Robot Overlords

The title, Robot Overlords, alone already indicates that this is the campiest movie to exist in this generation, too dated that it would be an amusement for today's common moviegoers. It sounds like one of those generic fake films that are typically featured in romcoms or teens movies where it has a scenario in a movie theater, because apparently the production couldn't afford product placing an actual film, or basically just portraying or satirizing what the mass choose to pay for their price admissions. Robot Overlords does sum up with that standard, it's formulaic about its own plot: an evil force, unlikely heroes, a protagonist who has something special inside him which becomes the only hope to save the day. It's a total cliché, but this is one of those where people could shrug them off and see the charm of this little fodder. As a B-movie (for the "Family" genre in particular), it may have one of those corny qualities, but there is an appropriate amount of fun. There's nothing novel about it in the end, but this is a film that intentionally gives you the pleasure to turn off your brain.

Aside of its title, the movie seems totally committed to be this cheesy, but that doesn't let the negativity get in the way. The storyline is totally simple, it never tries to say something deeper or political or something else. Dystopian future movies tend to bring up something thought-provoking, but this film just sticks to the classic saving-the- world premise. And for once, it feels refreshing, specifically for not stopping by providing an overlong sentimental drama or a romantic subplot. The characters are only on a quest where they are often encountering robots, other ridiculous ideas and little twists that don't betray what it has setup. Otherwise, there is nothing actually special about it, but there's a real momentum that makes it easy to watch. When the robots start clashing, it gets too loud, the effects look good enough for a B-movie, bringing a sense of scale for these typically designed machines. but the shining moments are basically when the heroes are finding new discoveries in this world, it's basically just embracing what this should be an adventurous ride.

And just like any generic action film, the hero is the good-looking white guy. There is also a girl (who thankfully isn't mainly designed for love interest, since it totally shoehorned the romantic subplot) and the comic relief best friend. And there is a little kid, and this kid is always curious, because why not? The only interesting character side here is the villain who is attracted with the hero's mother, which brings an intriguing little extra conflict. The acting is B-movie at best; Callan McAuliffe has everything you would ask for a bland protagonist. While Ben Kingsley is delightful as the performance slowly hams it up the more the villain unmasks his true colors.

Robot Overlords might be too lame for this era of an even more convincing and edgier blockbusters. Movies like this would easily be groaned at and we can already see why. And for some reason, the film seems aware of its own trashiness and instead makes a simple fun out of it. Unlike many dumb B-movies out there that doesn't accept its absurdity by glossing it over with gravity that makes no sense until it stops being watchable, this film at least has the joy over its preposterous nature; the hero kids do impossible things, the villain sneers his plans, and they're against giant robots. But again, there's nothing brilliant about it, it never gave us anything meaningful in the end, but it sure is amazing seeing a movie like Robot Overlords that is confident enough to be released in today's blockbuster cinema.

For some reason this movie reminded me of a Famous Five story - possible because when I started watching it I didn't know it was aimed at a pre-teen to teen audience, however that soon became clear...

Group of kids on an adventure to save humanity from robots that have overrun the Earth and made everyone prisoners in their own homes.

Low budget, but surprisingly good effects and acting, story line that flows well, but not much to it and most of the situations the are not realistic.

I don't really think this one is for the Sci-Fi fans - there's just not enough Sci and too much Fi!

Would appeal to ages 10 to 16 or so, not much of a target audience which is why this film is getting low scores.

I give it 6 because it is good for a low budget movie and deserves more credit than it is getting.

I'm surprised by some of the caustic reviews of Robot Overlords. I can but assume the reviewers missed the memo that explains this film is clearly pitched at a teen audience.

That said, Robot Overlords has enough on offer to prove enjoyable for anyone. Its adopts a softened approach to sci-fi, with the hard core death and destruction found in films like Alien, left on the shelf. What you get instead is a cleverly directed film, that is more reminiscent of Doctor Who or perhaps the Sarah Jane adventures.

The hero is a young teen boy and his friends who, inexplicably, take on an invading army of robots who conquered the armies of earth in short order. The story is not supposed to be taken seriously and instead, represents a fun ride for those willing to accept the limitations imposed, which reflect the ages of the likely target audience.

The acting is good with a strong cast and pretty decent special effects. My advice ignore the negative nellies and give Robot Overlords a go, you won't be disappointed. Seven out of ten from me.

Aimed at the CBBC teen market, this reminds me of some kind of Terminator Salvation meets Tripods. (Ask someone 40 plus!)

The plot doesn't seem overly logical to me... The war with the robot overlords has damaged things so much that the homes and infrastructure of the remaining humans are relatively untouched with everything functional. Street lights blaze away, no one looks gaunt or starving with their nice clean clothes etc.

These superkids can disable advanced robot technology very simply, whilst the adults under curfew can still have a good old Victorian style knees up including bare knuckle fighting! Maybe the booze is provided free by the robots so they can study drunken humans? Anyway why travel vast distances across the Milky Way to put us in an unnatural situation for them to scrutinise us? All the Transformers had to do was watch TV and hack the net!

The robot overlords are obviously not that good at Overlording as they need a pantomime human villain to do the more mundane stuff, like kidnapping and using the mind probe machine and other admin duties.

I'm not really sure how he fitted into the plot as the whole premise seemed so ludicrous and un-apocalyptic that I got bored at the point where Gillian Anderson escaped from the castle and stole the horse!

I understand this was low budget but then so were the original episodes of Dr Who. The cybermen made for much better, and scarier adversaries. None of the characters had any depth and the acting lacklustre.

I think the average teen would struggle to get anything out of this film, let alone anyone over the age of 18.

How can someone spend so much time, money and effort (Significant amounts by the look of things), get names such as Gillian Anderson and Ben Kingsley to join his project and end up with this sad excuse for a sci-fi blockbuster wannabe?

The storyline is stupid beyond anyone (above 3 year old) belief. The dialogues are moving between bad to embarrassingly cheesy. The acting is wooden at best. The CGI is dated. There is very little good to write about it. Dr. Who style? Maybe. How does that suppose to work on the Cinema screen??

Once the storyline was approved, this movie was doomed. If the 1% of the budget would have been spent on the writing, it could have made a huge difference.

This should have gone to video. Don't waste your money!