Robots (2005) User Reviews (328)

Technically Amazing, laugh-out-loud funny in other parts

[Bartmon · 7/10 · 11 March 2005]

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.

Beatuful Animation

[freemantle_uk · 7/10 · 30 December 2008]

Fox Animation is a poor cousin to Pixar and Dreamworks which dominate the American and European market. Robots however is a good children's film, better then the Ice Age franchise which Fox keeps trying to push.

The plot of Robots is focused on Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor), who has ambitions to become an inventor. He leaves his small town to live in Robot City. He wants for Bigweld (Mel Brooks), a major industrialist who put the people i.e. common robots first. However when Rodney arrives in the city he finds that all is not well, with the evil Ratchet (Greg Kinnear) wanting to stop making spare parts for older robots, and forcing them to get upgrades.

The plot of Robots is clichéd and could be written on the back of a fag packet. They is the normal messages such as follow your dreams, it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside, a pseudo-Nazism from the villains and an anti-big business message (which is ironic considering Fox is a massive company). Adults can pick through the plot, but children won't mind. What makes this film work is the visual effects. They were top-notch and Robots wasn't a cheap cash-in. They were lovely designs, of both the robots and the environment, with Robot City reminding me of Metropolis. As well, the film also remembered me a little of Shrek 2 when they arrived in Far Far Away. They are good visual and verbal gags, with pop-culture reference which will make you smile. However, with some of the gags during the final fight scene weren't needed. There are also a couple of sex jokes which parents may not agree with. I personally thought Greg Kinnear was the best performance in the film and has some of the best lines. Ewan McGregor offered a perfect American accent, whilst Mel Brooks was perfectly casted as Bigweld. Amanda Byres was decent as a teenage robots, but Robin Williams was a bit over the top for my liking and Halle Berry may as well not bother to show up and any woman could have done her role.

7.5 out of 10.

"Why be you when you can be new."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 30 May 2007]

I guess one of the advantages of having a two year old grandson is getting to watch movies I wouldn't ordinarily consider viewing. That happened today with "Robots", and it wasn't altogether a bad experience, particularly in light of some of the reviews on this site bashing the film. Those claiming it's the worst they've ever seen, I'm convinced, haven't seen more than a couple years worth of new releases. Try watching a couple thousand for some perspective and you'll find that this is about average for story telling, and much better for animated visual effects. Now I'm not speaking from the perspective of having seen all of the great animated features of the last ten years or so, because I haven't. But there's a lesson here, a theme done dozens of times before in film, whether it's called old vs. new, young vs. old, or spare parts vs. upgrades. If you can't tell, I fall on the side of good old fashioned conventional values, because ultimately, character counts. And to show you I can put my money where my mouth is, I once worked for a company with a Ratchet for it's President - I left.

Best sequence of the story - the Rube Goldberg ride into Robot City.

The best visual gag - the 'got screwed' panhandler.

The best play on words - the fusion of jazz and funk = junk!

Watch and have fun with a two year old!

Planet of the Robots

[Chrysanthepop · 7 December 2007]

'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.

Stupendous visuals only barely make up for a forgettable story and characters

[zetes · 7/10 · 14 March 2005]

The first 2005 film I've seen, and, really, it's the only one released so far this year that I have had even the littlest desire to see at the theater. It was worth seeing, but it's forgettable. The visuals are absolutely eye-popping. The film's best sequence is a Rube Goldberg-esque public transportation system across town. I think if that had gone on for 90 minutes, we would have had some kind of masterpiece on our hands. Instead, we get a dull story of a group of nearly outmoded robots rebelling against an evil company that is no longer building spare parts. The head of that company used to be all for the common folk, but he's disappeared and left a despot in his place. The underground area, where they melt scrap, is really cool, and reminded me of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Madame Gasket, who rules this part of the city, was the most interestingly designed character. Robin Williams is very annoying, but, to his credit, he is playing a character here, not just himself. I wasn't thinking "Man, is Robin Williams annoying," but rather, "Man, that character Robin Williams is playing is annoying." I doubt that could be taken as much of a compliment, though. All of the other main characters are especially forgettable, especially Halle Berry's character, who is supposedly the female lead. I think most of the audiences wanted the protagonist to end up with the second female lead, who is a tad more interesting. And I think the filmmakers realized this, too, because the hero only barely ends up with Berry at the end. The movie is also in need of laughs. I chuckled a bit, but that was all. The funniest moment is the robot who does the robot dance. As much as I can complain, though, I would still highly recommend (renting) it for the visuals alone.

