Robots

Blue Sky Studios, the makers of Ice Age, have embarked on a bigger, bolder though only marginally better follow-up with Robots. Investing a neat concept with moments of great ingenuity and post-modern humour, they fall short on the elements that make rival Pixar the king: story, story and story.

The opening sequence, at least, is a bravura turn. Introducing their fully mechanised world through the small neighbourhood of Rivet Town, a myriad of familiar scenes are given a smart robotic twist. The barber files down his customer's heads with a plane; clockwork pigeons flutter around a bench; a talking litterbin warns a mechanical dog not to raise its leg. We meet dishwasher Herb Copperbottom (voiced by Tucci), whose chest literally opens up to fill with dirty plates, ecstatically racing home for the delivery of his new son. And yes, that means in a box of parts requiring assembly (cue cute jokes on the fun business of "making a baby").

Son Rodney dreams of being an inventor and the grown-up model (voiced by McGregor) takes off to Robot City where he hopes to meet legendary designer Big Weld (Brooks). Unfortunately Rodney's timing is a little off. A corporate takeover by henchman Ratchet (Kinnear) is in progress, with plans to scrap availability of spare parts for 'bots in favour of expensive upgrades (slogan: 'Why Be You When You Can Be New?'). Shunned by the company, Rodney falls in with a bunch of scavenging 'Rusties' led by Fender (Williams) and his kid sister Piper (Bynes). Somehow this band of outmoded misfits, aided by sympathetic company gal Cappy (Berry), have to take down Ratchet, restore Big Weld and get Robot City functioning again.

Clearly director Chris Wedge and his design team have put a huge effort into their robot world, favouring a retro look of pulleys, cranks, wheels and knobs which lend personality to the characters and their locations. The CG look is well suited to such textures and movements, avoiding the tricky replication of humans that often stymies computer animators. The highlight is probably Robot City's transportation system - a Heath Robinson-esque rollercoaster ride - and the numerous frenetic action scenes are generally handled with flair.

It's when things quieten down - which doesn't happen all that often - that Wedge and Co. lose the plot, along with their story. All the sleek design and witty in-jokes (many of which - Britney Spears, anyone? - have a very limited shelf life) can't save a narrative that sets up a promising idea only to resolve it in all-too convenient ways that prevent you really caring for the characters. The voices are adequate, though for all his energy Robin Williams's manic improv gifts will never suit a character as well as they did Aladdin's Genie. Still, any film that shows its villain's love of Kenny G's woeful muzak, or has Tom Waits clanking along on the soundtrack, has something to recommend it.