THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Robots
(★★★)
PG, 89 minutes,
South Wind 12
*Robots*, an animated children's comedy, captures the child in every viewer. The film is targeted toward a younger audience, but is fairly appealing for all age groups. *Robots* conveys an invaluable message of staying true to oneself, even under extreme scrutiny and disappointment. The movie is extremely entertaining and insanely clever, however, keep in mind...it is for little kiddies.
Rodney (Ewan McGregor) is a young, aspiring inventor who believes in the good in his fellow robots, or "bots" are they are commonly referred. He comes from humble beginnings, and recognizes the need for a change of lifestyle. Rodney leaves his loving mother and supportive father to travel to Robot City, where he dreams of selling his innovative creation to the infamous Bigweld (Mel Brooks). Unfortunately for Rodney, Bigweld, who was once revered for his devotion to
helping the common bot, has surrevered to the powerful yet menacing CEO of his company, Ratchet (Greg Kninwar).
Ratchet operates like a greedy tyrant. He is cruel to older, risky robots that lack the new, improved technology that his company offers. His motto: Why be you when you could be new? Cappy (Halle Berry) is a female, executive inventor in Robot City. She falls in love with Rodney as they attempt to save a species of robots. Fender (Robin Williams) is a quirky yet lovable but whose malfunctions never fail to amuse the audience. He is charismatic and outstanding.
Robots has wonderful underlying principlies. With today's television market saturated with shows such as Dr. 90210 and Extreme Makeover, watching a movie with the message "you are beautiful the way you are" is a breath of fresh air. Although a few of the jokes are rather racy for a younger audience, Robots is enjoyable and witter.
Lauren Debiak
The Sea Inside
(☆☆☆)
PG-13, 125 Minutes,
Liberty Hall
Current events in Florida have brought the issue of death, and the right to die, to a forefront in many American's minds. Proponents for either side of the Terry Schiavo debate might find Alejandro Amenabar's newest film, The Sea Inside, an interesting mirror to this national conflict.
The Sea Inside tells of the true story of Ramón Sampedro, a Spanish quadriplegie who fought for nearly thirty years for legal permission to end his own life. Much of the power of this film is derived from actor Javier Bardem's compelling performance as Ramón. As Ramón pleas with the courts for permission to commit suicide, he is also met with the pleas of those around him to choose life instead.
The story is a powerful one, and it is beautifully shot by Amenabar (Abre los Ojos, The Others) and cinematographer
Javier Aguirresarobe. The problem arises when Aménabar delves into heavy-handed lecturing. As the main characters all devolve into walking stereotypes, I began to think I was watching a Spanish soap opera, or worse yet, a John Slayes movie. John Slayes is an "independent" American filmmaker who loves to filing a bunch of cookie-cutter characters in a room together and have them engage in faux-intelligent conversation.
Unfortunately, it appears that Amenabar has taken a page from Sayles' book, and like Sayles, he uses these characters to not-so-subsist instruct the audience how to think. The tale of Ramón and his wish for death is a powerful topic, but its treatment in this film ultimately comes up short. It you want a polemic on how to feel toward a person's right to die, then you will enjoy this film. But if you're looking for a story and not a snippet then you may need to keep looking.
—Will Lamborn
all images courtesy www.movies.yahoo.com
18
Jayplay 03.31.05