Robots

I'll admit that I did not want to see this. I thought the trailers were utter crap. I mean I saw too many robot movies when this first came out. I thought I would only stick with I, Robot, but I was forced to see this. I was pleasantly surprised how good this was, so I bought the DVD.

This is about a robot named Rodney Coperbottom. He decides to go to the city to show off this invention to the famous Mr. Bigwald. Unfortunately, Bigwald is out of business and in order to get to him, he must face some evil corporate execs.

This film featured a magnificent voice cast noticeably Robin Williams. I could recognize his voice in about anything, even in Happy Feet.

The animation is good, nothing special. This is a good film to have the kids watch. I rate this film 8/10.

While the story isn't particularly original or substantial, ROBOTS is a fun film for kids that has plenty of visual creativity. While a plot synopsis probably isn't necessary, here goes. Rodney is an aspiring robot inventor who moves to the big city to make his dreams come true, but along the way he has to deal with an evil corporate tyrant who threatens to turn old robots into scrap metal. First of all, I have to say this movie has one of the best voice casts ever assembled. Ewan McGregor plays the main character Rodney Copperbottom, and is joined by Halle Berry, Greg Kinnear, Robin Williams and Mel Brooks, to name a few. Every single actor brought their character to life vibrantly and with humor. Of course, with an animated movie you can't not discuss the visual elements. Blue Sky Studios (Ice Age and Rio) did an awesome job bringing this robot world to life. It kind of reminded me a little of steampunk, but more colorful and sanitized for children. There's also a number of stunningly creative sequences which are Rube Goldberg-esque in their complexity. The humor is also worthy of mention, because there's plenty of jokes that the kids will get, and some for the parents as well. There's even some hilarious usage of (then-current) pop music, and a couple other original songs. When it's all said and done, this movie isn't really the most original in terms of plot, but there are positive messages for kids and enough visual style to spare.

Robots is probably the most technically amazing computer-animated movie I've ever seen. When you stack it up against a movie like the original Toy Story, it's astounding how far they've come in about 10 years. There is a scene were a drum of tiny ballbearings falls over, and each ballbearing is rendered perfectly. Amazing.

The voice acting in Robots is just fine, with the ensemble cast providing a nice mix of auditory delights(although I saw Jim Broadbent's (the dad in Bridget Jones') name in the credits and was unable to identify him in the movie. Greg Kinnear did a fine job and Ewan MacGregor was also decent. The biggest question mark was Robin Williams. Before the movie I found myself wondering how he could top the 'Genie' performance in Aladdin. The answer is he doesn't, but his character is responsible for a few VERY funny bits and I think he pulled it off well.

Now humor in the movie... It was clear to me that at least 80% of the adults in the audience weren't getting many of the references. If you are old enough/smart enough to catch these, they are hilarious. My favorite being when Rodney is repairing Bigweld's head and Bigweld is singing 'Daisy' very slowly. Priceless.

All in all a great movie, and I also suspect this movie will improve with subsequent viewings. Where a Shark's Tale just becomes tiresome after one viewing, I am looking forward to viewing this movie again.

Lastly, my 6 year-old son LOVED the movie. We saw it in IMAX and it completely blew him away.

I don't think that (with the notable exception of one thread here on IMDb) this movie gets enough credit. The animation was darn good, and the humor had me laughing an awful lot. As a comedy this certainly hit the spot. I think if you enjoyed Ice Age, you could certainly find yourself enjoying this film as well.

Sure, as some have pointed out the "characters weren't really developed" and "there were a lot of characters involved". *shrug* Who cares? I didn't sit down to watch this expecting to have a well-written Shakespeare play acted out before me. I sat down expecting to enjoy myself, laugh, and forget about the world around me (for the time being, at least). This movie gets a check in all three columns.

Animated movies are usually pretty good but nothing that great to me. However, this one is a "keeper." It gets high marks for all the jokes in here, lots of which are adult-style but not sleazy or filled with sexual innuendos, although there are a few of those, enough to make this PG, not G. However, the vast amount of clever lines is the main attraction here.

Actually, the jokes come so hard and fast, it's hard to keep up with all of them. The visuals aren't gorgeous, as many modern-day animated films have become, but they are interesting. Not only is there a ton of gags to hear, but there are to see, too. You almost have to stop it frame-by-frame to see all the funny stuff penciled in the artwork.

The story couldn't be simpler but it manages you keep your attention and doesn't overstay it's welcome, although I think animated films are more effective it they don't go over 80 minutes. This one is closer to 90.

There is a good message in here, too. Maybe I'm mistaken but what I heard was the idea that just because people might be old, decaying and not as productive for society, it doesn't mean you have to discard them. Life has value and is precious from conception to dying of old age. Amen to that!