‘Robots’ definitely worth price of admission
When it comes to great computer-animated films, Pixar stands alone at the top of the pyramid. With every film, the studio constantly raises the bar when it comes to storytelling, production values and pure entertainment. A few years ago, 20th Century Fox created its own computer-animation division, Blue Sky Studios, in order to give Pixar a run for its money. “Ice Age” was its first feature and a huge hit.
“Robots” is Blue Sky’s latest offering, and while it lacks some of the heart of “Ice Age,” it is a rollicking, fun flick for the whole family.
The film stars Ewan McGregor as Rodney Copperbottom, a young robot inventor who has created The Wonderbot, a tiny helicopterish device that can be used in restaurants. He travels to Robot City so he can sell his idea to the Bigweld company. Little does he know what intrigue awaits.
The Bigweld company has been taken over by the evil robot Ratchet (Greg Kinnear), who along with his nasty mother plan on taking robot replacement parts off the market and offer pricey “upgrades” instead. “Why be you when you can be new?” is Ratchet’s marketing slogan. Sadly, robots that are too poor to afford these new “upgrades” will be carted off and sent to an underground furnace.
Rodney stumbles onto this plot and with the help of a clanky, wise-cracking, fire-engine-red friend named Fender (Robin Williams) and a slinky corporate exec (Halle Berry), the plucky gang set out to find the missing Mr. Big Weld and restore him to his rightful place as head of the Bigweld company and foil Ratchet and his mother’s evil scheme.
I really had a lot of fun with this film. The production design is brilliant — reminiscent of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” combined with Harley Earl and Rube Goldberg. The jokes aren’t always on-target (there is such a thing as just too much Robin Williams), and some of the voice work (Halle Berry’s in particular) lacked sufficient emotion.
Still, I think kids will have a great time at this movie, as will their parents. Definitely put “Robots” on your list of films to see.
GRADE: B