Robots - Chris Wedge & Carlos Saldanha

From the favourer: Reasons why Robots is great:

Lots of robots

Fun at the end when they're trying to get rid of the evil mother and her son.

Really exciting

Fender laughing then crying. SO SO SO FUNNY

Sweepers take you to the place that you shouldn't go to. The chop-shop. They will get you and turn you into upgrades: shiny metal that no robot should get because it's too much money. Upgrades look cool but I don't think they'd be cool. Robots are okay the way they are.

It's the best. Lots of actions and great stuff

They eat metal

In this very special edition of At the Movies, the role of David will be played by me. Margaret will be played by my three year old son, Luka. (Tim and I have agreed that he's more of a Margaret than a David anyway.)

David: "Hello, and welcome to At The Movies."
Margaret: "I want to watch the robot one."

David: "Rodney Copperbottom is a robot with aspirations. Encouraged by his dish-washing father to follow his dreams and become a famous inventor, Rodney sets out to find Mr Bigweld, the famous head of Bigweld Industries, and convince him to take him on. But once in the city, Rodney discovers that Mr Bigweld isn't that easy to find, and that his company has been taken over by Phineas T. Ratchet, a ruthless businessman who is about to stop production of robot spare parts in favour of more profitable 'upgrades'. Any robots who complain about no longer being able to fix themselves are sent to the Chop Shop and shredded. But Rodney remembers Bigweld's motto: "See a need, fill a need", and starts to repair the older robots himself. Needless to say, Ratchet is not going to tolerate this sort of competition.

The makers of Robots have obviously had a lot of fun creating the bright, lovingly detailed world where everything is mechanical. It's well-paced and not too long, and the stream of gags and catchy tunes should be a hit with the kids without making the parents cringe. The only annoying factor is the unaddressed sexism of the world Robots presents - the female robots are either Stepford Wives or sexbots, the male robots clueless breadwinners. And I don't think I'm being prudish when I say that the scene where the mens and womens toilets are represented by plug and socket symbols is a little crude. What did you think, Margaret?"

Margaret: "I want some avacado toast."
David: "What did you think of the movie?"
Margaret: "I want some avacado toast."
David: "What do you say?"
Margaret: "Please."
David: "All right. Shall I pause the dvd?"
Margaret: *shakes head*

David *makes toast*
Margaret: "It's Mr Bigweld!"
David: *looks over shoulder at tv* "Yeah, it is. What's happening here?"
Margaret: *pause* "I don't know."
David: *sits back down with avacado toast*

David: "I find it interesting that corporate entities are increasingly being cast as the villains in modern childrens films, and that a clear message of 'make do and mend' is making a philosophical comeback."
Margaret: "Hahaha, he farted with his bottom. And they're dancing! I like it when he pushed it over and it went WHOOSH up into the sky, and IT'S MR BIGWELD AGAIN!"

David: "It's certainly not a lazy example of animated cinema, either. The creative effort that has gone into building this film is impressive, and the bright colour palette really accentuates the inventive detail."
Margaret: *picks nose*
David: "Don't pick your nose, Margaret, it'll bleed."
Margaret: "I like the dancing."
David: "Ah yes, I've heard the final sequence was laboriously mapped onto human lindy hop dancers to get the movements just right."



Margaret: "In the bit before, he did a fart.Can we watch it again?"
David: "Maybe later."

David: "Three and a half stars from me."