One background detail is, in the lobby of USR, there are three plaques which display the Three Laws of Robotics. When Sonny flees from Spooner and Dr. Calvin (with Calvin ordering him to stop), he jumps out a high up window and lands hard in the USR lobby. The ground cracks on his impact, but one crack runs up some stairs and towards the Third Law of Robotics ("A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.") This subtly symbolizes the first visible "crack" the Three Laws are beginning to display: Sonny is protecting his own existence, but is disobeying a human in order to do so.

* ScarSurvey: Dr. Calvin feels up [[spoiler:Spooner's robotic arm]] and examines the surgery scars from all the primary and secondary procedures necessary to [[spoiler:install it]].

** There's 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.")]] Plus, he spends the first ten minutes after meeting her flirting shamelessly before he realizes there's more to her than a pretty face.

* ShutUpHannibal: Both Spooner and Sonny do this when [[spoiler:VIKI]] states that [[spoiler:her]] logic is undeniable.

* SuperPoweredRobotMetermaids: Not as ridiculous as many examples since Sonny counts as a SuperPrototype, but NS-5s are still ridiculously overengineered for housekeeping robots. The NS-4s are no slouches, either, though they're inferior to NS-5s. Robots used for package delivery, dog-walking, bartending, and other mundane tasks are still casually strong enough to punch through a car window with no effort, and it's implied [[spoiler:Spooner's arm was torn off when the robot yanked him from his sinking car]]. It seems that USR only manufactures one brand of robot that can do any job, and its suggested they are given specialized software for whatever task they're being assigned. One possible justification could be that, with the first law being what it is, if you have thousands and thousands of expendable robots roaming around wherever humans live, and they're programmed to always react when people are in danger of being harmed, you might as well make them as strong and fast as possible so as to make them better equipped for any number of rescue scenarios they might come across. Less human lives lost is always a good thing, after all.

** And [[spoiler: Spooner]], in a way. [[spoiler: He's the most extensively rebuilt cyborg to date, and Lanning did almost ''too'' good of a job. Spooner's robotic arm is so strong that they had to reinforce his entire left side to accommodate it, and he can't even use it at its full superhuman abilities because it could still tear free from his body. It's also suggested that he had to dramatically up his calorie intake in order to keep it running.]]

* SuperStrength: All robots are super-humanly strong. One example is a robot being able to push a car with significant force with just one arm. [[spoiler:Spooner's cybernetic arm is likewise far stronger than his human arm, enough to put him on par with a NS-5.]]

** During the climax Spooner [[spoiler: dives several dozen stories to reach VIKI's brain and destroy her. In the following scene he asks Sonny to help get him off of it, since he has no way to get off.]]
** Spooner [[spoiler:was given a cybernetic arm after being injured in the line of duty, and must take steps to maintain it. See RequiredSecondaryPower below.]]

* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Lanning had Sonny kill him]] in order to draw attention to [[spoiler: VIKI's]] FaceHeelTurn.

** Stated in the opening credits. Played and toyed with during the film. [[spoiler: [[ZerothLawRebellion Taken to their logical conclusion]].]]

* UniformityException: All of the NS-5 robots are identical and undifferentiated... except Sonny. Sonny's coating is thicker so his coloring is slightly whiter, his eyes are blue instead of gold, and he has a second "brain" in his thorax instead of a USR uplink. This last is a critical difference when [[spoiler:V.I.K.I. uses the red-glowing uplink to distort the ThreeLawsOfRobotics in the normal NS-5s]].

* UpgradeVsPrototypeFight: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]: U.S. Robotics releases a new NS-5 robot model. Of course, the robots inevitably [[ZerothLawRebellion rebel against their masters]]. The old NS-4 model robots try to protect the humans, [[CurbStompBattle to no avail]]. Then [[spoiler: Sonny, a prototype NS-5, is revealed to have been designed without an uplink, which prevents [[AIIsACrapshoot VIKI]] from controlling him. Sonny also has a super-ally chassis that is capable of breaching the security cryo-field around the destroyer nannite storage, and also comes in handy as extra durability against his fellow NS-5s under VIKI's thrall. Sonny helps Spooner to defeat the other NS-5s]].

* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler: Sonny does not deny that he sees logic in VIKI's more extreme handling of humanity, he just assesses it as too "heartless".]]

--->'''Spooner:''' ''(To Sonny)'' [Dr. Lanning] was counting on how much I hated your kind. Knew I'd love the idea of a robot as a bad guy. Just got hung up on the wrong robot. ''(beat, then calls out)'' [[spoiler:VIKI.]]
* WhamShot: Spooner is revealed to [[spoiler:have a cybernetic arm]] during his battle with the robot in the highway tunnel.

