Of course, the casting of the voice-actors didn’t help. All of the famous names in the world won’t do a thing if the voices don’t suit the characters, or if the acting is flat. And let’s not forget the disastrous mistake of casting Robin Williams as Fender; while Williams has an amazing range as a live-action actor that would surprise many familiar only with his comic side, as an animation voice-actor he’s typecast and overdone. At this point his voice acting pretty much typifies a character and locks it into a certain role; congratulations, you've just created the Genie from Aladdin with a detachable crank. Every zany, goofball, spastic sidekick out there has been voiced by either Robin Williams or Billy Crystal. Enough already.
It’s a PG film that’s still more suited for children than teens or above. It’s not meant to be great cinema, but if Finding Nemo can manage it so adroitly, then obviously it can be done. Robots’ attempt at visual greatness resulted in nothing more than a sparkly piece of tinfoil that looks nice in the lights, but can’t remain cohesive under pressure. The glowing reviews that I’ve read have made me wonder when film critics became the next evolutionary step up from raccoons: beings who will laud anything as long as it’s pretty and shiny enough.
I will say that it did make me laugh in a few spots, and I did enjoy the ending, although it lacked in any “oomph” and didn’t really help at all to tie up the many, many loose ends left flailing around. It would take a landfill’s worth of dirt to fill in the gaps in the plot, and I’m starting to think that the writers spent more time in Madame Gasket’s chop-shop than the bots themselves. In all it wasn’t worth the money that I spent to see it; nor do I think it was worth the money that was spent to make it. It was a waste of effort, and a waste of the animators’ talents.
The lesson here, to all animators and aspiring animators, is this: good animation isn’t just about visual fireworks. If you don’t have the entire package—good dialogue, good story, believable characters, good timing, and a good voice and soundtrack mix—the problematic areas will eclipse the areas where you’re trying to shine, and turn something that could be wonderful into something that’s mediocre and disappointing. Those who remember this are the ones that become greats. Those that don’t....well, let’s just say that your reputation will follow you.
