I Saw Robots!

[Gail Simone]

And sadly, didn't love it.

I've been thinking about why I love Pixar's movies and don't care for Dreamworks' cgi efforts. And the South Park guys nailed why Pixar is superior--they said no one does better at finding the right story and showing that perfectly.

In contrast then, with Pixar, you're laughing and your eyes are popping out, but you're still gripped by the story. Fish dad looking for fish kid, toy jealous of a kid's love for a new toy, sincere bug's efforts to be great keep failing, etc.


In Dreamworks stuff, there's such an emphasis on gags and spectacle that story takes a back seat. You might laugh, you might be overwhelmed with visuals, but you don't care about the story (Shrek was probably their best effort in this department). You're not moved, there's little suspense because no effort is put into making you care. So Pixar does A Bug's Life (brilliant), and the copy is ANTZ (not so much). Pixar does FINDING NEMO and the copy is SHARK'S TALE.

Urgh.

I was hopeful for Robots though, because it was directed by the guy who did the highly surprising and fun ICE AGE. Which was ALL about story and had very little spectacle. That little story, low budget for CGI, was vastly superior to Dreamworks' big budget stuff.

Robots, unfortunately, is a lot more like Dreamworks' other things, unfortunately. Tons and tons of eye candy, lots of cool things to look at. But the characters...urgh. Both the male and female lead are dull as toast, and have NO real motivation for being heroes, they just are heroes and we're supposed to accept it. There's a nice sequence at the end, but in general, the characters behave in the way they do simply because that's how the story goes. We really get no sense of the friendship Rodney and Fender talk about, or of the loyalty Rodney endures. Mel Brooks is uninteresting and Halle Berry is given nothing at all to do.

Consequently, it's impossible to care, even when the two ending sequences are skillfully told.

I'd say it's still worth seeing, but barely, and it won't stick in the mind like NEMO or TOY STORY.

Anyone else see it?

Gail

[steeler80]

I've not seen this one yet but, from your description, it seems that it suffers from an ailment that affects a ton of movies: putting the bells and whistles before the story. Movie people don't seem to realize that special effects or visuals are the icing that you put on the cake of a great story.

A poor analogy might be the Star Wars films. The first three (especially the first two) had effects that we'd never seen before but under it all was a great story. The last two movies had even better effects but the story was much flatter or, at least, not nearly as well told.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

It has Robin Williams. I'll go to watch him act Insane ! :D

[Gail Simone]

By the way, Robots is from FOX, not Dreamworks, I believe, but it really does match Dreamworks' product more than Pixars'.

Gail

[Space Poo]

That's a shame. I was thinking of seeing Robots. I don't think I will now that I've read your review.

I feel the same way about Dreamworks vs. Pixar. Pixar's films have so much heart in them. Dreamworks at it's best (Shrek) can't compete with Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and my favorite, Monster's Inc. Of course, that's just my opinion.


There's a Dreamworks movie coming out soon called Madagascar which looks fun. I really hope it is.

http://www.madagascar-themovie.com/

[The Xenos]

Wow. You confirmed my suspicions to the T. I kept thinking this was Dreamsworks as it sounds some much like one of theirs. I've been saying that Pixar makes films. The CGI animation at Dreamworks makes long SNL skits pretending to be movies. They really do rely on moment to moment scenes and gags and often don't have a strong long running story or chracters behind it. I know we're becoming an ADD society, but we don't need help.

Of course speaking of ADD, Robin Willians looks very familiar in this role. I swaer they reused a joked from Aladdin in the Robots trailer. The joke aobut knowing the town like the back of his hand. I know I've heard him say that before. Then again it's an old joke anyway. I like Williams, but this role seems like a rehash.

There's another thing about Dreamworks, and now Fox too. They rely on big star names and ignore story or giving these stars decent characters. Then agian many live action movie fall into the same pit.