Original and visually stunning!

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 7/10 · 1 September 2007]

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

Not a lot of feeling

[donricodelavega · 6/10 · 5 April 2005]

I'm an animator and I can appreciate the work that went into this film. Its visually interesting, but at the same time cluttered. So from a technical stand point it had its pros. Overall the story was mildly interesting. It started out really slow and I wasn't sure whether I would be able to get through the whole movie. But it did pick up a little bit as the movie went on. Now for the major negative points.

• There are too many characters. The supporting cast is numerous and uninteresting. It comes off as if the art department designed a bunch of robots first then decided they didn't want to give up any of the designs.

• The characters personalities are kind of flat. Even the main characters don't really invoke an emotional connection. The secondary characters are just robots that happen to talk once and a while.

• I don't know what is with the trend to put in popular music into animated pictures but it just seems so off when you are watching in. When the story is progressing and then a bunch of characters break out into a dance routine set to a Britney Spears song its like someone suddenly turned on another TV in the room. And this kind of thing happens numerous times. Its even noticeable in the fight sequences and some others which appear to be designed to show funky and interesting animation rather than advance or even fit into the story.

Bottom line, Blue Sky Studios did a much better job on Ice Age. Just like PDI did a much better job on Shrek compared to Shark's Tale (Which was garbage). They just need to get some people involved who can trim the fat of the story and keep people who think they are directing a music video out of the editing room.

Fun, exciting and very funny.

[Mightyzebra · 7/10 · 17 September 2008]

For me, the thing that pretty much makes this CGI film is Robin Williams voicing a robot called Fender and Wonderbot. These two characters engaged me the whole way, as they are funny, (in the case of Fender), cute (in the case of Wonderbot) and interesting. The rest of the film is perfectly all right, in between brilliant and mediocre. The animation, for me, is probably the third best part of the film, especially the CGI backgrounds with the immense detail. Of course, I liked everything else about this film, apart from the fact that there was quite a deal of evil in this film and some parts of the film are a little bit cliché.

In this film set in a robot world with robot characters, a young robot called Rodney Copperbottom stars as the main character and he wants to be an inventor, so he can show his invention/s to a famous robot called Bigweld, who appears on the TV. When Rodney is old enough to go to Robot City to show Bigweld his invention, he sets off, with his invention, Wonderbot. Rodney finds pleasant and unpleasant surprises in Robot City and an adventure begins...

Overall, this is worth a watch for children aged around 7 and above and for anyone else who enjoys good animated films. Enjoy "Robots"! :-)

7 and a half out of ten.

Good Animated Film!

[g-bodyl · 8/10 · 12 October 2010]

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.

An under-seen gem that shines despite a formulaic story

[brchthethird · 7/10 · 13 November 2014]

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.

Robot City: Impressive to look at... not so much to live in...

[misterembryo · 4/10 · 13 March 2005]

"Robots" is the latest computer animated feature film from the creators of Ice Age. Like many films of the same genre, "Robots" offers a new artistic style and a large cast of voice talents, all of which would make pretty entertaining guests on any episode of Saturday Night Live... However "Robots" is more of a sight to see than a movie-going experience to fully enjoy.

Rodney (Ewen McGregor, Big Fish)is a robot born (or built rather) to become an inventor. Just like his idol Big Weld (Mel Brooks) encourages, Rodney believes anyone can shine no matter what you're made of. This credo is put to the ultimate test when Rodney leaves home to Robot City in hopes to get employed in Big Weld's big corporation as an inventor. Rodney learns the hard way how tough Robot City can be for the average robot... especially under new management where management entails getting rid of outdated robots and reducing them to scrap metal. With the help of a rusty robot crew including Robin Williams and Amanda Bynes, Rodney will go on an adventure to turn Robot City into the dream he's always imagined it to be.

