Robots

Robots is the latest in a string of animated movies coming from the prolific Dreamworks studios. Directed by the same people who brought you Ice Age, Robots eschews sloths and mammoths in favour of metal and gears.

Starring Ewan McGregor as the voice of Rodney Copperbottom, Robots is ultimately the tale of a young robot seeking his way in the world, following his dreams, and saving everyone else in the process.

The opening pan establishes robot-world as much like ours, with dogs, children, and barbers. Sight gags abound in this sequence, reminiscent of Dreamworks' previous money-spinner Shark Tale, though in Robots you need to pay more attention to spot them all.

Rodney Copperbottom is born to a couple of frankly lower class robots in a small town. His father is a mere dish washer who once dreamed of being a musician, and his mother is, well, apparently a house-robot. We never learn of Mrs Copperbottom's aspirations, dreams, or in fact purpose other than her merely being Rodney's mother. As Rodney grows (through a sequence of "parts upgrades" of course) he finds inspiration in the TV shows broadcast by Big Weld (Mel Brooks) - the robot-world's foremost inventor and businessman. Er, businessbot.

Despite being made of metal, robots are seemingly little different to humans. They dream, they invent, they eat, drink, and make farting noises under their arms. Being a small-town boy Rodney aches for the wonders of Robot City - where, of course, all the best robots hang out and Big Weld's corporation is a buzzing hive of robot invention. Thus Rodney makes his way to Robot City and discovers that Big Weld has been ousted. No longer the welcoming open gates of Big Weld Industries. Worse still, Big Weld is missing, and the corporation in the hands of dastardly Ratchett (Greg Kinnear). Rodney, and his band of misfit chums - including Robin Williams' Fender ("used to be Bumper but I had to change it when my family moved into this country") - set off to rescue Big Weld and save the "outmodes" (old robots) from recycling.

Robots is technically excellent. The animation is great and the level of detail is well judged - there's enough to keep you interested playing spot the gag, without overwhelming the story. The voice casting is varied, however. McGregor does solid if unexciting work as Copperbottom, whereas Halle Berry does very little with Cappy and we can be thankful that she only has a few lines of actual dialogue in the entire 92 minute run. Brooks is seemingly the most appropriate piece of voice casting in Robots, with Big Weld coming across exactly how you'd imagine a hugely obese yet kindly old uncle (albeit a robot uncle) figure to be.

Many will tell you that Williams' Fender is the runaway star of this movie, which is only partly true. Fender is Williams in metal in much the same way Oscar was Wil Smith in fish form, but it's a tired sounding Williams, going through the motions rather than investing his trademark zaniness into the character. The routine is uneven, often lacks spark, regularly lacks wit, and truly is far from his best work. It's almost as if he truly had little enthusiasm for most of the project. Having said that, occasionally Fender's sequences are far and away among the high points of the entire movie - the oft-quoted "afradium" scene, and the gate crashing of the Big Weld Ball among them.

The movie is peppered with slapstick and fast action, much of which fails to score. A long sequence revolving around Copperbottom's foot - and subsequent removals of Fender's limbs - falls completely flat, and the same can be said of much of the Big Weld big chase sequence near the end. The only action set piece that truly works is the big ass-whoopin' climax which is thrilling, genuinely funny, and - despite being littered with references to other movies - thoroughly enjoyable for all ages.

But this is really an exception in Robots. The gags miss far more than they hit, the action fails to score more often than it entices, and the actors signed on are clearly there for name recognition rather than actual ability or compatibility. Whilst avoiding the pop-reference overload of Shark Tale, Robots fails to really invest in its characters. Because of this, Robots becomes a movie about Williams' routine, and about the sight gags, not a movie about people, er robots, that we actually care anything for. Where we cared for Pixar's Nemo, Boo, and Woody, as actual people, we find Rodney, Cappy, and the rest to be little more than objects used to move the plot along.

Perhaps this is appropriate for a movie called Robots - in that even the main characters are merely props - but it makes for a largely wasted opportunity and a movie that is instantly forgettable and bland. One can only hope that Dreamworks invests their upcoming Madagascar and Ice Age 2 with character and charm - the two things that are largely absent from Robots - rather than simply money - which appears to be available in abundance.

4.5 / 10