I love what Pixar has done with their films in comparison. They have such great and touching stories and characters. Yeah, Shrek did somewhat try that, but nowhere near the depth and emotion of Nemo or even Toy Story. Animations just don't make things move, they make charactes who move you. Gosh damn if I wasn't ready to cry at points in Nemo. PLus there were points of sheer joy and ones of sheer terror in Incredibles. It's a joke that Sharktale was even nominated next to it.

Funny, Robots is about Robots, but they sound about as emotionally appealing as them. I think even R2 and 3PO were move moving as characters (and as a couple?) than anyone in this film.

Now I'm very curious what Disney is going to do with their new CGI studios. They basically clsoed down any 2d animation and fired all those animators. Disusting. It really makes me sad and hesitant to check out their new film. Chicken Little is their first forary into this sad CGI only landscape of US film animation. I wasn't going to see it, but then I heard Zach Braff from Scrubs and who made Garden State is Chicken Little, so I might have to chck it out.

-Xenos

[The Xenos]

I feel the same way about Dreamworks vs. Pixar. Pixar's films have so much heart in them. Dreamworks at it's best (Shrek) can't compete with Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and my favorite, Monster's Inc. Of course, that's just my opinion.


There's a Dreamworks movie coming out soon called Madagascar which looks fun. I really hope it is.

I keep forgetting about Monsters Inc. Maybe it's jsut not my favorite, but it still was excellent. What blew me away in that one was the concepts and the world they made. Plus Steve Buchemi as a lizard caracter was cool.

As for Madagascar, it looks like another meaningless gag laden show. The only thing that appealed to me in the trailer was the penguins and that's cheating because penguins are always cool.

-Xenos

[TCJohnson]

Honestly, I didn't think too much of Ice Age either. Except for the skitch parts I thought it was ok but none of the jokes were all that clever. They just went for the cheap laughs, relying on insulting each other. Pixar very rarely goes for the cheap laughs. In Finding Nemo, there was only one potty joke in the entire movie. And while Marlin made some comments about Doreen's memory, very rarely did they come off as mean. Just...bewildered.

But what makes Pixar so great is that they rely on story. I think that their movies would be just as good if they told them as traditional 2D cell animation. They would have to work a lot harder to achieve 2D cell animation at the same quality as what they do with the computers. But it is really the stories and the humor that makes the stories so special.

Still, I kinda lost interest in this project when the commercials announced it was more incredible than the incredibles. Considering that all the early reviews said the majority of this movie came off as hollow, it seemed a bit arrogant.

[matterconsumer]

I suspect that the success for some films has more to do with the audience's desire to see a movie than whether the movie is actually compelling.

Those who have their own minions or find themselves caring for the minions of others are likely to find that minions like movies. So while appeasing the minions movies are seen and revenues are generated which result in even more of these movies being made. It's a crap cycle of success...

I have zero motivation regarding Robots though it does have an appealing cast. I do know that if I were caring for the minions that they'd likely want to see this and likely off we'd go...

If only we could install in the minions a loathing of tv, film, and games:)

Ice Age was a fun movie (unless you do not agree with evolution which may have impacted it's audience)...

[Tobias March]

Now how is Valiant going to fare as a rival to Pixar's monopoly on computer animated films?

[Lunar Daydreamer]

I've seen the trailers for Robots and didn't fancy it ... although it did give me urge to delve back into my video collection and start watching ReBoot again - Damn that was a great series :)

[Ian Boothby]

I haven't seen it yet but the trailers made it seem mediocre. The Simpsons did a parody recently of a CGI movie called Cards where everyone just did jokes about playing cards and it looked like this was the film they were nailing.
Agree with pretty much everything you said except I'm one of the few people who prefered Ants to Bugs Life.

[lonewolf23k]

I went to watch it, and I loved it. Sure, the story is so cliche you can set your watch to it, but dammit, I found they did it well, and I certainly had fun watching it.

And it had some fun one-liners.. "The real fun is making the baby" alone had me rolling in the isles...

