The latest animated feature (in english) to hit local theaters is from the same people responsible for 2002's Ice Age. Although the latter wasn't really a hit with the critics, it was a profitable film (the first film in 2002 to pass US$100 million in box office takings, within three weeks of its opening!), and was even nominated for best animated feature at the 2003 Oscars. Nevertheless, these facts aside, I was still a tad apprehensive to watch Robots at the cinemas. But seriously, I needn't have worried so much -- Two factors kept this film from turning into a forgettable B-grade flick; 1) The tour de force that is Robin Williams, and 2) the excellent animation. The film boasts a number of well-known stars as voice-overs; for instance Ewan Mcgregor, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Greg Kinnear, Mel Brooks, Paul Giamatti, Drew Carrey, etc. However, most of them play nondescript roles whom we don't really root for, and the pedestrian plot, replete with maudlin lessons-to-be-learnt underpinnings, is surely to be blamed for this. Thankfully, the animation is top-notch in detail and ingeniuity, even surpassing that of Shrek 2 or Shark Tale. Robots is also more entertaining than these two aforementioned films due to the inspired casting of Robin Williams; his voice-work seems improvised (as if unscripted) sometimes but his comic timing is impeccable -- the laughs just kept coming and coming! Story-wise, Pixar's The Incredibles remains unbeatable but Robots is more than a match in animation execution and creativity.
my ratings ---- 3.8/5 stars!!!