As you can tell, "Robots" is a movie with heart, what do you expect for a movie targeted for a family audience. It also had some funny moments, and, as expected, were mostly contributed to Robin's robot character. There were also little details that achieved good laughs... Robot City wouldn't be complete without a robot doing the robot. Again the art in "Robots" also deserves credit using darker color schemes which allowed for a better feel for the robot world. The design of the city was also impressive: intricate modes of transportation, the ability to carry a conversation with a traffic light, and a walking mailbox that knows you by name...

However its kind of like a new President addressing the United States... he may look nice, brand new suit with hair combed nicely, and he may have a good message. But the message is only as good as its delivery. This is probably a bad analogy, but if "Robots" and "Monsters, Inc" ran for president it would be a landslide victory for the Pixar party.

I compare the two movies with good reason. Both movies offer completely new worlds: a robot world and a monster world. Both movies feature major cities that rely its existence heavily on the production of a major corporation, Big Weld for Robot City and Monsters, Inc. for Monstropolis. There's just one major difference: Monstropolis makes sense and Robot City doesn't.

You might wonder why should it make sense, it's fake? Any Joe Schmoe from the street tripping on acid can make a movie about some make-believe world, but its an even heavier task to make a world where things not only make sense, but are also necessary for the world to be plausible. Monstropolis works: both the city itself as well as the things that went on in the made up city. With Robot City there are too many questions: Why?! How?! What the hell was that for?! Who?! I refer my Who question to Halle Berry's character who is top-billed and forced to be integral to the plot, yet only has about 4-5 lines throughout the whole movie.

I give it a 4 out of 10 because I'm midway with this movie. It looked cool but it wasn't. Like a beautiful girl with no personality. It can be really funny, but other times it tries a bit hard. What Robots lacked was ironically originality. Even Robin Williams' character was a bit reminiscent of the Genie from Aladdin without the comedic usefulness of shapeshifting. It was a good attempt, but ultimately "Robots" is sadly recycled scrap metal.

*much* better than I was led to believe

[timmyp3 · 8/10 · 18 April 2006]

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.

Was a lot better than expected!

[vithiet · 7/10 · 2 April 2022]

I remember back when it came out the less than glorious reviews kept me from watching it. For sure it's not on par with any Pixar movie, especially the story, but I found it quite entertaining and even had a few good laughs along the way. Kids will like it and adults can enjoy it too; I regret not watching it sooner. Also RIP Robin Williams...

Not "Incredible" if you catch my drift...

[Epocalypse · 3/10 · 18 March 2005]

It is a fact that CGI film is an It-list item in Hollywood but that doesn't mean that every one that comes out is a good movie. Unfortunately for the thousands who have already seen this no one really warned them beforehand. This movie just doesn't have the writing to compare to Pixar or the Social Intelligence of Dreamworks to make it memorable or even good. It is a children's film, and the children will enjoy it, however, it is not enjoyable for a moment in story or humor or even acting for the older set, who , spoiled by the amazingly adult stories of Pixar and the snuck in tongue in cheek social and entertainment humor in Dreamworks.

The animation is good, not great, but good. Paralleled to roughly the level of the original Shrek, it still seems very sugar coated. It lacks the break through that Pixar brings on a yearly basis, and the likable pseudo realism of Dream work, but still, it cannot be called bad, and unfortunately, this is the films only redeeming factor.

The characters are idiotically typecast, and Robin Williams is stuck playing Genie, but without the magical power an flexibility that made the character and the movie in Alladin. HE, and almost all the cast are forced time and time again to result to levels of toilet humor (which, since the cast are all robots, makes an even lesser level of sense) and culture references already years behind (characters are seen singing hit me maybe one more time, one of the more painfully memorable pop songs of the turn of the century, during the climax, no less).

It makes an effort to be everything, pixar and dreamworks wrapped into one package, with everything from two original songs, one of them a concluding number, and the fantastical world of pixars films, but falls so dismally Short that one cannot help but see th e movie as even worse by comparison.

Avoid it unless the kids need to be distracted for a couple of hours.

Or by The Incredibles DVD instead.

Great animated film, adults will enjoy this one

[robbarks · 5 March 2005]

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.

The plot rings as hollow as the robots themselves

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 5 February 2010]

Robots is a pretty good film that will probably keep your kids occupied and entertained, at least the first time they watch it. It's a fairly entertaining light family film with some good moments and just enough comedy to hold your attention, even if much of that comedy involves Robin Williams doing jokes that seem like hold-over material from the TV show "Mork & Mindy". But then your kids aren't old enough to know what that show is, so they won't be aware of the recycling.

