Faded Boxers

Just saw Robots last night, and I was a bit disappointed by how such a visually inventive film could tell a totally flat, if not overused, story. Not that I was expecting a lot, but come on, these are the same guys who made Ice Age. Ok, so maybe Ice Age wasn’t the shit either, but at least it had Denis Leary. All Robots had was Robin Williams, who usually represents a hit or miss affair.

If I’m not staring with an expressionless face at the screen, letting all the flat jokes pass; I’m busy mentally noting story elements that were lifted from other movies. Key plot points were taken from A Bug’s Life (which was inspired by Seven Samurai); and Metropolis (a movie that heavily influenced the Matrix films). Visual cues and homages were taken/given to Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, and Singing in the Rain, to name a few.

Now, lifting plot points from other movies isn’t necessarily a bad thing. God knows that there’s no such thing as an original idea these days. Heck The Incredibles drew inspiration from a ton of sources and it was still TEH FILTHY!

What went wrong with Robots is that it didn’t try to go beyond its source material. It relied too heavily on the appeal of said sources, and didn’t bother to even try to offer something new. Granted that scenes like the Crosstown Express and the Domino Surfing sequences were highly enjoyable, such creativity was a commodity that the Art Department held a monopoly on.

But what am I complaining about? It’s a kiddie movie so I was willing to check my brain at the door. Still, I couldn’t stop asking myself: “What are we teaching our kids if the practice of handing in recycled ideas becomes acceptable?”