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The metal Pinnochio
29 October 2005
Robots is an amusing flick from Pixar that is a beautiful showcase of computer animation and effects. As a story line, it's pretty simple - one of those gooey Disney-style "be good, fight for your dreams, live happily ever after" moral efforts, a line not significantly improved since the simplistic Medieval morality plays. It's not a subtle message, more a bludgeon, and it's often a bit wearying.
The main character is a kind of Pinnochio, a robot whiz kid who leaves home to pursue his dream in what is basically a meld of Sin City and Oz. There he has to go through the rites of passage, beat the evil robots, save the day and win the girl, pretty much in that order. Of course since this is a children's movie, it's not about sex, or even romance, and the violence is pretty low level, a bit like the old Roadrunner cartoons where no one really, permanently gets hurt.
The plot line is linear, and never veers from the expected action-consequence-reaction formula. But that's okay, the producers have stuffed so many amusing things on the screen that you hardly notice the dullness of the writing. You're too busy looking at all the silly, entertaining, imaginative stuff going on in front of you. There are some truly astounding scenes, with ingenious, Rube Goldberg-like action sequences that will have you gaping and chuckling.
The voice acting is okay - Robin Williams helps give the movie a comic flare none of the other actors provide. None of the others are memorable, but they all give acceptable performances.
The humour is, well, sophmoric, at times. The fart scene, for example, will have you giggling just as it did in Blazing Saddles. Otherwise it's a lot of sight gags, because the script is only passably humourous and the dialogue is at best fair. Yes, there are some good moments in the writing, but not many.
This isn't Ice Age - which was a very witty, dry and funny animated film (Ice Age 2 is coming and I dread it like I dread most sequels, cince the first film was so good...). Robots is fun, but wouldn't hold up to repeated viewings like Ice Age. But it is entertaining and an amusing way to spend 90 minutes or so.
The main character is a kind of Pinnochio, a robot whiz kid who leaves home to pursue his dream in what is basically a meld of Sin City and Oz. There he has to go through the rites of passage, beat the evil robots, save the day and win the girl, pretty much in that order. Of course since this is a children's movie, it's not about sex, or even romance, and the violence is pretty low level, a bit like the old Roadrunner cartoons where no one really, permanently gets hurt.
The plot line is linear, and never veers from the expected action-consequence-reaction formula. But that's okay, the producers have stuffed so many amusing things on the screen that you hardly notice the dullness of the writing. You're too busy looking at all the silly, entertaining, imaginative stuff going on in front of you. There are some truly astounding scenes, with ingenious, Rube Goldberg-like action sequences that will have you gaping and chuckling.
The voice acting is okay - Robin Williams helps give the movie a comic flare none of the other actors provide. None of the others are memorable, but they all give acceptable performances.
The humour is, well, sophmoric, at times. The fart scene, for example, will have you giggling just as it did in Blazing Saddles. Otherwise it's a lot of sight gags, because the script is only passably humourous and the dialogue is at best fair. Yes, there are some good moments in the writing, but not many.
This isn't Ice Age - which was a very witty, dry and funny animated film (Ice Age 2 is coming and I dread it like I dread most sequels, cince the first film was so good...). Robots is fun, but wouldn't hold up to repeated viewings like Ice Age. But it is entertaining and an amusing way to spend 90 minutes or so.