What this film really did for me was make me appreciate Pixar more. Unlike the maker of Robots and other high-tech CGI films, Pixar starts out with a solid story idea and then develops the CGI and the gags to support that idea. Technology has gotten to the point where dazzling effects are easier to do and cheaper than ever and filmmakers are forgetting that audiences ultimately want to see an interesting story, not a dog-and-pony show of the latest in graphics effects with a storyline that has the complexity of a 1930's serial thrown in to hold it all together. So, if you have small children, it might be worthwhile. If you are an adult, however, I think you'll be somewhat bored.

The Price of Automation!

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 11 January 2017]

I find it hard to be too hard on animated films. There is generally a creative idea that springs into action and the results are what then fits the mold. It's a "what if" thing. Obviously, many non-animated films also start with this premise, but here we can create whatever visual world we want. The sky's the limit. Here, we have a world of robots, who lead lives like humans, but who have different shapes and sizes and functions. They integrate into this world and do their thing. Some have hopes and dreams. Rodney Copperbottom is a dreamer and an inventor. He wants his inventions to be noticed, so he packs his things and heads off to find his hero, Mr. Bigweld, who holds the future of enterprising robots in his hands (are they really hands?). He arrives, but the big boss is nowhere to be found. He engages the help of a collection of outcast robots, one voiced by the late Robin Williams, to go on a quest for information. This is a nice movie with no great pretensions.

Funny animation movie for all ages

[GreyHawkXY · 7/10 · 22 July 2006]

I expected an average animation movie, since I had not heard any clamor about this one, and most critics gave it not-so-great ratings .. But, in just the first few moments, I was surprised and felt exhilarated for having found a little gem with funny and smart dialog and awe-inspiring moments depicting how a robotic life could be ..

The plot is predictable, somewhat stereo-type one: "The young boy with great ideals arrives at the town; where an evil, money-worshiping company boss makes the life misery for town-folks, sucking every penny they got .. The boy helps them, which infuriates the boss, and later on with the help of towns people, stands up against the evil, wins the day, and everyone becomes happy" But you still cannot expect a "Fight Club" like of plot and ending in a PG rating animation, can you ?? ..

So, the quality here lies in the small events and surprises .. The way the robots have a haircut and massage, eat at a diner, feed toy-like pigeons in the park, transport around the city .. Just watching the environment inspires you .. Not one of the scenes, is unnecessary or dumb in this animation .. Every event related with the story has a purpose and may not be taken from the whole .. Mind you, this is a 90 minutes animation .. There is lot to watch here ..

The movie is for all ages, that's for sure .. That is not a movie that you must force yourself to watch till the end, just to be near your child at the theater .. It has attractive factors for everyone .. The dialog is really smart in several scenes, and I doubt these are intended for 4 year olds (Alas the rating is not G) ..

The animation may not be top-notch .. I must admit, it is a little more straightforward to create 3D animation with vehicles, robots and futuristic cities, rather than human faces and mimics, and organic matter .. But still the quality is there - that's not a low-budget-movie .. I especially liked the sound effects - the cute sounds which the flying invention of Rodney (the Hero) makes ..

The movie may not be memorable as the likes of 'Finding Nemo' or cannot compete with the dialog of the 2D Disney movies of late 90s - early 2Ks in 'wittiness' level .. But this is a movie, that all animation fans and archivers (like me) should watch - and make space for a new DVD ..

An Enjoyable film

[Fmobley2746 · 7/10 · 6 July 2010]

OK so first thing's first, this movie is forgettable. The only time I remember this movie is when I run across it like I did here on IMDb.

With that said, even though it is forgettable, it was a good movie. I remember going to see it in theaters with my cousin. We both enjoyed it. Now I was about 11 or 12 years old when we saw it the first time but since then I have rewatched it. I thought it was a solid film that kept me entertained. In fact I recommend that you see this film if you haven't already. The reason I recommend the film is because it is so different from other animated films if i do say so myself. The art style, the music, the story, it was all original.

So yeah, it was a cool movie. I don't recall any negative things (besides that it moves really slow in a few parts of the film).

