Robots (2005)

2.5 out of 4

Starring: voices of Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Greg Kinnear, Robin Williams, Mel Brooks, Amanda Bynes, Jim Broadbent

Director: Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha

Time: 89 mins

Viewed: in home theatre

Idealistic young robot (McGregor) travels to the big smoke, Robot City, hoping to further his ambitions as an inventor and work for generous Bigweld (Brooks). However, corporate bigwig Ratchet (Kinnear) and his scheming mother (Broadbent!) attempt to kill off outmoded bots by forcing them to upgrade rather than purchase spare parts. Of course, it's up to our hero and a group of unlikely friends, including Cappy (Berry), Fender (Williams) and Piper (Bynes) to foil them. Second CGI animated feature from the people that created Ice Age contains some nice visuals and plenty of sight gags, but bland storyline and characters leave it a few notches below the the greats in the CGI animation pantheon (Shrek, The Incredibles, Toy Story 2). Even motormouth Robin Williams, whose antics can usually be relied on to prop up a sagging cartoon, lacks his usual energy.

(c) Joe Wong (23 October 2005)