[palaeomerus]

I liked actually liked Antz better than A Bug's Life (Woody Allen being funny again? Really?)and Shrek better than Monsters Inc.(though I still enjoyed Monsters Inc.) but I agree that Finding Nemo was MUCH better than A Shark's Tale. Finding Nemo is simply one of the best movies that I've ever seen. It's a true Masterpiece. and that's coming from someone who was not all blown away at the Lion King(I much prefered Mulan and even the Emperor's New Groove and Atlantis. I still haven't seen Tarzan yet.)

That said I still like Dreamworks movies. I liked Sinbad even after the bizarre decision was made to make Sinbad hail from Syracuse. I liked El Dorado. I still get chills when watching Prince of Egypt.

Then again I got chills during the Justice League Starcrossed episodes so what do I know.

I wish that Fox and Warner Brothers were still doing animated features. I wish that More Studio Ghibli stuff got released over here in the US in it's original Japoanese with subtitles. And I wonder with sick dispair at the thought of what might come loping out of Disney when they finally get their sh*t half together. Probably more wonderful looking but bland stuff like Dinosaurs.

[Lunar Daydreamer]

I think it's a sad sign when a movie as good as Iron Giant bombs with the general public, which was just quality all the way. Good to See Brad Bird get the hit he deserved with The Incredibles.

[Taltos]

First off at no time did I ever want to see this movie. Second there is alot of baised generalizing going on.


In contrast then, with Pixar, you're laughing and your eyes are popping out, but you're still gripped by the story. Fish dad looking for fish kid, toy jealous of a kid's love for a new toy, sincere bug's efforts to be great keep failing, etc.

In Dreamworks stuff, there's such an emphasis on gags and spectacle that story takes a back seat. You might laugh, you might be overwhelmed with visuals, but you don't care about the story (Shrek was probably their best effort in this department). You're not moved, there's little suspense because no effort is put into making you care. So Pixar does A Bug's Life (brilliant), and the copy is ANTZ (not so much). Pixar does FINDING NEMO and the copy is SHARK'S TALE.


I dont agree, Antz was all about story while bugs life was full of weak gags(just take a second and remember the characters i think you would agree). Although I wanted to see Sharks Tale i didnt get around to it. Although i liked it, I think Nemo is an extremly overated tear-jerker. w/o Ellen D. it wouldnt of been nearly as great. Shrek and Ice age were both better than nemo. Then again so was Toy Story and Monsters inc. (monsters inc. by the way is my favorite so far)

Check out Madagascar it looks awesome http://www.madagascar-themovie.com/main.php?swf=trailer

It has Robin Williams. I'll go to watch him act Insane ! :D
Ive out-grown him

oh and Space Poo i agree Madagascar looks awesome and its about time Chris Rock's voice got behind a loveable CGI animal.


Of course speaking of ADD, Robin Willians looks very familiar in this role. I swaer they reused a joked from Aladdin in the Robots trailer. The joke aobut knowing the town like the back of his hand. I know I've heard him say that before. Then again it's an old joke anyway. I like Williams, but this role seems like a rehash.

PLus there were points of sheer joy and ones of sheer terror in Incredibles. It's a joke that Sharktale was even nominated next to it.

Now I'm very curious what Disney is going to do with their new CGI studios. They basically clsoed down any 2d animation and fired all those animators. Disusting. -Xenos

I remember the joke your refering to and thats one of the reasons i dont want to see it, i mean if thats the material they use to bring you in, one can only imagine what other crap they have instore for us.

Yes the Incredibles was awesome it rivals Monsters inc. and Shrek.

Disney firing its Animators was truly an ungrateful dick move.

[Taltos]

[QUOTE=palaeomerusIt's a true Masterpiece. and that's coming from someone who was not all blown away at the Lion King(I much prefered Mulan and even the Emperor's New Groove and Atlantis. I still haven't seen Tarzan yet.)

[/QUOTE]

WHAT! that sacreligious Lion King destroys Mulan and ENG comes close but it wasnt as epic, and I spit on atlantis. Do yourself a favor SEE Tarzan that movie was awesome, although its no jungle book (my favorite animated movie of all time) it is great.

