Robots

Yesterday I was shopping at Target and they had a bunch of movies for seven fifty, Robots was one of them. I never saw the movie before, but I figured it's just a couple more bucks then if I rented it, so I bought it and watched it last night. I have to say that I'm glad I bought it because I really enjoyed it, this was a fun animated movie that got over looked in 2005. It had great actors for the voices, Mel Brooks couldn't have been a more perfect choice, the whole look of the movie is absolutely cool to look at, and the story was extremely original. This is a great film to watch for yourself or with the family.

Rodney is a common robot with his poor parents, but he has big city dreams to meet Bigweld, the biggest robot of all time, he is the inventor who makes sure that every robot is taken care of. Rodney goes to the big city to meet Bigweld and become an inventor himself, but ends up meeting several robots who are nobody's including Fender, his new best friend. They discover that an evil robot who has taken over Bigweld's factory is planning on destroying all the old bots who can't afford to upgrade, so pretty much that's the whole town. But Rodney and his friends are dedicated to making sure that everyone can be safe as an old bot.

Robots is a very imaginative movie with a very creative story and look. I was really impressed with this movie and would highly recommend it. It has very funny moments for both the kids and the adults, so it works for a family movie very well. Robin Williams did a terrific job as Vender, he was just a great addition and brought fun comedic relief. But the whole cast sounded like they had a lot of fun with this movie. This is a fun film to watch and I think anyone could enjoy it, so grab the popcorn, because you're gonna have fun.

7/10

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!

I attended an advance screening for this film with my daughter and her friend (both 3). They enjoyed it, but I think older kids will be much more into it. There was also a lot of humor that will be appreciated by adults. I have seen all the computer animated films of recent years(Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Nemo, etc.) and I feel this one ranks up there with the best. This movie is visually stunning. The robot world created for this movie is unbelievable. There are some pinball like sequences that I found fascinating (Rube Goldbergesque for the older folks). This movie is quite funny. I am usually not a big Robin Williams fan, I find that he can be too in your face and distracting. That really was not the case in this film. The plot of Robots was good, but I did not walk out of the theater talking about the story lines. It was all about the visuals.

I left this film feeling high. Not because I literally ingested anything before arriving at the theatre, but because the movie provided that familiar feeling of one's brain being reduced to a muddled receptor for bright colors and funny noises.

So about the story: boy robot leaves his home for the big-city, must defeat evil robot trying to control the robot world. During this epic quest he encounters a series of Disney-ish archetypes, including: wacky robot sidekick (voiced by Robin Williams, natch), bland robot love interest (Halle Berry, spending all of maybe three hours in the recording studio), and a spunky tomboy robot (voiced by some unmemorable tween star).

The storyline, such as it is, could probably fill a single half-hour slot on Nickelodeon. There are a few funny bits of dialogue (provided by off-Broadway scribe David Lindsay Abaire), but mostly the script is just the filler before the next elaborate visual sequence dreamed up by the animators.

And don't get me wrong: those visual sequences are pretty cool. I can't quite decide which is more impressive: the hyperkinetic ride through the immaculately detailed robot city or a complicated sequence involving thousands of dominoes. The art department clearly put a mind-boggling amount of effort into creating a fully realized world.

But that, unfortunately, is all there is. An awesomely rendered environment with nothing in the foreground. Many of the characters, particularly the protagonist, feel like little more than rough outlines. The relationships between characters feel like tacked-on afterthoughts. This is compounded by the most lackluster and non-distinctive voice work I've ever heard from major movie stars (Ewan McGregor and Halle Berry sound so bored, I would have preferred they hire interns from the accounting department).

I recommend this film slightly, simply because of the stunning visuals. But otherwise, with the success of truly subversive CGI films like The Incredibles and Shrek, Robots just doesn't cut it.

'Robots' is an entertaining animated film that is both funny and delightful. The animation is wonderful and has its own style. Even though it's not exactly of the Pixar quality, that actually works for the film especially with the motions. Colour has also been impressively used. The robot world is spectacular to watch. The designing is brilliant e.g. the train station and robot city.

It includes a huge impressive ensemble of voice actors (sadly most of the cast is wasted) but not all the actors were efficiently used and many suffer due to poor character development. Ewan McGregor and Robin Williams have most of the lines and they do reasonably well.

The film has a soul but the screenplay doesn't stick to the main plot. There are several plot holes and perhaps (as fun as they are) too many characters that lack development. In spite of its flaws, it's very much watchable, especially with the family. It is visually stunning and there are many funny moments, but there's surely something missing. You don't take anything away with you after the film's finished.