Tons Of Gags & A Good Message

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 25 January 2006]

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!

Needed A Few Upgrades

[oscarhopkins · 6/10 · 3 October 2005]

The trend in animation these days, it seems, is to utterly ignore the failures of George Lucas. Character and story flutter helplessly behind the brazen will of visual splendor. That said, visuals in this film are excellent. The inventive scenes involving travel or contraptions are without parallel. The inspiration for individual portions of this film should have carried to whole project, but....well, the frame was too unstable.

Movies are, after all, like skeletons; every piece must fit into the other for the item to move smoothly. this is not so with Robots. the voice acting is excellent, the designs are great, and many of the jokes are very charming (though I could have done without the "fart jokes"). This film has been compared to "Shark Tale," Dreamworks' other recent failure, but Robots comes far, far closer to the prize. Here's where it falls short:

This is an ensemble picture. There are many lovable and unique characters in it for us to meet and identify with. Trouble is, we never meet them. They run past, tap dancing and smiling, but never sit still long enough for us to identify them, let alone identify with them. Near the close of the film, one of the robots makes an uncharacteristic stride into heroism, and only my experience as a film-goer allowed me to see that it was uncharacteristic. I felt as if i'd hardly even known him before, so the change seemed unimpressive. And if I barely caught it, you can be sure it was mostly lost on kids.

Many of the characters we do really meet and get to know a little are snatched from us without explanation. Halle Berry's character, Cappy, shows no individuality at all, save her resistance to Ratchet (black hat) and her attempt to side with Rodney (white hat). I mean, really--are we supposed to like her because she's shiny? I thought this picture was about the beauty of the Rusties; the true nature of oneness is society. Everyone in the film seems to lose perspective without any motivation at all, from Bigweld (on whom the whole plot turns, yet whose actions seem at best vague) to Madame Gasket, whose dastardly scheming seems without cause altogether.

We see here the fumbling that happens when great, talented animators refuse to work their storyboards to perfection and coherency. The heathens in society say that animation is only for kids, and I despise that argument, but even if that were true, one thing is indisputable:

Kids deserve better.

Didn't hit any high notes

[aeasmmikey · 2/10 · 14 March 2005]

Sorry, I may be one dissenting voice -- but this movie just did nothing for me and my family. Nary a funny line or bit, and not a single character to root for. Stale plot, script was totally unimaginative. Kids were fidgeting all around us. The opening sequence on the "crosstown express" held our interest, but it was downhill from there. Please explain why they needed Ewan McGregor and Halle Berry for these roles -- two actors with non-distinctive voices--those characters could've been voiced by ANYBODY. Robin Williams added not a thing to the cast. The crew of Robots were a confusing mess of voices that were hard to keep straight. Our rating: 2/10

The message makes the movie

[ingemar-4 · 9/10 · 18 July 2006]

Of all computer-animated movies (except possibility Tron) this is my favorite. Like most others, it is pretty, with a simple, child-friendly plot, some action, and cheesy dialog. But "Robots" shines like no other on one point: the message it delivers. It all comes down to the message "you can do it". I'll try to break it down to sub-messages:

• You can shine no matter what you're made of. This is a blow at the horrible "remake" trend. You are just fine the way you are!

• Be persistent, try again, don't give up your dreams!

• The expectations and encouragement of our parents is the key to the persistentness.

and the list is completed by

• Technology is fun! Creativeness is fun!

Even the problem of making good young heroes is perfectly made. The youth of Rodney doesn't require the old-timers to be idiots (like in some low-quality scripts), young and old need each other.

All this is well packaged in a way that makes sense. The robot world resembles the monster world in "Monsters Inc", but with the added logic of mechanical creatures who can replace parts of themselves as they like.

Speaking of technology, in many media I often perceive messages that math and technology are boring and tedious. Even Sudoku is defensively presented as "not math". In this movie, technology, physics and mechanics in particular, are good and fun things. Experiment! Invent! That's what I like my kinds to hear, not that learning is hard and best avoided.

The music is very amusing, from Tom Waite's "Underground" to James Brown's "Get up offa that thing" in the fun ending.