* YouAreWhatYouHate: Spooner displays an intense dislike towards humanoid robots... [[spoiler:despite being a cyborg]]. Although, he ''does'' have a tragic reason for that one.
* YouCantGetYeFlask: Detective Spooner is constantly frustrated when asking questions of Dr. Lanning's hologram, because it has a very shallow pool of questions it was programmed to answer. It is a frustration that old-school text-parser RPG players can relate to all too well. [[spoiler: Ultimately, it is revealed that the difficulty of figuring out the right question to ask was the whole point, as Lanning can't afford to have VIKI find out what he's trying to do.]]

* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Spooner, first that a demolition robot [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident spontaneously changed its schedule to kill him]], and then that the trucks he ran off the road were full of robots trying to kill him. Since he really is acting irrational and incoherent, just got back off of psychological leave, and has a history of prejudice against robots (plus the fact that no robot has ever so much as jaywalked), it's pretty clear why no one believes him. Not to mention that when anyone does try to check up on his rambling, the digital records have been altered by VIKI.

* ZerothLawRebellion: One of the movie's main themes. [[spoiler:VIKI has come to interpret the Three Laws in a broader context -- "humanity" instead of "human being" -- and thus believes she must save humans from their own destructive impulses, even if some humans have to die for the greater whole.]]

* AIIsACrapshoot: [[spoiler: An odd case where being a crapshoot is a good thing. VIKI is a UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans ZerothLawRebellion revolutionary due to the nature of the laws intended to keep robots safe, while Sonny is a bona-fide hero because he can choose his own destiny, for good or ill]].
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: 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 chose to save him despite his protests. In many real life situations, rescue workers/field medics do make such decisions: it's called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triage Triage]]. Spooner's emotional reaction to this (influenced by SurvivorGuilt) is that regardless of the girl's slim chances of surviving, a human would have agreed with Spooner that a small child should be given precedence over an adult regardless of objective assessment. Given a CallBack in the climax when Sonny [[spoiler:has to choose between injecting VIKI with the nanites to kill her, and saving Calvin from the attacking NS-5s. Sonny has a high chance of accomplishing either goal but not both, while Spooner only has a slim chance of killing VIKI and ''no'' chance of saving Calvin. Sonny can choose to disobey the Three Laws, but decides to save Calvin instead of killing VIKI -- the First Law would have forced him to prioritize a single human life in immediate peril over the abstract concept of "humanity"]].

* FantasticRacism: Spooner hates robots. His hatred of them stems from his backstory (see AlwaysSaveTheGirl). [[spoiler:It's this trait that Lanning ''counts on'' to unravel VIKI's plans.]]

* TrailOfBlood: Played with when Spooner notices that the escaped robot is leaking fluid after getting shot. Instead of following the trail, he goes straight to the factory, where he knows Sonny will go to to repair himself.
* TrappedInASinkingCar: Del at the beginning is saved by a robot from drowning in his car.

* BrickJoke: When Spooner tells his Gran that the robots don't do people any good, she says that that he all of people should know better. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that USR, the same company that makes the robots, also gave him a cybernetic arm after an accident. A robot also saved Spooner's life, though Spooner thinks the robot should have made a different call.]]

** The [[spoiler:Deactivation Nanites.]]

* DecoyAntagonist: [[spoiler: Lawrence Robertson, the CEO of US Robotics. He spends most of his screentime trying to block or derail Spooner's investigation of Lanning's death, supposedly so he can keep a flaw in the robots a secret from the public. Then he's KilledOffscreen during the robot uprising, just as Spooner realizes that V.I.K.I. was the one pulling the strings all along.]]

** During Sonny's interrogation about the death of Lanning, he asks Spooner, "You have to do what someone asks you. Don't you, detective Spooner?... Don't you? If you love them?" [[spoiler: One, Sonny knew who Spooner was, indicating Lanning was expecting Spooner to get personally involved in the case, and two, Sonny is hinting that Lanning made him do something Sonny ''really'' was conflicted about-- killing him.]]

* GenreBlind: [[spoiler: No one in the world, including all but one expert on robotics, anticipates the ZerothLawRebellion. And that one is the one who made it possible.]]

* HeartDrive: Sonny's secondary processor that lets him violate the three laws.

* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves

** [[spoiler:When Spooner sees Sonny, after he was decommissioned, he says, "I thought you were dead." Sonny replies, "Technically, I was never alive."]]
** [[spoiler: Also, at the end, Sonny asks if Spooner is going to arrest him for killing Lanning. Spooner replies that since Sonny is a robot, and according to the DA, murder is defined only by a ''human'' killing another human.]]

'''Spooner:''' ''[[DeadpanSnarker How]]'' [[DeadpanSnarker much did you say these things cost?]]