[palaeomerus]

Yep. Incredibles was a fantastic movie.

It's bit more adult but currently I'm kind of fascinated by Sin City. Having read the comics and seen the stills from it I really didn't want to go see it but seeing the trailer...OMG the music, the look(in motion) and the voices of the characters...They are absolutely PERFECT. I'm there on April 1st at the Alamo Drafthouse Theatre and I'm gonna watch it and eat a pizza. Even if I die between now and then I'm still gonna watch it and do crazy poltergest stuff to someone else's pizza. If it comes to that.

I like the bizarre look of the movie that creates the impression of a completely different world. It's like what was done with Tron or Sky Captain only sleazier and more crime comic-ish!

The Fantastic Four trailer puts me more in mind of the collossal disappointment that was Lost In Space. The music was wrong the characters mostly look wrong and Johnny saying "Tell me that's not cool" is just awful. God it went over like a lead balloon. And that" one will be bad four will be fantasic" thing is obviously the product of a lot of marijuana.

I almost wish they had set the FF movie in the mid sixties(65?) and set the failed space shot that changed everyone in maybe 1958(to beat Gaggarin and Sheppard) via private contractors employing Reed and the four would be commited to the risky flight by the military shutting the program down in light of catastrophic problems in the Vanguard program.

They ought to have given Sue a period hair style and let them fight the Mole Man and explored how things were different in the 60's. THEN they could have set the 2nd movie in the present and explain that the cosmic rays may have retarded their aging a little and introduce Doom already in his armor and explain the Baxter Building as the result of monies earned by Reed's unstable molecule patents. That would have given us a way to transition between the old Marvel Age story and at the same time assuage our more modern expectations while still having the same people there playing the same characters as seen through the lens of time's passage. Yeah Johnny won't chronologically be a youngster anymore but just don't mention anybody's age in the present. Let the age retardation be enough!

This post has been edited to make it seem slightly less J-Boltish.

[kingdom2000]

I saw the movie Friday to. It was just alright. Gail pretty much nailed it. You just didn't give a crap about the characters. Oh and Robin Williams wasn't that good. He wasn't given the free reign he needs to really make you laugh your ass off. Instead you just get the occasional one-liners. The problem with the movie is it was just to kiddy. I am sure the kids will eat this movie up and as an adult, i was bored. They just didn't walk that delicate line to keep both groups entertained.

What I found most hilaroius is Halle Berry part. Which is she didn't have one. I think she spoke like five lines in the entire movies and of course did it in her usual dead voice that sounds like reading outloud. God she sucks. Anyway, I am guessing the directors figured that out cause she said NOTHING after those five lines. The character is in almost every scene in the second half of the movie, but only spoke five lines. If that isn't a sign of loss of confidence I don't know what is.

Also was anyone as annoyed by the "to be continued" to the Ice Age squirrel cartoon as I am. That actually seriously pissed me off. They cut the short in half, and then didn't even show the second half. Its a gimmick of some kind and I found it insulting. I am betting in about three weeks they attach the second half in an effort to get repeat viewings.

Any case, don't see the movie, just rent it. Unless have wee ones, then you have no choice anyway.

[Taltos]

palaeomerus i agree on all accounts :D

[palaeomerus]

Taltos I've got Tarzan around here somewhere still in the plastic. If I can find it without a hassle I'll watch it. Come to think of it I've never got around to watching Chicken Run either... I never saw Pocahontas, Spirit , Brother Bear or Home on the Range either.

I will attempt to explain some of my likes and dislikes.

I really was pretty bored by the Lion King. It seemed pretty saccerine and by the numbers to me. I like Elton John's older stuff better than these his waning power ballad days. Other than the Hakuna Matta song which did seem fairly Jungle Book -esque I really had nothing to grab onto.

Mulan was visually beautiful and had the musical aspect reduced greatly which I appreciated. ENG was just plain funny. Hercules was nice looking and had nice designs but again it never really grabbed me. Treasure Planet was cute but I still much prefer my LJ Silver and Jimsy to be served by Robert Newton as seen in the 1950's Disney version.

