Change of Beliefs
The main character, Del Spooner, does not like robots. He does not trust them, to the point where when Sonny (The sentient robot) first comes into his sights he immediately treats him as an enemy. Yet, the film tasks him to sympathize or at least understand Sonny.
The Three Laws
The biggest irony of the film is that the laws, that were created to ensure that the robots only did what was best for the human species, were the reason for the “revolution”. The reason for Viki trying to cage the humans. The laws meant to instill stability and ease in dealing with the robots, created the biggest complication and the antagonist of the movie.
Getting Help From What You Hate
The hatred of Del holds for the robots and modern technology, in general, is an irony in itself. This hatred for modern tech is made clear during the beginning of the movie by showing that Detective Spooner still uses an old music player and likes to wear vintage shoes. Yet the only reason he is able to function normally as a human is due to his cybernetic enhancements. He even uses his robotic arm to defend himself against a rogue NS-5 and save himself after taking a leap to catch the nanites.
Not What It Seems
In a scene in the beginning, Del pursues after a robot that is running holding a purse. He assumes that the robot has stolen that purse. At the end of the chase the robot gets jumped by Del. There we are shown that the robot wasn’t stealing just getting an inhaler to his owner. Later, Del answers to John’s question “How many robots in the world have ever committed a crime?” to which Del begrudgingly answers “None”. The irony here being even though no robot has ever committed a crime so far Del still assumes that the robot is a thief.
Ironical Remarks
Makers Of Themselves:
When Del first enters the robot manufacturing facility he is told that there is the facility has no significant human presence from inception to production. Del makes an ironical remark which is “So, Robots building robots”.
Good Old Days :
After Sonny is caught, Del tries to persuade John to let him interrogate his suspect. John gives in after Del remarks what if he is right. At that point, John says “well then we are gonna miss the good old days.” When Del asks what good old days, John replies “When people used to kill people.” The irony here being that good day don’t involve murders.
