Movie Review # 537: Robots (2005)

Good morning everyone, and welcome to another session of movie reviewing! Today, we are going to be reviewing an animated film from back in the early to mid-2000s. And not just any animated film, but one of the rare to few animated films that I had at least seen once in theaters, but haven’t seen again all the way through since then (except for watching bits, and pieces of it on TV). Oh, and another thing I should mention is that today’s film was released when 20th Century Fox, and Blue Sky was a newer company, and had released their first animated film, Ice Age back in 2002. So now, released three years after Ice Age, in 2005, let’s discuss 20th Century Fox/Blue Sky’s Robots.

Plot: When a young robot named Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) hears about an inventor named Bigweld (Mel Brooks), leader of a city called Robot City (also called Bigweld Industries), he dreams of growing up to be just like him. So when Rodney makes an invention of his own, and has his chance to do so as a young adult, and even travels to Bigweld Industries, will Rodney become a great, caring, and compassionate inventor just like Bigweld?

Now, I remember first seeing the trailer for Robots on, I believe it was Shark Tale when that film was released just a few months before Robots. After hearing that 20th Century Fox/Blue Sky Studios was releasing their second animated film since Ice Age three years before, I was very excited to see this film. Once I saw it when it got released in March 2005, I definitely remember enjoying it quite a bit. So why I didn’t get it once it came out on video, you got me? Did I find myself liking films such as DreamWorks Madagascar, or Star Wars Episode 3, or films like those more so than Robots? You got me!

So now, it is time for me to analyze this film after finally rewatching it seventeen years later. I will say that watching it again, while I am mostly surprised with the outcome of this film in more good ways than not, I will say that Robots does have a few issues. First of all, some of the humor may be a little too adult for kids, most notably when it comes to this scene where the fart jokes are prevalent. Apparently, seeing as films like this, and Shrek, and some of those films were big into those back then, it should probably come as no surprise that even a film Robots had them. Robots also has some pacing issues at times as well. Like many animated films released around this time frame, and before, Robots had a running time of around 90 minutes. Yes, that did help make this film well-paced in quite a few aspects. Still, the 90-minute running time also seemed to make this film feel a little too rushed at times, particularly when it came to not developing some of the characters as well as they could have. As a result, this makes a couple characters in particular a little bland, and not giving some of the relationships in this film room to blossom as well as they could have been. Now, does that mean that they’re bad characters, the that those underdeveloped relationships are bad? Absolutely not! Still, with one, or two more rewrites on this film, even those aspects could have been a little better. Finally, there’s the designs on some of the characters. Okay, just hear me out for a moment. The quality of animation on the robot characters is for sure decent. Still, the designs of the characters might feel a little bit like something from a kid’s TV show like Roly Poly, or some film like that. Okay, the animation on the characters is far better than in a show like that. It’s just, again, the animation designs on the characters could have improved. Well, hey, at least Fox/Blue Sky Studios seemed to improve even on those aspects with films that would be released in later years like 2008’s Horton Hears A Who, and 2011’s Rio, for instance.

But do those flaws make this film bad? Again, no! There is still plenty to enjoy. First off, even if the story has a few pacing issues here and there, there is still heart to this story. Though some characters may feel underdeveloped, there are many others, like the main characters, that are done really well. Even the villains of this film are great. Yeah, these types of villains may be a little too similar to the ones from say DreamWorks Shrek 2 (which was released the year before), but at least that doesn’t keep us from enjoying these types of villains whenever they’re onscreen. There are also some fairly good character arcs especially near the end. Oh, and that’s another example of how character development could have maybe been tweaked a little more is that some of the character arcs, though good, could have maybe felt a little more satisfying. They were still good, but could have been done a little better. Anyway, how could you go wrong with voice casting with say Ewan McGregor, Mel Brooks, Halle Berry, Amanda Bynes, and of course Robin Williams to name a few? As for the humor, besides some of the crude humor, there were some really brilliant, and funny moments that were not so crude as well, most notably when it comes to a scene that occurs during the climax of this film. The world building was also fantastic. In fact, it some of it could potentially remind one of say a place like Montressor Spaceport in the 2002 Disney film Treasure Planet, but with everything being on Earth, or whatever kind of planet, or universe this film takes place in. Overall, the way that everything is set up in this world is just creative, and fantastic to look at. The score by John Powell is fantastic as well. As for the soundtrack, though it could feel a little outdated at times, it is still very fun to listen to. Finally, the movie does great with teaching lessons about not giving up, when easy to do so, and to have love, and compassion for others no matter what.

And that’s my review for the 2005 Fox/Blue Sky Studios film, Robots. Well, even if this film may have felt somewhat ahead of it’s time, we should understand that Fox/Blue Sky Studios was newer to the animation industry at the time, and maybe they were trying to get their feet wet so to speak. Well, with Robots only being the studio’s second film, that is probably understandable. And hey, at least the studio came a long way before shutting their doors last year. Well, at least we had films like this, the Ice Age films, Rio, Epic, and films like those. I would say that if you want to see an animated film with plenty of heart, story, and creativity put into it, definitely see Robots. It’s not perfect, and does have a few things that might feel a little outdated. Still, this film is worth checking out for the many fun things that this film does have. Well, again, definitely see it, and see what you think!

Final Grade: B+