Atlantis was like a toned down Heavy Metal story with less boobies and mostly I like it because the sub design and the wierd Cambrian arthropod inspired warmachines were just pretty cool. Yeah Castle In the Sky: Laputa is a better version of that sort of Story but Atlantis was still worth my money.

Finding Nemo remains one of the best movies I've ever seen.

[Gail Simone]

Lion King is great. Mulan is hugely underrated.

Gail

[Taltos]

Chicken Run -nothing special if you havent already bought it dont waste your money
Pocahontas -even my grandmother was ripping on this movie
Spirit -I didnt see this on account of the main characters dont talk (but ill buy it later)
Brother Bear -this was good it wasnt epic but it was good, I liked the imagery aand the story
Home on the Range -didnt see this on account of Roseann having a leading role

[TCJohnson]

I disagree. I thought Chicken Run was a great movie, and I can't wait for the Wallace and Grommit movie coming out.

[SuperGodGinrai]

I will never see this movie.
The reason : Robin Williams.
I hate the man.

[Dennis]

all these 3d movies suck. nothing good has come out since beauty and the beast. such delightful songs! and getting big name stars to do the voices makes it even harder to get into the movie. "oh look, that's mike meyers doing his if it's not scottish it's crap voice."

robin williams will never retire. that's scary.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

You can never out grow Robin Williams. Even at 53 he still kicks ass as a maniac on stage. I watched his Broadway HBO show and even I had to marvel at how fast and wild he still Is.


I still loved his HBO Special from the early 80's. In It everyone was In the crowd watching him. Williams would later tell on E Enertainment that before that show he hit some coke and came out high as a freakin kite.

He's one of my favorite actors. :D

[Kyuubi]

Wasn't interested in seeing it, glad i'm not missing anything. How was the Star Wars trailer?

[SuperGodGinrai]

all these 3d movies suck. nothing good has come out since beauty and the beast. such delightful songs! and getting big name stars to do the voices makes it even harder to get into the movie. "oh look, that's mike meyers doing his if it's not scottish it's crap voice."


All Disney movies sucked after 1985, the only good thing was Pixar movies...
All this singing crap is horrible...


You can never out grow Robin Williams. Even at 53 he still kicks ass as a maniac on stage. I watched his Broadway HBO show and even I had to marvel at how fast and wild he still Is.

I dont consider acting like a coked up idiot talent, sorry.

[Ian Boothby]

I will never see this movie.
The reason : Robin Williams.
I hate the man.

All the Robins? The serious Good Will Hunting one? The quirky Dead Again one? The creepy One Hour Photo one? And the funny one?

I like some of them. And I really like the live in person improvising one. He's dropped by clubs I was at while doing improv and the guy's got chops.

[kipster]

I will never see this movie.
The reason : Robin Williams.
I hate the man.


I feel the same way about Ray Romano. His voice is irritating, his humor is weak and predictable, and I think he is the most overrated comedian ever. Every time he delivers a line, the look on his face says "wait until they hear this, I am so talented!).

Love Robin Williams, though.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

All Disney movies sucked after 1985, the only good thing was Pixar movies...
All this singing crap is horrible...



I dont consider acting like a coked up idiot talent, sorry.


Oh well ya can't please em all. They should have just let Robin go wild In this. I hate to see him reigned In . This makes me doubt watching.

[The Xenos]

all these 3d movies suck. nothing good has come out since beauty and the beast. such delightful songs! and getting big name stars to do the voices makes it even harder to get into the movie. "oh look, that's mike meyers doing his if it's not scottish it's crap voice."

I must agree in the other ones the big names stars do take you out of the film, espcially in the more star dependant Dreamworks ones. Well, save for Bandaras as Puss. I really liked the character. Shrek isn't as bad as Shark Tale looked, but I cared for Shrek the least in it. Of course having a fish look exactly like Martin Scorsese or Will Smith is quite jarring. Really, what were the animators and designers thinking?