On the negative side, the ending fight is cheesy and boring, but I know, the kids don't agree with me. Anyway, I do *not* like the idea that a bad guy should be melted down in an oven. That is cheap revengeful blood-thirst, that shouldn't have been in a fine movie like this.

It disturbs me a little bit that the female characters are (as so often) fewer than the male ones, but at least we get two strong and resourceful women plus a female bad guy, so it doesn't fail completely.

So it loses a point for the fight, but otherwise, this is the best computer animated movie, even better than Pixar's, and a lot better than the tedious and hollow "Ice Age" movies. If you care about what messages your kids get from movies, this is the movie to show them!

Certainly good – it just lacks that little something 'extra'

[Flagrant-Baronessa · 7/10 · 27 September 2006]

While Disney and its child Pixar Studios focus on family morals and heartfelt messages in their films (Finding Nemo) and Dreamworks focus on meticulous animation (Shrek I & II), Blue Skye Studios (Ice Age) shifts their focus onto humor – big doses of humor. There is a kind of rewarding simplicity in an approach like that, and it translates well in its animated features, Ice Age most of all. In their most recent installment Robots (2005), some of the humour is lost and instead replaced by wide-ranging gallery of big shot actors like Mel Brooks, Robin Williams, Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent and Drew Carey to name a few. The result is a good, albeit forgettable film.

We follow Rodney Copperbottom (voiced by Ewan McGregor) – a young, idealist robot – who migrates to big Robot City in hopes to become an inventor to save his father from getting scrapped. When he reaches the city, he is met by a new management of the manufacture company in town that has stopped making spare parts, focusing on costly "upgrades", relegating the average bot like Rodney's father to reduced scrap at the chop-factory. Rodney decides to help.

Plot outline aside, it is clear from the detailed setting of the film that Blue Skye has done something really cool here – they have created a mechanical world solely of robots and suffice to say that it sucks you in. It indulges in the meticulous mechanism that this world offers – such as Robots doing the Robot-dance (one of the most strikingly hilarious moments in the film), all the while commenting on the materialism of our own world through the manufacture factory device. It's about consumerism and companies constantly on the edge, pushing for new material concept and leaving 'dated' material behind, thereby pinning the people (or robots) somewhere in between and wondering in which direction to go.

What else is commendable is that Robots rarely suffers the pitfalls of sentimental cheese á la Disney/Pixar studios when the characters have their heartfelt moments. There are in fact very few of these because the film is simply too busy navigating the fun world of robots, swooping fast-paced down to extreme technological devices and chase-scenes such as the roller-coaster ride that takes Rodney to Robot City. It's having fun, and it makes no pretense about it. The animation greatly distinguishes itself from Dreamworks where it's fluent, sleek and beautiful (Shrek I & II) – here it is rusty, awkward and mechanical and it all fits perfectly.

However, what it most enjoyable about the film is not its environment or animation, but its surprising number of GOOD sing-and-dance numbers. Who would have thought that Robin Williams (whose comedic presence comes through his character) spoofing a Britney Spears song could be so funny? Other than Britney, the film is evenly peppered with pop-cultures references. The beloved dodo bird from Ice Age gets a blatant homage at one point. Star Wars: Attack of the Clones at another point, when Fender (Robin Williams) does his best C-3PO impression at a hellish chop-factory similar to the one in the Star Wars movie ("Machines making machines."). In this way, there is certainly a lot that adults can enjoy and laugh at, leaving the fart jokes for the kids.

I am pressed to find something that I DIDN'T like about the film. Ultimately, it just does not come close to the comedic brilliance of Ice Age. It lacks the heart of Disney. It lacks the beautiful animation of Dreamworks. So the very things that made it a good film in the first place also makes it forgettable.

7 out of 10

It Takes More Than Big Stars

[bobc007 · 2/10 · 17 March 2005]

I was completely unimpressed with "Ice Age". But I thought I'd give these folks a second chance with "Robots". They have labored under the notion that if they have a big name cast voicing the characters, that will be all they need. As a result, the story is at best weak, and the characters are completely uninteresting. There is nothing here to endear you to anyone in this movie. Other than "Rodney Copperbottom" I can't remember any other characters's names. They are all completely forgettable. Literally! I don't expect every computer animated movie to be a Pixar quality event, but this is pretty dreadful. This movie violates the number one rule of movie-making: don't be boring. This is boring!