Robots
November 2005 Reviewed by: Kelsey Anderson Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

In the tradition of mega-watt stars lending their voices to animated films, Robots, from directors Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha (of 2002’s animated smash hit Ice Age), offers us famous voices and crack animation to tell a humorous (and at times, familiar) tale of a young robot looking for his place in the world.

The voice talents of Halle Berry, Mel Brooks, Drew Carey, Greg Kinnear, Ewan McGregor and Robin Williams bring much-needed life to a recognizable plot line. Think The Wizard of Oz, only animated with different characters: a small-town boy ventures to the big city to meet his idol, meets up with a band of misfits, uncovers a phony leader, and returns home to realize that he is happier just the way he is. There are lots of tips of the hat to Oz. Williams’ character is even missing body parts, and McGregor’s robot spends a great deal of the movie helping him find them. And it’s even funnier and edgier than the business between Dorothy and the Tin Man.

Williams is at his animated best as Fender, leader of the misfit robots. Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) is the film’s hero, saving Robot City from the villainous mama’s boy Ratchet (Greg Kinnear). Ratchet has sent the robots’ much needed spare parts to the chop shop in hopes of making bigger profits off of sleek, modern "upgrades." Some of the film’s best lines come from the supporting cast members Amanda Bynes, as the hip teen robot Piper Pinwheeler, and Jennifer Coolidge as Aunt Fanny, a well-intentioned big-bottomed bot.

Viewers will not tire of the robot-related one-liners. Williams and the voices of his band of bots bring such energy to the screen that when the story line shifts to Rachet’s quest for power in Robot City, the film slows down, and the characters, including Kinnear’s and Berry’s, become forgettable. Rodney’s struggle to find out what he is made of (literally) threads the film together nicely, but it’s the scenes voiced by Carey, Bynes, Coolidge, and Williams that make this film worth watching.

Robots is visually appealing, which keeps both young and older audiences captivated despite the dips and swells of the plot. The fluid animation runs like a well-oiled machine, which complements the constant tinkering that is the heartbeat of Robot City. In a film about robots, it was no doubt a challenge to make sure the sound effects and music in each scene were flawless, and to the credit of the sound engineer, the sound works hand-in-glove with the visuals.

Robots’ "upgrades," as the special features are called, are just as entertaining as the film itself. Several mini-features starring the robots are included as well as commentaries from the film’s creators about the history of the project. There are some unique "biographies" of the robots where we meet the actors who voice the parts and hear their takes on their character personalities. The upgrades become interactive when viewers are able to build their own robot with "Invent-A-Bot" and sift through Robot City’s junkyard for spare parts.

Though not quite on the same level as recent animated juggernauts, such as Finding Nemo, Robots is still a work of visual art with on-point sound to match, entertaining with quick-witted humor from a great voice cast.

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