"Robots" review...
 

Saw Robots this morning and enjoyed it. It wasn't fantastic and as I said in another thread, it's hard to enjoy other animated films when Pixar sets the bar so high. The voices are very good but Robin Williams is doing his typical schtick again. They seemed to have everybody and their mother doing a voice but no Ewan and Robin get the most time out of all...along with Greg Kinnear. I'm happy to say that most of the bits in the trailer happen early on in the film and it leaves the ending to some surprise. The kids really enjoyed it and it was a very "audience friendly" movie. A lot of the action pieces don't make much sense but you just kinda go along with it anyway.

Funniest bit:


No Star Wars trailer beforehand but we did get Ice Age 2. The trailer was very funny (as were the ones for the first) and the audience applauded after it. If only the movies were as entertaining as the trailers.

My grade: C+

If that is really the funniest bit in the movie, I'll skip it, at least in the theaters. Where did that 'hatred for pop songs in animated movies' thread go?

I hate how Dreamworks pimps out who's doing the voices. Which is funny, since I'm such a strong supporter (zealot) of original language tracks in foriegn film since I think voice actors are not given enough respect.

I really have no idea what this movie is about besides it being about robots and I hate Robin Williams. His ADD comedy routine may have been entertaining in the 80s but now its just sad.

The only reason I am interested in seeing this film is for the fact that it'll be the first full-length CG animated film ever to be released in IMAX (via the DMR process).

Even if the film might be horrible, I want to see the visuals on an eight story screen. ;)

Dreamworks? -confused- Robots is from Blue Sky and Fox.

While I don't hate him, Robin Williams bugs me, too, and his involment in this makes me want to see it less (if possible).

:lol:

yeah, it's being advertised as "From the Creators of Ice Age"

Shark Tale, Shrek, and Madagascar are from Dreamworks

Polar Express was on IMAX. How was that film released?

Crap, I forgot about The Polar Express.

Well then, the only reason I am interested in seeing this is that it's the first full-length CG animated film to be released in IMAX that looks somewhat tolerable.

Better? ;)

I saw that part in a commercial. I wasn't gonna see it anyway but now you've just confirmed it for me. :)

It might as well be from Dreamworks. ROBOTS wants to be a metal SHREK so bad it swallows itself in puns and celebrity voicework.

I didn't care for the film. Sure, it looks great, but the comedy is DOA. To see Robin Williams swing for the fences all through the film yet never connect is a depressing sight. The Britney Spears bit, as mentioned before, is his character's "funniest" bit, and it doesn't even come from Williams.

Oh yeah, and another round of fart gags. Yeesh...

Oh yeah...the "fart" part. I have to say, I really was laughing at that although I hate to admit it. :)

didn't Polar Express already do it and do it successfully?

I got a preview ticket for 2 on saturday morning, and my friend and I both enjoyed it quite a bit.

They did it, but not successfully.

Bah, I call bullshit. Polar Express was gorgeous, and looked downright amazing in 3D. Not to mention a solid family film.

But I digress...Robots should be interesting in Imax, though not being in 3D probably won't get me there.

It was all right. I loved the detail in the movie, but admit there were a lot of throwaway jokes that were almost... desperate. Robin Williams dominated the movie too much as well, and the filmmakers should have tried to rein him in.

I still think this will be quite a hit in theaters.

You mean artistry or money?

Because I think it made 1/5 of its total gross in IMAX theaters, which is huuuuuuuge.

Any movie with Robin Williams' voice in going to be great and well remembered

I might be the only one that wants to see this movie because of Robin Williams. I never knew people were really tired of him. IMO, it should be a good movie.

Did you see The Polar Express on IMAX 3D? It was incredible.

how is this movie for a 3 year old who loves toy story, monsters inc, etc.

3 year-olds love everything. They will love this.

I saw a pre-screening of this tonight and enjoyed it. It was funny and I enjoy Robin Williams's over-the-top voice acting.

A lot of funny jokes but many of them are geared towards more of an adult audience. They tied in a lot of contemporary music pretty well too.

It's definitely not Pixar quality but I thought that it was better than non-pixar computer animation, including Shrek 2.

3 stars out of 4.

well, i meant more about violence or scary parts.

I agree 100% with this comment. Its so true of animation today. The company just goes, "Oh who's big right now....ok we'll hire him". By doing that your cutting out alot of people who's main job is to do voice overs. If Mel Blanc were living today if probably wouldn't even get hired....it makes me wonder....there is probably some talented voice actors out there that are not getting their "just desserts"and as a result alot of talented people are having a tough time finding jobs.LEAVE THE STARS AT HOME and hir people who's job it is to do voiceovers...PERIOD!!!!

Ebert's 3 1/2-star review here

JoBlo - 5/10

REVIEW

Filmjerk.com - D+

REVIEW

Well, I think voice actors should be picked by the creators of the film, and I don't think they should be limited to just people who are only voice actors... they shouldn't "leave the stars at home."

Oh, and I knew this was a Fox picture, it just reminded me of what Dreamworks was doing, and I wasn't very clear. Sorry. :)

Three year olds love that also. That's why they are always trying to kill me.

I'd be more concerned taking them to see a film with a fart joke in it...

But no, the film isn't violent or scary.

i just got back from seeing this and i gave it no higher than a C. the star wars trailer was much better. the audience i was with seemed to enjoy most of it but i was just bored most of the way through.

I caught this tonight and enjoyed it. I suppose you can put it in the "Well it wasn't a Pixar film" category, but it had its moments. I enjoyed the story and thought it was entertaining, with a few funny bits. Many of the Robin Williams jokes were a bit over the top and seemed to miss the beat, but there were just a lot of little things that made me smirk or smile, whether it be Rodney's little invention guy or the predictable butt jokes. On a letter scale, i'd give it a B.

This film is full of subtle bits of humor, and it never gives the audience time to catch up before moving to another bit, plus the humor is more intended for those up on pop culture and that isn't always going to be the kids watching the film, so the laughs aren't bust-your-gut funny, but for me, it was chuckle-worthy for daring to "go there" in certain scenes. The 3rd act was a lot of fun, visually, though.

Plus, how can you not like a film that incorporates a dash of ?

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.

or an homage to



kms

I saw this on Friday. It was alright. Not great; definatley not up to Pixar standards. It's probably the worst CGI movie i've ever seen. The thing that suprised me most about this movie was how absolutley terrible the characters were. I know this is basically a kids flick but the characters were so dull and flat it was painful.

I thought this was an odd pairing but still amusing:

http://www.napoleonvsfender.com/

I was surprised Fender had so many votes.

I thought the IMAX presentation of this was pretty amazing, although there was no trailer for Episode III :(

As for the movie, I thought nearly every character was drab and lacked any depth. The story went on auto-pilot and was just so-so.

As eye candy - the movie was incredible, other than that it was flawed.

We saw it at IMAX Sat night as well.
The IMAX presentation was indeed amazing. Ice Age 2 trailer was funny, but didn't tell me much about the movie. Would have liked to see EpIII trailer in IMAX.
The movie itself was 'light.' Not bad, not great, definitely had some predictability and 'gimme' jokes, including some rather juvenile ones. I liked the concept, and there are a lot of freeze-frame gags which I always like.
Robin Williams was definitely Robin Williams, but most of the other voices I thought of as character-first, voice second.
Probably a B- or B from me.
Question: What's the AR of an IMAX theater? It didn't look as 'widescreen' as I expect a movie theater to be; I guess for their IMAX-only films they film for that AR, but what about theatrical movies? Is that why they focus on digital films, so they can reframe to fit the projected AR [like Bugs Life or whatever it was.]