Robots

2005  PG  ANIMATED  1h 30min

CAST— Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Robin Williams, Greg Kinnear, Mel Brooks, Drew Carey, Jim Broadbent, Amanda Bynes, Stanley Tucci, Dianne Wiest, Paul Giamatti, Jennifer Coolidge, Dan Hedaya, James Earl Jones, Natasha Lyonne

MUSIC— John Powell  DIRECTOR— Chris Wedge

     Ewan McGregor lends his voice to this finely animated tale of a young robot with dreams of someday becoming a great inventor. So off he heads to the big city to make his dreams come true; but he soon finds out that life rarely turns out as expected. The friendly corporation he thought he was going to work for has turned sinister, forcing all of the out-of-date robots— the out-modes— to buy outrageously priced upgrades instead of the replacement parts that the company has produced for years. It’s either new upgrades or the scrap-heap! What’s a young ‘bot to do? Well, he’ll just have to fix everybody himself, that’s what. Along with a rag-tag assortment of other out-modes he sets about doing just that. But there are a lot of out-modes out there to fix up, so they’d better get crackin’! This is a film that the kids will certainly enjoy, but adults may not as much. But look on the bright side: Robin Williams is quite a comical standout as one of the robots plus the animation isn’t bad. All in all, you could rate this film a bit above Shark Tale (2004).

OUR RATING— **