Today’s post begins with a fractal called Moving On: I picked it not so much because I felt that it related to anything covered here but rather to remind myself that I need to be “moving on” with this blog if I’ intend to keep writing. We’ll be seeing several plays in the near future and it’s almost “summer blockbuster” season so we’ll have tons of movies to review. In the interest of catching up, I’ll review “Meet the Robinsons” now . . .
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I must confess I went in to the theater to see Meet the Robinsons with rather low expectation: something in the advertising campaign made me wonder if maybe I’d already seen the best part of the movie in the previews. And then there was the pesky problem of it taking seven (yes seven) screenwriters to transform the famous (again I missed this one) children’s book into a movie. I went in expect little and that’s pretty much what I got.
I must confess I went in to the theater to see Meet the Robinsons with rather low expectation: something in the advertising campaign made me wonder if maybe I’d already seen the best part of the movie in the previews. And then there was the pesky problem of it taking seven (yes seven) screenwriters to transform the famous (again I missed this one) children’s book into a movie. I went in expect little and that’s pretty much what I got.
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Meet the Robinsons is a pretty typical time travel story: each and every clichéd plot complication and contrived limitation is right up there on the screen and they creak along regular as clockwork. (Listen closely--you'll hear the creaking under the soundtrack.) Does it make it a bad story? Not really. Yes, any Sci Fi fan as seen it many, many times before: still, the story is handled deftly and there are some good jokes for the whole family. Even younger children will have no trouble following the plot and enjoy the humor. Anyone over the age of Twelve can find something to laugh at. Most of the jokes aren’t even remotely original but they are handled well enough and come at a fast enough pace that you won’t have time to think about that. In my opinion the single best joke in the whole movie involves Tom Selleck. (I won’t reveal it here: go see the movie if you want to find out what I’m talking about.)
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Meet the Robinsons is a pretty typical time travel story: each and every clichéd plot complication and contrived limitation is right up there on the screen and they creak along regular as clockwork. (Listen closely--you'll hear the creaking under the soundtrack.) Does it make it a bad story? Not really. Yes, any Sci Fi fan as seen it many, many times before: still, the story is handled deftly and there are some good jokes for the whole family. Even younger children will have no trouble following the plot and enjoy the humor. Anyone over the age of Twelve can find something to laugh at. Most of the jokes aren’t even remotely original but they are handled well enough and come at a fast enough pace that you won’t have time to think about that. In my opinion the single best joke in the whole movie involves Tom Selleck. (I won’t reveal it here: go see the movie if you want to find out what I’m talking about.)
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Like most computer animation (the Shrek franchise being the notable exception) the visuals are slick to the point of giving everything a plastic sheen. (In this movie though, it actually works: the characters all look and act like dolls.) I particularly enjoyed the brief shot of Tomorrowland when Lewis first arrives in the future. (Robyn missed that until I pointed it out to her.) The visuals look great on a big screen but I suspect they will hold up quite well on your TV at home. All the voice actors (most of whom I recognized but few of whom I could actually name) did a fine job--especially considering how little they had to work with.
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In the end, Meet the Robinsons is harmless and safe family fun--a safe movie for parents to take their kids to that won't be the older OR younger generation. It isn’t destined to go down in history is one of the great movies of our time but it is a pleasant enough way to while away a couple of hours to while away the time.
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FINAL GRADE: C+
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