ROBOTS A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
All 3-D animated movies are not created equal. ROBOTS, not from Pixar, has some nicely drawn characters using a strangely muted color scheme that gives the movie a rather dull look. Its script is similarly uninspired. And, although a lot of well known actors, including Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Greg Kinnear, Mel Brooks, Drew Carey and Amanda Bynes, signed up to do the voices, they all come across as lifeless. Only Robin Williams, doing his usual schtick, is the least bit memorable.
The robots live in a zany, wacky world in which their transportation system is a cross between a Rube Goldberg device and an amusement park ride.
The plot involves an evil businessman named Phineas T. Ratchet (voiced by Kinnear) who has taken over the robot works from the benevolent Big Weld (voiced by Brooks). Scrapping all spare parts in favor of the exclusive use of expensive upgrades is how Ratchet expects them to make the big dough. "Let's get down to the big business of sucking every last nickel out of Mr. and Mrs. Knucklehead," Ratchet tells his docile board of directors. I love it when Hollywood pokes fun at businesses trying to make a profit, as if that were ipso facto evil and as if Hollywood itself weren't trying its best to squeeze every last nickel out of viewers with product tie-ins and every manner possible of making money off of their films.
After ripping off movies from THE WIZARD OF OZ to STAR WARS, ROBOTS finally grinds to a halt after 82 sometimes tedious minutes. Have I mentioned yet that this wasn't done by Pixar?
ROBOTS runs a little long even at just 1:23. It is rated PG for "some brief language and suggestive humor" and would be acceptable for all ages.
The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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