A Review by Phil Calabro
2005, 20th Century Fox, Dir. Chris Wedge/Carlos Saldanha - Starring the voice talents of Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Robin Williams, Greg Kinnear, Mel Brooks, Drew Carey, Amanda Bynes, Jennifer Coolidge, Stanley Tucci, Dianne Wiest, Paul Giamatti
Computer animated movies are generally a good bargain for me these days - for six dollars, I'm usually guaranteed top-notch visuals and a very witty script written by Hollywood beginners. Fox's animation studios, which have run under the tough competition of Pixar and Dreamworks CGI, have had good success from their early grosser 'Ice Age', but have accomplished little else from there on out. It gives me great pleasure to say that their facilities have put themselves back into the race, because 'Robots' is just a prime example of old fashioned family fun, in the contemporary perspective. The world in 'Robots' is one of limitless boundaries, a meld between the Fritz Langs and the Terry Gilliams of the world, with eccentric characters that follow the common code as 'Shrek' and 'Shark Tale' have followed - everything can be joked about at its own expense. Certainly, I've seen stronger storylines than this, but all in all, this is a full-bodied comedy for its genre. With an extensive foray of voice actors and the trompe l'oeil of its image technology, 'Robots' proves to be an enjoyable hour and a half to spend with your family.
In a world that is composed entirely of robots, the young Rodney Copperbottom (McGregor) has always been an avid inventor, following in the footsteps of king inventor and his role model Big Weld (Brooks). His father Herb (Tucci) is a dishwasher for a local diner, but his parts are becoming old and obsolete impairing his work. Rodney, who is determined to fulfill his dream of being a great inventor as well as helping his dad, sets out to Robot City, where he plans to meet Big Weld and offer him his new ideas for robots. When he arrives, Rodney learns that Big Weld is no longer in charge, but has been replaced with a slimy and snappy droid named Ratchet (Kinnear), whose evil plans is to make all spare parts entirely obsolete and to create a profitable way to upgrade robots. This plan follows in close connections with his mother (played with great voice acting by Jim Broadbent), who runs the scrap metal plant beneath the ground and wants to incinerate Big Weld forever. Rodney must help his hero by teaming up with a series of bots such as Fender (Williams), Cappy (Berry), Piper (Bynes), and Crank (Carey) in order to put a halt to these plans.
'Robots' can easily be noted as having one of the best voice ensembles ever cast in an animated movie - one that runs close with the choices for 'Anastasia' and 'Shrek'. Ewan McGregor is tame and innocent as the good-hearted Rodney, a robot that is too out of place amongst these odd robots that he meets. His voice places him in great contrast with the incredible Robin Williams, who despite being one of my least favorite film comedians, makes an amazing turn in this film. Much like the Genie from 'Aladdin', the character of Fender fits WIlliams so well - simply because this is an abstract character with several different personalities. The most important note to directors who cast Robin Williams is to remember that he should never play a straight man - if he is, it comes across as too solemn or not realistic enough. He is a creative voice actor, and director Chris Wedge gives Robin the right amount of screentime in the movie. Not too much, not too little - it's never overkill, and yet Fender steals the scene whenever necessary.
'Robots' never really edges the border for offensive material, and generally draws the line at the fart jokes. I mention this because it's a relief to see animators not use their family comedies as a haven for sexual jokes primarily. As much as 'Shrek 2' was one of last year's best animated features, it borderlined with the innuendo and possibly could leave a bad taste in some parents' mouths. Here, the adults will be just as amused as the children are with the explicit detail in the robotic designs depicted. So many scenes play off like huge Rube Goldberg inventions, in a very literal fashion. John Powell's score is a great addition to the fun, setting the mood to the energetic events that take place.
When it all winds down, 'Robots' is entertaining, and is a promising opener to the 2005 spring season of film. With CGI animation taking over the theaters this year, with Dreamworks 'Madagascar' up on the slate next, Fox has been given the green light to take part in the three-way race for the best animation studios in Hollywood now.
