Robots
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: March 11, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New York PostKyle Smith
24-karat stuff, even if it has a soul of tin. With the voices of Ewan McGregor, Robin Williams and Mel Brooks, Robots is a giddy erector-set update of "Toy Story" with a splash of "The Wizard of Oz." Read full review
100
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Full of wit, charm and wonder. It's so hilarious, you might blow a gasket. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Like "Finding Nemo," this is a movie that is a joy to behold entirely apart from what it is about. It looks happy, and, more to the point, it looks harmonious. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Zippy, enjoyable sci-fi slapstick jamboree. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Corliss
Robots goes for a color scheme that is cool, muted, instantly aged. Director Chris Wedge wants the eye to concentrate on the gags he and his writers (including veteran comedy craftsmen Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel) have stuffed into the film. Read full review
80
VarietyJoe Leydon
It's meant as high praise to say that, very early in Robots, the extraordinary starts to seem perfectly ordinary. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJoshuan Katzmann
The net effect of which is like a prolonged visit to an amusement park--kids will love it. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Jim Broadbent is the wild card in the cast; he screeches and growls his way through Madame Gasket's lines in the best traditions of British drag. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Cluttered as it is colorful, Robots is a visual delight. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
There are a lot of terrific creative energies at play in Robots and they overcome an overreliance on amusement park sensibilities in the animated adventure. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Isn't as trippy, scary, handmade-looking, or environmentally aware as some of Miyazaki's pictures. But it shares their dreaminess. Even at its most ingenious, not even Pixar does that. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Robots never stays in the same gear for long, and the abrupt shifts in tone kill the movie's chances of becoming a classic. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Sure, it's a bit mechanical, but what did you expect? The important thing is that the characters and jokes don't prevent you from grooving on the pleasures of the moving parts. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Clever and charming. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Robots is more than a load of spare parts, but there are some sprockets and rivets missing. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
Wildly inventive, sweetly subversive. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
The amiable but thin comedy Robots does have a little more going on, but not quite enough to make a difference, although it looks good enough to distract viewers from that fact for a while. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Robots doesn't rely on being current, which will ultimately render it as timeless as any great fable. At its center is a big, beating heart. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
For audiences simply looking for easy entertainment and some neat-looking robots along the way. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
The animated tale has flashes of brilliance but seems assembled from cultural flotsam. Read full review
70
Village VoiceBen Kenigsberg
Entertaining enough that it leaves one wishing for more in the way of android mythology—a pint-sized Blade Runner or A.I. The screenplay goes on autopilot, grinding toward a happy ending just when it has a shot at something darker and more memorable. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The voice talent behind Robots reads like a who's who of comic actors...But too much reliance is placed on their star power and not enough on an interesting and fresh idea. Read full review
63
PremierePeter Debruge
There's too much going on to take it all in. It's a shame, really. Robots boasts some of the most vibrant visual design ever captured on screen. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Visually, Robots is fun and imaginative. The wow factor is enhanced in the IMAX version, also opening today. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
If sheer cleverness were everything, Robots would be the best computer-animated cartoon yet…Yet, unlike the very best CG animation, Robots doesn't quite connect with the emotions and humor for which one yearns in cartoons. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
Though the script is best described as mechanical and it takes a while to get into gear, this computer-generated "reach for the stars" story is a well-calibrated piece of entertainment. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
On a storytelling level, Robots is in dire need of an upgrade. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The visuals are spectacular at times, but the screenplay is trite, intermittently vulgar, and just not funny. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
The movie can be funny in fits, but too often the scripters go for the obvious and uninspired. Read full review
50
SlateDavid Edelstein
The visuals have so much intrinsic motion that it's too bad Robots is oppressively rollercoasterish. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The story fails to really engage on any level save the kinetic. Read full review
40
The New York TimesDana Stevens
In the end, though, Robots is hollow and mechanical, an echo chamber of other movies and an awkward attempt to turn the intrinsically scary sensitive-robot theme into something heartwarming and cute. Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The video-game sequences are impressive, but you know that a 'toon is in big trouble when its most powerful theme is planned obsolescence.
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