Just when you thought The Incredibles couldn't be bettered, along comes Robots. Chris Wedge's animated extravaganza, an inspirational feel-good tale set in an all-mechanised planet, is both a visually inventive treat and a simple tale brilliantly told.
It lacks the in-jokes with which The Incredibles strove to keep adults entertained, but this is no bad thing. With Robots, kids and grown-ups alike can enjoy a witty script as polished as C3PO and animation streets ahead of Wedge's first feature, Ice Age. Adults may appreciate the voice-over cast, which includes five Oscar winners and unites Ewan McGregor, Mel Brooks, Halle Berry and Robin Williams.
The story begins with robot couple Mr and Mrs Copperbottom "making a baby" - from a kit. Young Rodney Copperbottom (McGregor) grows up to become a wannabe inventor, inspired by Bigweld (Brooks), a metal magnate dedicated to improving the lot of ironclad folk everywhere.
In the big city, though, Rodney finds Bigweld usurped by the wicked Ratchet (Greg Kinnear), who wants to sell pricy, shiny new bodies to robots who can afford them, and scrap those who can't.
Will Rodney and his ramshackle crew of clapped-out rustbuckets win the day? Take a wild guess. The narrative springs no surprises, but there are plenty in the animation. Wedge gives his robots the retro look of Fifties kitchen appliances, and has fun with the detail of their mechanised world, right down to robot dogs molesting talking lamp-posts, and a girl-bot taking her makeup off with a sander. There's a mind-boggling battle scene, and a fine comic turn from Williams as a droid quite literally losing his head.
The quality bar for animated features has been higher than ever since Toy Story in 1995, but Robots raises it again. If you miss it, you must have a screw loose.
Robots
Cert: U
