ROBOTS
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: The same team that made ICE AGE tries again
to succeed in the CGI-animation film. But ROBOTS
lacks all the magic of ICE AGE. The film is
entertaining but it is definitely second-rate as
current animated features go. It has some good ideas,
but overall it tanks. Rating: low +1 (-4 to +4) or
5/10
Warning: Minor spoilers follow.
In the competition of computer-animated films there are two giants vying. Pixar pulled ahead when it made FINDING NEMO and Dreamworks responded with the much weaker film SHARK TALE. In third place is Fox Animation Studios. They made ANASTASIA, TITAN A.E., and (their best) ICE AGE. Their latest entry is ROBOTS, so it invites comparison to ICE AGE. Just about any measure makes it seem as if Fox Animation did not understand why their ICE AGE was so good.
ROBOTS takes place in a world very much like our world today but one in which there are no humans and only robots. Robots have evolved to have a society a lot like modern-day America. We follow Rodney Copperbottom (voiced by Ewan McGregor) from the day of his birth until he is a young adult. He wants to be an inventor and a repairer of other robots following the role model he sees on television, the master inventor Bigweld (Mel Brooks). However, when he goes to the metropolis of Robot City to find his fortune he discovers Bigweld's corporation very much rules the world. And these world rulers are backing a policy that there will be no more spare parts and inexpensive repairs for robots. Instead the corporation will back only costly upgrades. The robots who do cannot afford the expensive upgrades are doomed. Disillusioned, Rodney discovers that CEO Ratchet (Greg Kinnear)-- urged on by his evil mother Madame Gasket (Jim Broadbent)--has actually forced Bigweld into an involuntary retirement. Can Rodney reverse this industrial machine?
A script is by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. That is usually good news. They are the authors of films like PARENTHOOD, CITY SLICKERS, A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, and EDTV. But somehow the animation medium seems to have thrown them. On the plus side the script has about four jokes a minute and some hit the mark, but they rely to a great extent on vulgarity and body humor. This film may entertain children, but it may not be what all parents want them to be watching. ICE AGE had almost no body humor. It takes the time to develop the characters so that we get to know and care for them. ROBOTS has a more frenetic pace but very flat characters. The artwork is intricate with a lot of ideas, like a sort of Rube Goldberg transport system, but much less growth of the characters. The Robin Williams jokes are a poor substitute for giving us people/robots the viewer really has affection for. Perhaps it should not make a difference, but the characters of ICE AGE are organic. They are soft and covered with fur. The characters of ROBOTS made of metal. They look like they would clank rather than have the soft feel of flesh.
In ICE AGE the goal of the heroes was to save the life of a lost baby by returning him to his father. In this film the goal is defending the institution of cheap repairs over pricey upgrades. That is what poor robots can afford. But this theme is a trifle abstract for an animated film aimed primarily at children. In ICE AGE the conflict is resolved by the heroes catching up with the child's father and then bidding a reluctant farewell to the child they have come to love. Here the conflict is resolved in a giant fight in which by sheer force the good guys kick the living rivets out of the villains. Force is what triumphs and not human/robot values.
ROBOTS is a film that is very industrial, but one with little light or magic. I rate it a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale or 5/10.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Copyright 2005 Mark R. Leeper
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