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.
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.