2nd April, 2005

"The movie does see a return to comedic form for Robin Williams - Fender is truly a delight - and the creators have obviously have had plenty of fun designing the details of Robot City and its often bizarre denizens."

DAVID ADAMS

Robots (G)

It’s a story about accepting people for who they are and not who you wish them to be; about the joys the diversity of humanity has to offer us; and, about taking risks to find your path in life. Oh, and Robots is a lot of fun too! The latest animated feature from Blue Sky Studios - the team behind Ice Age - centres on the life of Rodney Copperbottom (voiced by Ewan McGregor), a small town robot who dreams of making a big difference with his inventions and who sets off for Robot City to meet his hero, entrepreneur Bigweld (Mel Brooks) and launch his new life. But all is not what it seems in Robot City and Bigweld has gone into retirement, replaced by a newer, sharper-looking model named Rachet (Greg Kinnear) who along with his drippingly evil mother Madame Gasket (actually voiced by a bloke - Jim Broadbent!) is planning to do away with all obsolete models and ‘upgrade’ the world. Rodney meets some rather odd friends - including the hilarious Fender (Robin Williams) - and together they decide to put a stop to Rachet’s plans. The characters perhaps aren’t as engaging as some we’ve already met - Finding Nemo and Shrek set high benchmarks - but the story rolls along at a cracking pace and is full of delightfully silly asides aimed at both kids and adults as well as some darker moments after which, yes - you guessed it - good ultimately triumphs over evil. The movie does see a return to comedic form for Robin Williams - Fender is truly a delight - and the creators have obviously have had plenty of fun designing the details of Robot City and its often bizarre denizens (you’ll know what I’m talking about when you see Aunt Fan, for example). A feast for the eyes, Robots is an hour-and-a-half well spent and packs a message worth hearing to boot.