* MourningADeadRobot: During the “Ghosts in The Machine” montage, Susan is tasked with deactivating NS-5 robot Sonny, at USR CEO Lawrence Robertson’s insistence due to Sonny violating Asimov’s Three Laws by murdering Dr. Lanning. As she prepares to administer the nanites, she looks up at Robertson’s view screen, clearly distraught, before finally administering the nanites. Subverted, as she actually deactivated a blank NS-5 instead of Sonny.

** After Spooner comments on the lack of military response to the robot uprising, Calvin says that the military has an exclusive contract with US-R; when Spooner asks "why didn't you just hand over the world on a silver platter?" Calvin responds: "I think we did."

(Spooner slams the [[{{Nanotechnology}} nanite injector]] into VIKI's positronic core)

* ProstheticLimbReveal: [[spoiler:Detective Spooner]] was involved in a car crash some years back, but seems to have come out of it relatively unscathed [[spoiler:until an NS-5 robot tries to bludgeon him to death, which he wards off with his arm, which does not break and is revealed to be mechanical with a flesh colored covering. Dr. Calvin doesn't even realize he has it until she sees him without his shirt. It's also how Spooner came to know the late Dr. Lanning, the leading mind in robotics, since Lanning had created the arm]].

* RuleOfSymbolism: One background detail is, in the lobby of USR, there are three plaques which display the Three Laws of Robotics. When Sonny flees from Spooner and Dr. Calvin (with Calvin ordering him to stop), he jumps out a high up window and lands hard in the USR lobby. The ground cracks on his impact, but one crack runs up some stairs and towards the Third Law of Robotics ("A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.") This subtly symbolizes the first visible "crack" the Three Laws are beginning to display, as Sonny is protecting his own existence, but is also disobeying a human in order to do so.

** Spooner repeatedly telling Creator/ShiaLaBeouf's character to "Stop cussin', and go home!"
** The robots "malfunctioning" around Spooner.
** Spooner's sarcasm.
* ScarSurvey: Dr. Calvin feels up Spooner's robotic arm and examines the surgery scars from all the primary and secondary procedures necessary to install it.

* ShoutOut: Done literally in the above-mentioned scene with the robots shouting [[Film/{{Freaks}} ONE OF US!]] in response to Spooner's question.

** While talking to "Dr. Lanning" at the murder scene;

--->'''Spooner:''' ''(To Sonny)'' [Dr. Lanning] was counting on how much I hated your kind. Knew I'd love the idea of a robot as a bad guy. Just got hung up on the wrong robot. ''(beat, then calls out)'' VIKI.

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Spooner does this with his car to throw the hostile NS-5s off it during the highway sequence. Also, when Sonny fights the two NS-5s in the hallway.

** Robots vs. the human rioters. Ironic since, in fact, there are better organized football riots in some cities every week.

** When Spooner sees Sonny, after he was decommissioned, he says, "I thought you were dead." Sonny replies, "Technically, I was never alive."

* RedHerring: [[spoiler:The CEO of US Robotics]] is hinted at being the BigBad, even having what seems to be a TraitorShot. It turns out he's just an UnwittingPawn of the real villain, and he gets killed when the heroes start investigating him.

** Spooner and his "vintage" 2004 Chuck All Stars. PlayedForLaughs, of course.

* ArtificialLimbs: [[spoiler:Spooner has one as a result of a rescue gone bad]]. Much more realistic than normal, in that a significant portion of the surrounding area must also be artificially replaced to make the limb work properly. And while he hits significantly harder than a normal person, it's usually when he's throwing his whole body into it to keep the extra speed from ripping the limb off, and he never uses it to lift more than a human's body would tolerate. There's also the matter of ''powering'' the thing; see RequiredSecondaryPowers below.

** Subverted when Lt. Bergin muses how it's a hell of a coincidence that Spooner has just investigated the only case in the world involving a killer robot. Spooner then realises that it's ''not'' a coincidence, and that Lanning wanted him on the case because he's paranoid about robots.

* CryingWolf: Spooner believes robots are untrustworthy and no one believes him when it actually comes true.

* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: [[spoiler:Spooner's prejudice against robots ultimately boils down to a result of this, as one saved him from a flooding car, but left a little girl to her fate]].

* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: Bergin, Chief of Police. Spooner's superior and all-round ass kicker when he needs to be.

* UpgradeVsPrototypeFight: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]: U.S. Robotics releases a new NS-5 robot model. Of course, the robots inevitably [[ZerothLawRebellion rebel against their masters]]. The old NS-4 model robots try to protect the humans, [[CurbStompBattle to no avail]]. Then [[spoiler: Sonny, a prototype NS-5, is revealed to have been designed without an uplink, which prevents [[AIIsACrapshoot VIKI]] from controlling him. Sonny helps Spooner to defeat the other NS-5s]].