Robo Jî

A movie about robots is not rare among Japanese movies. If you are an Anime movie fan you would have seen plenty of movies with robots. This 'Robo-G' was a brilliantly written and directed movie. There was no compromise in movie quality. Why I am saying that mean it was not the movie that highly depended on computer graphics, in fact I saw none CGI works in the movie. Most importantly it is not even a science fiction but related to that theme.

The owner of the Kimura electrical appliance is keen to participate in upcoming Robo- expo. Three of his employees are busy creating a humanoid but there is insufficient time to finish it. One week to go, they decide to put a man inside a robot costume and finish the event smoothly. Then the 70 year-old Suzuki comes across who was disappointed for his unrecognition by his friend from the recently concluded cultural program. So he decides to join them three and everything ends as planned. But the real problem arises when an enthusiastic college student shows interest to doing project on the national sensation robot called new Shiokaze.

The movie fulfilled my expectations. I found it a kinda part of a fresh idea. When I read about the movie I was not sure that it will work but after a watch I came to know that I was wrong before. Wherever it has came from, Hollywood, Bollywood, Eurowood, K- movies or J-movies, it will be a treat for movie fanatics like me. I love robot themes, I consider it is one of my most expected from sci-fi themes. This movie brought plenty of laughs in me. I felt that it was quite a lengthy movie though the pace was steady and holds the audience without much unwanted scenes. The end twist was good, it was a good solution that what I had curiosity about all the way. And an another scene in the end which leaves a sign that indicates sequel is in due. I will be happy if they make another 'Robo-G' movie.

8/10

Ota, Kobayashi and Nagai are three workers at an electrical company which normally makes vacuum cleaners and the like; their boss assigns them to make a robot to enter into a robotics show, more as an advertisement for his company than anything else. The hapless workers are able to come up with a robotic-looking suit, but can't make it do anything and with less than a week to go, they're in despair when after spilling a soft drink on the computer keyboard, the suit goes haywire and leaps out of a window, shattering into its component parts and nothing more. The three have no choice, really, but to advertise for an actor to wear the suit, the primary requirement being that the person have the proper measurements to fit the suit. Their first choice, unfortunately, turns out to be allergic to metal and so they turn to their second pick, the elderly Suzuki (Shinjiro Igarashi aka Mickey Curtis, a one-time real-life rock star), who has recently retired and has nothing to do. Suzuki's family tunes him out, the caregivers and other clients at a senior centre think he's getting senile, and this one-time-only gig will give him something to do. But while at the exhibition, he dazzles the crowd with his antics and when he saves a spectator from a falling pole, well, he's a hero and everybody wants him. But how long can our three researchers keep up the pretence, and how much can they control the increasingly undependable Suzuki, particularly since the young woman he saved has become increasingly enthusiastic about this "new robot"? This is a very funny film that manages to skewer geekdom while celebrating it. One of the best scenes has our trio giving a "lecture" to some college students in which various kids ask how they managed to get the robot to be able to do this and that; they cleverly turn the question around, asking what the students think they did, and busily take notes as the students proceed to explain how to build a robot - that scene alone is priceless! There are no real bad guys here, and nothing terrible happens to anybody, but the sheer premise of the film sets the audience to laughing from almost the first minute, and as for the ending, well, let's just say it was unexpected! Good fun, and worth looking for!

This was a very funny movie - one of my all time favourites comedies. If you have some exposure to Japan and Japanese culture it is all the more hilarious.

The first two reviews really cover this movie extremely well so I will not say much more. I too watched it on an Air Canada flight (YYZ-NRT), in my case on June 30th. I am sure that I was disturbing the neighbouring passengers with my outbursts of laughter. Unfortunately it is not on the play list for my return to Canada. I'm hoping that a subtitled version will show up in Canada or I may eventually have to purchase the extremely expensive (75$CDN) BluRay version which releases August 3 here in Japan.

As in most Japanese comedies I have seen, the characters are exaggerated, but in this case not beyond the reasonable, preserving a real human touch. It was especially refreshing to have an elderly man as the main character. Someone that family and others don't quite take seriously, not really paying attention to what he says. One of my favourite tiny moments is when he tries to give away what he is doing - that short scene is so true to life. I still chuckle when I think of it. I started telling my wife and son about this movie and they wanted to hear more and more about it, laughing all the time as I remembered more and more scenes.

Highly recommended - a great laugh-out-loud comedy with some heart.

Yep...Not much for me to add here. Just confirming the reviews and rating. Take it from the prolific DICK STEELE or any of the previous reviewers, this movie is simply very good.

Better yet, don't take our word for it, just watch and enjoy! This director has quite a fondness for making these silly, charming, and predictable films that have a heart of gold. But, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. With Waterboys, Swing Girls (one of my all time favorites), and now this; you sir half a life time pass in my book. Wouldn't mind if you kept on making this stuff though.

One of the best films I've seen this year...9 out of 10 stars!

I had the chance to watch the brand new Japanese comedy movie "Robo G" on an Air Canada flight a couple of days ago and I quite enjoyed this movie. Let's cite the negative things first as there aren't too many. The movie has a couple of lengths towards the middle of the film. Some jokes work very well while other ones seem a little bit too generic to get a laugh. Another bad point is the rather predictable story that offers nothing truly interesting.

The strong points of the movie are its sympathetic and humorous moments in many hilarious slapstick situations when the brand new robot suddenly reveals a couple of weird abilities that put a lot of pressure on the untalented and somewhat lazy creators who have many challenges to hide their biggest secret and make the world believe that their robot is a real one and not only a disguised human. This scenario is nothing original but keeps the entertainment on a high until the very end.

Another big point is the good good acting. The young Japanese star Yuriko Yoshitaka is not only charming and beautiful but also a charismatic actress that plays the role of a somewhat hyperactive and naive but also very smart student. The Japanese actor Mickey Curtis plays a rather unusual and stubborn senior movie hero who slips into the costume of a robot and suddenly gets a star out of his boring and lonesome life as. Next to many superhero movies with young actors and many computer simulations or special effects, his acting is quite refreshing and gives the whole thing a very human and authentic touch. This idea is an interesting alternative to other very human robot movies such as "Short Circuit" or "Wall-E" and quite innovating from that point of view even if the mentioned movies are still more philosophical and touching.

The movie also shows some subtle criticism concerning the Japanese society by portraying an old and lonely man left by his wife who is not quite appreciated and sometimes even ignored by his old friends and his family. His story is touching and quite sad as he tries a lot to get not popular on television but especially within his very own family that doesn't care much about his emotions, his energy and his great acting skills. This side story of the old masked hero creates many funny but also sad moments all along this flick.

In the end, this is a very different kind of your usual robot movie that convinces with a solid acting and a couple of good ideas. On the other side, many lengths and the rather predictable ending rate down this flick that could have hit harder and have been even more innovating at some points. It's certainly a good watch once one DVD or even in your local movie theatre but I would not directly recommend a purchase of this movie.