robots. review of the movie by alan haber. buhdge

film buhdge unspooling at a theater near you

"Watching movies at home is, in many ways, preferable to going to the movie theater. It's quiet (no chatty yaketty-yakkers), more comfortable, and the sound is likely to be better (especially if you've got a good sound system). But nothing can replace the big, theater screen experience..." - Alan Haber

Robots (2005) Directed by Chris Wedge; co-directed by Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox When I was a kid, I loved the game Mouse Trap. Well, that's not exactly true; what I loved was the payoff, the building of the trap and letting it rip. The game? Well, not so much. Robots, Ice Age director Chris Wedge's newest foray into the world of computer animation, is a lot like Mouse Trap--it's all payoff and not much of the game, in this case signifying story, plot development and logical, satisfying denouement. Years in the making, the film bristles with invention; there is a wonderful, colorful, visual surprise at every turn of the ratchet, and the jokes are funny and more-than-occasionally truly inspired (including one of the greatest fart jokes ever depicted on screen--talk about payoffs!). In other words, you've got to be paying attention, but in this case it will be at the expense of the story, which, if left bereft of the gags, would be about five or 10 minutes long. In a nutshell, a young robot, who fancies himself as a bit of an inventor, heads off to the big Robot City to meet and hopefully go to work for the head of Bigweld Industries, a very human kind of big boss. Voiced with great glee by Mel Brooks, Bigweld wants to help robots to live better lives, unlike the upstart meanie (Greg Kinnear, having a load of fun) who unseats the plus-sized magnate and runs the company into the ground with the bottom line always in clear sight, and disdain for the robot race in his heart. Kinnear's Ratchet conveniently banishes Bigweld to the big guy's high-tech lair, where he quietly builds the better mousetrap of his dreams out of dominoes. Ratchet is then free to roll out his plan to stop making replacement parts for robots so they will have to upgrade to newer, complete models...at a higher cost. It's Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) and his pals, including the manic Robin Williams (as Rodney's sidekick, Fender), to the rescue. The mission? Rescue Bigweld and restore the company to its former glories. That's the story, plain and simple, and it's interrupted--thankfully--frequently for side-splitting visual and verbal gags that will go right over the heads of the kids in the audience and smack dab into the ears of the adults. It's hard to know, really, what the intended audience for this movie is; at the screening I attended, the kids were really quiet, but the adults laughed and laughed. Go figure. The look of the film is sheer creative genius. The totally retro robots and atmosphere come right out of yesteryear, thanks to the partnership between Wedge and author/illustrator William Joyce, who helped design the visuals. The film is spectacular to look at; repeated viewings will be necessary to soak in all of the prizes in this incredible box of Cracker Jack, so the DVD, with all the inevitable bells and whistles, can't come soon enough. It will also be fun to hear all of the jokes you miss in the theater; thanks to everyone laughing so much, I think I might have missed a few! But for the story, well, I don't think repeated viewings are going to do the trick. Which is a pity. It has been noted elsewhere that in today's animation game, which, like it or not, really means the computer animation game, there is Pixar and everyone else. There's a reason why Pixar has yet to birth a flop: They understand how to make every element of their films work like a charm in tandem with each other. No one seamlessly meshes story with animation as well. And, the way it looks, even drinking from the well that Pixar does won't help. Certainly, Shrek and its sequel were terrific, and even Wedge's first feature, Ice Age, had its moments (some really great ones, actually, but, again, not much story), but none reached the heights that any of Pixar's films have attained. It's probably not fair to compare Pixar to the other studios trying to play at their game, but what can you do? Well, you can start with a story that's, well, crackerjack and design the animation to support it, not the other way around. Even though Robot's voice cast is top-notch all the way, and those gags are the real deal (wait until you're dazzled by the Rube Goldberg-esque trip Rodney and Fender take into Robot City), you're going to feel a bit let down. But don't let that stop you from seeing this movie. It's really incredible; just don't let the story, or lack thereof, get in the way. Alan Haber March 13, 2005
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Robots
(2005)
Directed by Chris Wedge; co-directed by Carlos Saldanha
20th Century Fox

When I was a kid, I loved the game Mouse Trap. Well, that's not exactly true; what I loved was the payoff, the building of the trap and letting it rip. The game? Well, not so much.

Robots, Ice Age director Chris Wedge's newest foray into the world of computer animation, is a lot like Mouse Trap--it's all payoff and not much of the game, in this case signifying story, plot development and logical, satisfying denouement. Years in the making, the film bristles with invention; there is a wonderful, colorful, visual surprise at every turn of the ratchet, and the jokes are funny and more-than-occasionally truly inspired (including one of the greatest fart jokes ever depicted on screen--talk about payoffs!).

In other words, you've got to be paying attention, but in this case it will be at the expense of the story, which, if left bereft of the gags, would be about five or 10 minutes long. In a nutshell, a young robot, who fancies himself as a bit of an inventor, heads off to the big Robot City to meet and hopefully go to work for the head of Bigweld Industries, a very human kind of big boss. Voiced with great glee by Mel Brooks, Bigweld wants to help robots to live better lives, unlike the upstart meanie (Greg Kinnear, having a load of fun) who unseats the plus-sized magnate and runs the company into the ground with the bottom line always in clear sight, and disdain for the robot race in his heart.

Kinnear's Ratchet conveniently banishes Bigweld to the big guy's high-tech lair, where he quietly builds the better mousetrap of his dreams out of dominoes. Ratchet is then free to roll out his plan to stop making replacement parts for robots so they will have to upgrade to newer, complete models...at a higher cost. It's Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) and his pals, including the manic Robin Williams (as Rodney's sidekick, Fender), to the rescue. The mission? Rescue Bigweld and restore the company to its former glories.

That's the story, plain and simple, and it's interrupted--thankfully--frequently for side-splitting visual and verbal gags that will go right over the heads of the kids in the audience and smack dab into the ears of the adults. It's hard to know, really, what the intended audience for this movie is; at the screening I attended, the kids were really quiet, but the adults laughed and laughed. Go figure.

The look of the film is sheer creative genius. The totally retro robots and atmosphere come right out of yesteryear, thanks to the partnership between Wedge and author/illustrator William Joyce, who helped design the visuals. The film is spectacular to look at; repeated viewings will be necessary to soak in all of the prizes in this incredible box of Cracker Jack, so the DVD, with all the inevitable bells and whistles, can't come soon enough. It will also be fun to hear all of the jokes you miss in the theater; thanks to everyone laughing so much, I think I might have missed a few! But for the story, well, I don't think repeated viewings are going to do the trick.

Which is a pity. It has been noted elsewhere that in today's animation game, which, like it or not, really means the computer animation game, there is Pixar and everyone else. There's a reason why Pixar has yet to birth a flop: They understand how to make every element of their films work like a charm in tandem with each other. No one seamlessly meshes story with animation as well. And, the way it looks, even drinking from the well that Pixar does won't help. Certainly, Shrek and its sequel were terrific, and even Wedge's first feature, Ice Age, had its moments (some really great ones, actually, but, again, not much story), but none reached the heights that any of Pixar's films have attained.

It's probably not fair to compare Pixar to the other studios trying to play at their game, but what can you do? Well, you can start with a story that's, well, crackerjack and design the animation to support it, not the other way around. Even though Robot's voice cast is top-notch all the way, and those gags are the real deal (wait until you're dazzled by the Rube Goldberg-esque trip Rodney and Fender take into Robot City), you're going to feel a bit let down.

But don't let that stop you from seeing this movie. It's really incredible; just don't let the story, or lack thereof, get in the way.

Alan Haber
March 13, 2005