Robots

March 16, 2005

Rated: PG Runtime: 90 min Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Now THIS is what an animated comedy should be like. Robots combines visual gags, excellent writing and some of the best animation yet, easily earning a 5 star rating.

Robots The storyline is your basic “country boy goes to city to make it big” tale, with just minor variances from the formula. Believe me, you know exactly how this movie ends after the first 10 minutes of the movie. Heck, you should know how it ends just from the previews. In this telling the country boy is Rodney (Ewan McGregor), who wants to be an inventor just like his childhood hero, Big Weld (Mel Brooks). Unfortunately, when he gets to the big city he find that Big Weld is no longer running the show and instead Ratchet (Greg Kinnear) is in charge, and he’s only interested in making money, not inventing things for the betterment of robotkind.

Rodney makes some new friends, most notably Fender (Robin Williams), Crank (Drew Carey), Cappy (Halle Berry) and Piper (Amanda Bynes). Could you possibly guess that they band together to take on Ratchet to try and save Big Weld Industries? Could ya?!

The story is fine even though it’s very predictable, this is a kids movie after all so we wouldn’t want it to strain their grey matter too much. The real treat here is in the setting, the comedy and the voice acting. Obviously the casting is first rate, and everyone involved seemed to be having a really good time making this film. You know how you can tell over the phone if someone is smiling or not? I guarantee everyone was smiling when they made this movie.

The comedy is typical sight gags and jokes, but they are VERY well done. Notice James Earl Jones in the credits? Why do you think he’s there? But above it all is the setting as this is one well rendered world. The details in Robot City are amazing, you’ll find yourself just looking around the screen in awe at how cool everything looks. I’m gushing now, but it really does rock.

Another thing this movie has going for it is that it’s only 90 minutes long. It doesn’t try to spend 40 minutes setting the story up, it spends 5. The pacing is quick, the laughs are plentiful and you’ll leave with a smile on your face. Heck, I might go see it again.

Posted by John | Filed Under 5 Stars, Comedy, Ewan McGregor, Greg Kinnear, Halle Berry, Mel Brooks, PG, Robin Williams, Theatrical