You'll take a shine
to Robots
By Casey Cavalier
Staff Writer
In Robot City, a battle between old and new is
getting heated. Spare parts for old-school bots
like Fender, voiced by Robin Williams, have been
taken out of production.
Upgrades are forced upon the population by Ratchet
(Greg Kinnear) and his scheming mother, Madame
Gasket (Jim Broadbent). They intend to line their
robotic pockets by dominating the upgrade trade.
They turn scrappy robots that can’t afford
upgrades into outmodes by sending them to the
“chop shop.”
Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor), Piper Pinwheeler
(Amanda Bynes), Crank (Drew Carey), and their
posse of metallic friends are on a mission to
return Robot City to its pre-Ratchet state. They
receive stealth assistance from Cappy, a lovely
bot voiced by Halle Berry.
Their future looked brighter when the benevolent
Bigweld (Mel Brooks) was in charge, just before
Rodney moved to Robot City to pursue his career
as an inventor.
Rodney takes a shine to Cappy, and Piper is smitten
with Rodney. The animated feature from directors
Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, creators of Ice
Age, has storylines to suit young and old alike.
Williams keeps the laughs rolling in a predictable
Williams-sort-of-way. He’s funny, but offers
nothing new in the role of Fender. This is classic
Robin Williams.
McGregor, Kinnear, Carey, Brooks, and Berry bring
dimension to their characters but nobody stands
out in an animated ensemble cast.
If you need a challenge, listen for the voices
of Jay Leno, Paul Giamatti, James Earl Jones,
Terry Bradshaw and Al Roker. They join the cast
of Robots along with Stanley Tucci and
Diane Wiest, who play Rodney’s parents.
Robots surrounds exceptionally designed
characters with a multidimensional visionary landscape.
Production Designer William Joyce has painted
the film with a thoughtful futuristic/retro style.
Though not revolutionary, Robots is
layered with enough entertainment to keep your
laugh-o-meter at about half-staff, or more, for
a solid 90-minutes. |
