Robots (2005) Review

          "Robots" (2005) is an animated feature from the same studio that made all the Ice Age movies (Blue Sky Studios). It tells the story of how Rodney Copperbottom (voiced by Ewan McGregor) dreams of being an inventor after he's been introduced to seeing this very influential robot named Bigweld (voiced by Mel Brooks) on TV. So Rodney invented this cute little gadget named "Wonderbot" although this invention of his doesn't seem to work that greatly in his hometown. So then Rodney decides to go to Robot City to meet his idol and show him his invention. But oh no, Bigweld's not around as somebody else is currently in charge of Bigweld Industries named Ratchet (voiced by Greg Kinnear) who's a greedy douchebag that just wants to make a profit. He discontinues the manufacturing of spare robots parts which could lead to a bunch of robots being turned into scrap, so Rodney and a group of quirky characters decide to stop Ratchet's dirty deeds once and for all.
           "Robots" has a lot of good moments in it. There's a very creative and visually good-looking robotic world that's realized here. I loved the idea that robots are born by being constructed. That was pretty cute. There were also a decent amount of times in which I laughed, some of which are provided by the character of Fender (voiced by Robin Williams). Hey, Robin Williams is a welcome addition for any movie he's in on my book with his comic energy. I also enjoyed Jim Broadbent as the voice of Madame Gasket. Another thing I liked was that there were a few fun, exciting sequences here. Two scenes are devoted into navigating the city which feel likes the most intense amusement park ride ever, and one really cool scene involving dominoes.
            Sadly while "Robots" is indeed pretty good and admittedly better than a lot of other crap that's out there, it's usually never great. Despite being in a world we've never seen before, it feels very by-the-numbers. You have your protagonist who's a determined leader that stands up to form's a plan to kick the villain's butt. You have your comedic sidekick that the audience is supposed to laugh at, and don't get me wrong, Robin Williams is funny here in this movie, but he somehow kind of feels like a less memorable version of the Genie from "Aladdin". Genie had the advantage of transforming into different variety of figures, while the humor for Fender is having his body parts fall off a lot of the time. And of course, you have a bunch of added stuff in here to help make it a feel-good experience from the pop-culture references, the inspirational speeches, attempts to bring in love interests for certain characters (which feels kind of forced here), to even having certain smaller characters you've seen in the beginning happily reappear towards the end. There wasn't really much here that feels fresh.
           Some of the voice cast, while not outright bad, do feel miscast. Ewan McGregor (a British actor) sounds kind of awkward trying to do an American accent, which begs the question, why not just bring an American actor to do the role if an American voice is what the filmmakers were going for? Now I like Mel Brooks, but I honestly don't think he's the right choice for voicing Bigwell. His character just never came across as an inspirational grandfather figure. And unfortunately, a lot of the other characters here like Piper, Lug, and even Aunt Fanny just don't feel like they added much to the story at all.
          I know I'm getting a little too in-detail here. I'm just a guy who like going into what works for me and what doesn't. Despite my nitpicks, I will say that at the bare minimum, "Robots" does work and is pretty fun. Just don't have high expectations going into this, and you'll do fine. I'm very happy I revisited this movie by purchasing the Blu-Ray for only $5. I would've liked something more to it, but overall, I did moderately enjoy it.
          I give "Robots" (2005) directed by Chris Wedge a 6 out of 10.