Movie Review: Robots
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that the movie has cartoon-style peril
and violence with some thrill-ride-ish special effects.
Characters use some crude school-yard language and there are
some potty jokes, including an extended fart joke sequence, and
some mild sexual humor, including jokes about cross-dressing
and "fixing" a dog.
Families who see this movie could talk about the difference between the two mottos. The "outmodes" are made out of pieces from other machines. Which ones do you recognize? How do Rodney's and Ratchet's ideas about helping people differ? Why doesn't Crank want to try and what changes his mind? What's the difference between Bigweld's and Ratchet's views on what a corporation should do? Why did Rodney say that the most important thing his parents gave him was believing in him? Who can you help by believing in them? If you could be an inventor like Rodney, what would you like to invent? Families might like to learn about the history of inventions and becoming an inventor.
Common Sense Media Review
Just like its endearing hero, Rodney Copperbottom (voice of
Ewan McGregor), this movie is assembled from hand-me-down parts
but it has so much heart that it is transformed into something
irresistibly fresh and downright adorable.
One of the hand-me-down parts is the country boy with a dream in the big city. There's the classic underdog story, too, with the (literally) scrappy outsiders fighting for their rights against the rich and powerful and snobbish. Of course there's a love story or two. And that real-life special effect Robin Williams. Just as in Aladdin, animation is the only way to give him a physical persona that can keep up with his avalanche of wisecracks and personas. There are some groan-worthy visual and verball puns and some subtle satire. And some roller-coastery excitement, some snappy wisecracks, and some music that will make you want to get up and dance. There's even a cameo appearance by that greatest of all metal men, the Tin Woodsman.
It all comes together in a story that works on every level, with something for every age, with silly humor, clever puns, sly satire, endearing characters, and, rarest of all, a story that is not just heartwarming but meaningful.
Brilliantly imagined by illustrator William Joyce, this movie takes place in an all-mechanical world where even the pets are robots and even the fire hydrants and mailboxes are "alive." This movie is going to keep people glued to their DVDs, because every single shot is filled with fabulously imaginative detail, every bit of it adorably witty, wonderfully fantastic, and perfectly logical. If physics doesn't work this way, it should.
Rodney arrives after 12 hours of labor -- that's how long it takes his robot parents too assemble him from a kit. They are loving and devoted but not wealthy. As Rodney grows up, he is assembled from hand-me-down parts, including one embarrassing year with a torso that once belonged to a teenaged girl cousin. Rodney dreams of being an inventor and making life better and easier. His hero is Bigweld (voice of Mel Brooks), who urges everyone to come up with ideas to solve problems. He welcomes new ideas at his big corporation. His slogan is, "You can shine no matter what you're made of."