I gotta say the Pixar ones are good. I never carred for Brooks or Degeneres before, acutlaly couldn't stand Brooks, but damn if I didn't love them in Nemo. Actually, Jackson as Frozone in Incredibles was perfect. Jason Lee was somewhat jarring as Buddy at first, but he ruled that role.

Oh and as for Iron Giant, that was a great and sadly lesser known film. The only ting that bugged me was the whole anti-gun and anti-military message was a bit heavy handed.

-Xenos

[TCJohnson]

There wasn't an anti-military message in that movie. The General was one of the nicer people in the movie. His biggest fault is that he got faulty information from a moron...and that moron wasn't even in the military. It wasn't even anti-gun. The message of the movie is that you can be who you choose to be.

[SuperGodGinrai]

All the Robins? The serious Good Will Hunting one? The quirky Dead Again one? The creepy One Hour Photo one? And the funny one?


The only one i'll watch is Popeye.
And that's because, in that movie, he wasnt all over the place.
He was popeye... not some crazed idiot rambling about no place being like home and the wicked witch... or whavever other triad he goes around spewing :)

[Shade]

Lion King is great. Mulan is hugely underrated.

Gail

After the Disney "Robin Hood" movie these are number two and three for me.

[Taltos]

I feel the same way about Ray Romano. His voice is irritating, his humor is weak and predictable, and I think he is the most overrated comedian ever. Every time he delivers a line, the look on his face says "wait until they hear this, I am so talented!).

Love Robin Williams, though.

Yeah I feel the same way about him, but I liked him as Manny because thats what I thought a Mammoth should sound like(very drawl)

[Phoney Bone]

After the Disney "Robin Hood" movie these are number two and three for me.

I love Robin Hood for the same reason I love The Jungle Book, The Incredibles, and The Emperor's New Groove.

Much like the Warner/DC cartoons, it's not casting superstar voices for the characters that counts...it's casting the right voices for the characters. This is where I felt Robots lacked the most.

[lonewolf23k]

There wasn't an anti-military message in that movie. The General was one of the nicer people in the movie. His biggest fault is that he got faulty information from a moron...and that moron wasn't even in the military. It wasn't even anti-gun. The message of the movie is that you can be who you choose to be.

If anything, it's an anti-paranoia movie. The moron was a paranoid federal agent who apparantly didn't let morality or good judgement get in the way of his mission. And though I originally agreed with his motives ("We don't know who sent that thing! Was it the Russians? The Martians? Who!?"), his methods just got more and more dispicable, until he finally shot himself in the foot, figuratively speaking.

[LtMarvel]

I haven't seen it yet but the trailers made it seem mediocre. The Simpsons did a parody recently of a CGI movie called Cards where everyone just did jokes about playing cards and it looked like this was the film they were nailing.
Agree with pretty much everything you said except I'm one of the few people who prefered Ants to Bugs Life.
There aren't just a few. I saw one EW critic call Antz the adult version of A Bug's Life. And there's Mrs. LtMarvel and me....

This all reminds me of the "dueling plot" films the studios come out with. In just a few months time we saw two films released about bugs, or volcanoes, or asteroids hitting Earth, etc... it's almost like the same writer pitched the idea at two studios and went to work for one while the other hired someone to write a script based on the plot....weird.


As long as Pixar continues to write better stories, they will continue to shine! But there will always be a soft spot in my heart for the studio behind Chicken Run and the upcoming Wallace and Gromit.

[Ian Boothby]

There aren't just a few. I saw one EW critic call Antz the adult version of A Bug's Life. And there's Mrs. LtMarvel and me....

This all reminds me of the "dueling plot" films the studios come out with. In just a few months time we saw two films released about bugs, or volcanoes, or asteroids hitting Earth, etc... it's almost like the same writer pitched the idea at two studios and went to work for one while the other hired someone to write a script based on the plot....weird.
.

Or two CGI underwater movies, both with vegetarian sharks.

[LtMarvel]

I saw Robots Saturday and was pleasantly suprised. It is actually quite good. Gail sets her bar way too high.