Movie Review: Meet the Robinsons

Starring:
Angela Basset, Daniel Hansen, Matthew Josten, John H. Ford, Paul Butcher, Laurie Metcalf, Wesley Singerman, Stephen J. Anderson

Director:
Stephen J. Anderson (Journey Beneath the Sea)

MPAA Rating:
G

Release Date:
March 2007

My Two Cents:
Brilliant preteen inventor Lewis creates a memory scanner to retrieve his earliest recollections and find out why his mother gave him up for adoption. But when the villainous Bowler Hat Man steals the machine, Lewis is ready to give up on his quest, until the mysterious Wilbur Robinson shows up on the scene, whisking Lewis to the future to find the scanner. When Lewis meets Wilbur’s family, for the first time in his life he feels at home. They are all wacky and odd, but they love each other and are always together. After a while The Robinsons offer to adopt Lewis, but after Wilbur reveals a mind-shattering secret, it becomes clear Lewis has to go back to his own time. Unfortunately, the Bowler Hat Guy has messed up the past and now the future has changed, bringing chaos and enslavement to the entire human race. Lewis must use his genius and figure out how to save the world, literally.

We’re so used to watching CG movies from Pixar it’s odd to see one from Disney that was produced by a different animation studio. It is based on the 1990 William Joyce book entitled A Day with Wilbur Robinson, but for whatever reason the title was changed for the movie adaptation.



I have to mention that I watched this on Blu-ray, and it looks freaking gorgeous! The textures detail is insane, and everything in the future looks so shiny and delicious. The characters themselves are very cartoony and rubbery, but everything else looks spectacular. This is a terrific transfer that takes full advantage of the 1080p resolution. I love hand-drawn animation, but CG movies like this are something else. This is what HD is for, baby!

While it’s not as fun or interesting as most Pixar’s films like The Incredibles or Toy Story, it’s still good, clean, old-fashioned, warm and fuzzy. There’s all sorts of insane characters and events, like singing frogs, a dinosaur, wacky inventions and a time machine, so kids will not be bored. Adults may not finding as fun, but it’s charming enough and worth watching. After a few dull sequences the movie does pick up and the ride to the end becomes much sweeter than I anticipated.

Score: