Another Netflix movie. I'm actually getting better about watching them sooner after they come in, so we're moving through our (my) queue relatively well. Well, as fast as one can ever move through a 500 movie queue. As a side note, did you know you can max out a Netflix queue? Why, yes, yes you can! Ask me how I know! ;) So, here you go: Robots.
Pretty basic plot, just set with robots. Bright small-town robot comes into the big city hoping to make his fortune and follow his dream. Ends up facing cruel power-hungry dream-squashing industrial giant, making a handful of odd-ball friends, falling in love, and saving the day.
Overall, a common story, but one that can always be retold with new twists, since people love the little guy. No big complaints there. The love story aspect was rather rushed, honestly, and felt a little odd amongst the rest of the story. I dunno, it just didn't seem to fit as well. Everything else was focused on the action and the comedy, and the romance seemed to be glossed over until the very end, like an afterthought.
The other part that bothered me about the writing was the way the comedy was inconsistent. There were some REALLY funny lines, and then there were several minutes spent on fart jokes. That scene definitely dragged a little, but I guess that's because I'm not a 8-year-old boy. Shrek had the similar bouncing around of high and low humor, but it was more broken up than in this movie, so the fart jokes didn't drag sequences on quite so much.
Very nice animation. Not spectacularly beautiful like a Studio Ghibli or a Pixar, but still very detailed and smooth. I liked a lot of the little touches that the designers added in - shop names, similar touches. I always enjoy those little things in animation (like in Wallace & Gromit, for example - little jokes EVERYWHERE!)
The music was more fun than the animation, actually. Well, they had the Blue Man Group helping with the percussion, so it would be fun, wouldn't it? :)
Very good voice talent, for the most part. Robin Williams, let's face it, is practically a cartoon anyways, when he gets going, so he did just fine. Not as good as Aladdin's Genie, but still a good example of his talent. Ewan McGregor had a good, solid guy-next-door sort of voice, a good choice for the main character. Halle Berry was rather a small part as Cappy, the love interest. Pretty nondescript, actually, neither a bad nor a good choice. Not my least favorite voice actress, certainly by far, but it wasn't the greatest use of her talent to be a voice actress. Maybe I'm just being hard, though, since the small part didn't exactly give her much opportunity to shine. Drew Carey was a nice touch as the doom-and-gloom member of the bunch of friends. And Mel Brooks was a surprising voice as Bigweld, the crazy inventor who founded Robot City. Surprising, I think, simply because I don't remember it being advertised. Not surprising in the choice of voice - c'mon, after all his movies, does anyone doubt he can voice a crazy genius?
I think my favorite voices in the movie (even more than Robin Williams) were the villains. Greg Kinnear was a funny touch as the power-hungry-yet-whiny executive Ratchet. Really, any male villain who worries about "oh dear, I'm turning into my mother!" when performing nefarious deeds has some good chances for some fun voice work. And then Jim Broadbent was the insane lord of the Robot City underworld, Madame Gasket. Yes, Madame. He played a female villain. Oh, and what really cracked me up about Jim Broadbent was that the last place I saw him was as the kindly-insane-criminal-mastermind in Hot Fuzz! As Zach commented, maybe he likes the funny-crazy bad guys?
Overall: 3.5 of 5. Likable, but not one of the greatest animated movies I've seen, and yes, I will admit my animation standards are set very high. I won't object to having it on my shelf, but it's more of a less-than-$10 movie than a $15 movie, if you know what I mean.
Overall, a common story, but one that can always be retold with new twists, since people love the little guy. No big complaints there. The love story aspect was rather rushed, honestly, and felt a little odd amongst the rest of the story. I dunno, it just didn't seem to fit as well. Everything else was focused on the action and the comedy, and the romance seemed to be glossed over until the very end, like an afterthought.
The other part that bothered me about the writing was the way the comedy was inconsistent. There were some REALLY funny lines, and then there were several minutes spent on fart jokes. That scene definitely dragged a little, but I guess that's because I'm not a 8-year-old boy. Shrek had the similar bouncing around of high and low humor, but it was more broken up than in this movie, so the fart jokes didn't drag sequences on quite so much.
Very nice animation. Not spectacularly beautiful like a Studio Ghibli or a Pixar, but still very detailed and smooth. I liked a lot of the little touches that the designers added in - shop names, similar touches. I always enjoy those little things in animation (like in Wallace & Gromit, for example - little jokes EVERYWHERE!)
The music was more fun than the animation, actually. Well, they had the Blue Man Group helping with the percussion, so it would be fun, wouldn't it? :)
Very good voice talent, for the most part. Robin Williams, let's face it, is practically a cartoon anyways, when he gets going, so he did just fine. Not as good as Aladdin's Genie, but still a good example of his talent. Ewan McGregor had a good, solid guy-next-door sort of voice, a good choice for the main character. Halle Berry was rather a small part as Cappy, the love interest. Pretty nondescript, actually, neither a bad nor a good choice. Not my least favorite voice actress, certainly by far, but it wasn't the greatest use of her talent to be a voice actress. Maybe I'm just being hard, though, since the small part didn't exactly give her much opportunity to shine. Drew Carey was a nice touch as the doom-and-gloom member of the bunch of friends. And Mel Brooks was a surprising voice as Bigweld, the crazy inventor who founded Robot City. Surprising, I think, simply because I don't remember it being advertised. Not surprising in the choice of voice - c'mon, after all his movies, does anyone doubt he can voice a crazy genius?
I think my favorite voices in the movie (even more than Robin Williams) were the villains. Greg Kinnear was a funny touch as the power-hungry-yet-whiny executive Ratchet. Really, any male villain who worries about "oh dear, I'm turning into my mother!" when performing nefarious deeds has some good chances for some fun voice work. And then Jim Broadbent was the insane lord of the Robot City underworld, Madame Gasket. Yes, Madame. He played a female villain. Oh, and what really cracked me up about Jim Broadbent was that the last place I saw him was as the kindly-insane-criminal-mastermind in Hot Fuzz! As Zach commented, maybe he likes the funny-crazy bad guys?
Overall: 3.5 of 5. Likable, but not one of the greatest animated movies I've seen, and yes, I will admit my animation standards are set very high. I won't object to having it on my shelf, but it's more of a less-than-$10 movie than a $15 movie, if you know what I mean.
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