I waited eagerly for Robots because I am a fan of adventures and animated stories - especially big, bold and beautiful stories with great themes. Robots surpassed my expectations on every level; it threw in many surprises, and left me pondering seriously my own life and the world we've created for ourselves.
First, it was a pleasure to fall into the mechanical world of the story; an extremely intricate and highly imaginative world that was also instantly understandable. Mechanical engineers and physicists alike would love this world, as it never broke any of its physical rules. I never once thought to myself, "Why'd they do that?" and never felt out of the story world. It was completely cinematic and thoroughly engaging.
Second, Robots succeeds in its self-awareness as a filmmaker's movie. It must have been a riot to sit in on the filmmakers's story conferences. They obviously love great films because they referenced so many. Obvious references included Singing in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, The Matrix, Star Wars, and even Ice Age. There were so many clever nods to other films and directors I can hardly remember them all. I have to see it again and find the Chris Wedge cameo a la Alfred Hitchcock. I'll bet it's in there! I will definitely keep an eye out for the next Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha or Lowell Ganz project.
Third, McKee advocates a great story, well told, and I believe Robots accomplished this, with honors. Remarkably simple yet elegant, well written, and profound for its simplicity. Other commentaries give ample plot details, so I will not; I will, however, reveal what I believe the film is about. Robots is about devotion to your dream, being all you can be, honesty, integrity, courage, and especially, commitment. All of this without being sappy, sweet, cloying or pedagogic, but being entertaining, witty, and (even though its really an adventure and not a comedy) hilariously funny. Funny in the same ironic vein as The Princess Bride.
Finally, I believe great films allow us to see ourselves and our world in a new or different light. As social commentary, Robots speaks about important issues of today, especially those that concern the "invisible" society around us, the clerks, shopkeepers. the hard-working poor and even the homeless. How easy is it for us to quickly forget, or to never even notice, the world we are not involved in? Yet Robots introduces us to characters who, though fashioned of metal, rubber, glass and plastic, are our neighbors, and even our brothers and sisters. Yes, they were humorous characters on the surface (or mean, spiteful, greedy villains) but underneath, the Robots were you and I. Some had dreams of greatness, others were content to be their own personal best, yet all shared what we all desire as human beings: the desire to live, love, and achieve whatever our worthy purpose is without fear of being relegated to the scrap heap and recycled simply because we are "last year's model," inconvenient, or a "burden" to care for.
This was the Robots experience for me, your humble servant. I hope I too may soon call a film of this caliber one of my own.
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