Fun futuristic fest in Disney's latest animated offering
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Meet The Robinsons
Cast: Jordan Fry, Angela Bassett, Wesley Singerman, Adam West, Tom Selleck, Stephen J Anderson
Director: Stephen J Anderson
Genre: Animation, Adventure
DISNEY'S Meet The Robinsons is the first 3-D animated movie without Pixar's name on it since their merge last year, as the two giant companies have recently created a corporate dispute among themselves.
Critics immediately slammed this newest venture, saying it could have used the Pixar touch (even though it was created together with Pixar) and that it is nowhere near Pixar's highly acclaimed achievements like Toy Story and Finding Nemo. But, so what? Digitally, it is still considered a masterpiece from Disney (and Pixar) with a nice story to back it up.
Meet The Robinsons is about an orphaned boy who at 12 is already exuding inventive ingenuity the likes of Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. But while he tries to impress potential adoptive parents with his inventions, somehow they always go awry.
Lewis is different from other boys his age the typical out-door kids who love sports and being in the company of friends his one and only hobby is staying at home tinkering with junk and turning them into useful gizmos and gadgets. However, that said, Lewis lacks no personality and is even lovable at first sight. In my opinion, he should have been snatched up long ago rather than having to sit through more than a hundred rejection (yes, the poor boy kept count).
And that brings us to the film's downside. Its story progression is somewhat weak with no fixed direction for the first half. It could very likely be due to half a dozen writers credited to this project a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth?
Everything happens too fast without clear-cut explanations, more so when Lewis encounters a teenager from the future, Wilbur Robinson, who suddenly whisks him off into the future just to boost his confidence as an inventor.
But once we get there, our attention is diverted on Disney's take on what the future could, or should, be. Flying vehicles (of course), people travel from place to place inside unending tubes, walking substituted with floating inside a transparent bubble, buildings that build themselves in a single second and a bunch of singing frogs paying tribute to Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack.
The visuals are marvellous as they take viewers into a world of beautiful colours and drawings.
And when the plot is finally revealed, that's when the whole story really comes together as Lewis discovers he has to save the future a little too similar to the classic Back To The Future, but that's what time travelling is all about, isn't it?
The complexity of it all can leave younger viewers confused but with all the fun characters, their eccentric personalities, the blundering villain and that pesky head-too-big-arms-too-short T-Rex, no child will be left unsatisfied, and might provoke a rush to the store for their favourite characters.
But what about the adults? If I were to be picky about it, then yes, the whole Robinson family is just too huge to keep up with.
There is no focus on any one character even though there is that family dinner to get to know each one of them better (so much for "meeting" the Robinsons).
But unlike many animated movies before this, there are plenty of jokes with no vulgarity aimed at the adults. They will, indeed, bring out the chuckles from the parents who may feel obliged to take their kids to this outing. Also, the references made to other famous characters like ET, R2-D2 and C3-PO from Star Wars, and even Bruce Lee, all blend in without making it looked forced.
So is the movie worth the watch? I would say yes. It is the ideal family movie, entertaining and heart-warming, with the underlying message of "keep moving forward" which everyone can take home.
But I have a feeling the book by children's author William Joyce, from which this movie is adapted, is much better.
Reviewer's Rating: 7/10
The Brunei Times
Cast: Jordan Fry, Angela Bassett, Wesley Singerman, Adam West, Tom Selleck, Stephen J Anderson
Director: Stephen J Anderson
Genre: Animation, Adventure
DISNEY'S Meet The Robinsons is the first 3-D animated movie without Pixar's name on it since their merge last year, as the two giant companies have recently created a corporate dispute among themselves.
Critics immediately slammed this newest venture, saying it could have used the Pixar touch (even though it was created together with Pixar) and that it is nowhere near Pixar's highly acclaimed achievements like Toy Story and Finding Nemo. But, so what? Digitally, it is still considered a masterpiece from Disney (and Pixar) with a nice story to back it up.
Meet The Robinsons is about an orphaned boy who at 12 is already exuding inventive ingenuity the likes of Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. But while he tries to impress potential adoptive parents with his inventions, somehow they always go awry.
Lewis is different from other boys his age the typical out-door kids who love sports and being in the company of friends his one and only hobby is staying at home tinkering with junk and turning them into useful gizmos and gadgets. However, that said, Lewis lacks no personality and is even lovable at first sight. In my opinion, he should have been snatched up long ago rather than having to sit through more than a hundred rejection (yes, the poor boy kept count).
And that brings us to the film's downside. Its story progression is somewhat weak with no fixed direction for the first half. It could very likely be due to half a dozen writers credited to this project a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth?
Everything happens too fast without clear-cut explanations, more so when Lewis encounters a teenager from the future, Wilbur Robinson, who suddenly whisks him off into the future just to boost his confidence as an inventor.
But once we get there, our attention is diverted on Disney's take on what the future could, or should, be. Flying vehicles (of course), people travel from place to place inside unending tubes, walking substituted with floating inside a transparent bubble, buildings that build themselves in a single second and a bunch of singing frogs paying tribute to Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack.
The visuals are marvellous as they take viewers into a world of beautiful colours and drawings.
And when the plot is finally revealed, that's when the whole story really comes together as Lewis discovers he has to save the future a little too similar to the classic Back To The Future, but that's what time travelling is all about, isn't it?
The complexity of it all can leave younger viewers confused but with all the fun characters, their eccentric personalities, the blundering villain and that pesky head-too-big-arms-too-short T-Rex, no child will be left unsatisfied, and might provoke a rush to the store for their favourite characters.
But what about the adults? If I were to be picky about it, then yes, the whole Robinson family is just too huge to keep up with.
There is no focus on any one character even though there is that family dinner to get to know each one of them better (so much for "meeting" the Robinsons).
But unlike many animated movies before this, there are plenty of jokes with no vulgarity aimed at the adults. They will, indeed, bring out the chuckles from the parents who may feel obliged to take their kids to this outing. Also, the references made to other famous characters like ET, R2-D2 and C3-PO from Star Wars, and even Bruce Lee, all blend in without making it looked forced.
So is the movie worth the watch? I would say yes. It is the ideal family movie, entertaining and heart-warming, with the underlying message of "keep moving forward" which everyone can take home.
But I have a feeling the book by children's author William Joyce, from which this movie is adapted, is much better.
Reviewer's Rating: 7/10
The Brunei Times
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