Film: Meet the Robinsons

Disney CGI animation about a young orphan discovering his future as well as a new found confidence against failure. Yada yada yada. With no Pixar or star voices, I took a bit of a punt with this one. I've mentioned before how I feel about the proliferation of CGI animations and the inevitable lack of quality that will bring, and so a main reason I went to see this was cos it was the shortest film available on a Friday night.

I didn't regret it though. Animation and direction were all fine (as they are with these things nowadays), and the film was well built technically. As always with animations it really comes down to the script, and with respect to that Meet the Robinsons didn't disappoint.

The thing that saved the film was the comedy. There were some genuinely funny laugh out loud moments, usually involving the villain, Goob. I can't remember the last time I've laughed at such simple slapstick - I usually disregard visual comedy as not deep enough. This just got right to me though, and it's a quality I recognise as something quite special. And although she was no Helen Parr, Franny was pretty hot too. For, uh, a cartoon character that is. Right.

It wasn't perfect though. The start was way too slow and as a result the ending felt a bit rushed - I wouldn't have minded another half hour or so. Also it didn't quite tug on the heartstrings as much as it could have done, but then it was hard to take any of it too seriously. Especially Goob. He was hilarious.

Overall though, this was not a genuine Disney-Pixar, and it's clear that the former has a long way to go before establishing itself in its own right. Still, Meet the Robinsons is encouraging though, and if this is a taste of things to come then I'm happy.

I wonder if Pixar will be as successful on their own?