Review of Meet the Robinsons (2007) by Angelica H — 25 May 2012

For much of this film, even though I was being entertained by it, I thought it was geared mostly for kids.....and that's fine. That's what I always thought the target audience was in animated films. I just got spoiled with so many good ones in the last few years that also had a lot of funny material that adults enjoyed, too. Films like "Cars," "Madagascar," "Barnyard." "Chicken Little," "The Polar Express," and so forth. Well, in the end, I have nothing but praise for this film, too, because it had some touching qualities to it that would emotionally involve a person of any age.

This simply turned out to be - at least for me as an adult - a really nice film with a heartfelt message of friendship, family and a sense of belonging. At the same time, it still had enough jokes, charm and colorful animation to make it interesting all the way.

The film goes from so-so kid stuff to very good as soon as our hero "Lewis" and his new friend "Wilbur" go into the latter's world: the future. The most amusing segments of the film revolve around the Robinson family, an eccentric but extremely loving group. That family makes this film tick and, hopefully, we'll see more of them in some future feature-length film. These guys - The Robinsons - are just too entertaining to have their movie "careers" end with only this one film.

The story brings out a very thought-provoking theme to ponder. How would you react if, as a 12-year-old boy, you could meet yourself as an adult perhaps 25 years later....and vice-versa? How incredibly strange that would be? Or to see yourself face-to-face as a small baby?

This movie really digs into deep territory in the last third, which is why, as an adult, I found it getting better and better right to the end.

8.5/10.