I was originally cued into this movie via google search for "kids movies about robots". My 3 year old has developed a little bit of an obsession with all things robots. From that perspective, that of a 3 year old, this film delivered. He thought the little "B-BOT" was wonderful. Cute, funny, and just the right amount of intrigue. He even burst out laughing multiple points completely unprompted by myself or anyone else. Unfortunately the enjoyment wore off with 30+ minutes left in the film. The film is not especially long, at 1hr 47min. But the finale relies upon a lot of dialog, in an attempt to tie the whole thing together. Causing the kiddos to loose interest.
Possible spoilers ahead:
Now for a parent critique. The film centers on the tech / social media addiction that is plaguing our youth. The whole premise is, some tech bro has created an algorithm for friendship and incorporated it into a little personalized robot. The kids become completely dependent upon their new bot and it has fully integrated into every aspect of their lives. The real life parallels are obvious and frankly kinda creepy at times. Which leads me to my biggest critique. The film seems like it is attempting to tell the story that kids need to get out more. Put the devices down, and actually live life. But that message never truly materializes. It is hinted throughout, but it just never comes to fruition. Instead they try to introduce a cheap "big business" villain and try to manufacture a separate conclusion to the film where all the kids stay addicted to their devices, they just needed to update the "algorithm" so it's no longer bad?? As a parent, the end of the film had me feeling a little bit like a missed opportunity.. but I will admit, the little robots are cute and seemingly quite plausible. There are quite a few enjoyable moments, It just falls a little flat when it comes to messaging and morals. Not bad, just flat.
Possible spoilers ahead:
Now for a parent critique. The film centers on the tech / social media addiction that is plaguing our youth. The whole premise is, some tech bro has created an algorithm for friendship and incorporated it into a little personalized robot. The kids become completely dependent upon their new bot and it has fully integrated into every aspect of their lives. The real life parallels are obvious and frankly kinda creepy at times. Which leads me to my biggest critique. The film seems like it is attempting to tell the story that kids need to get out more. Put the devices down, and actually live life. But that message never truly materializes. It is hinted throughout, but it just never comes to fruition. Instead they try to introduce a cheap "big business" villain and try to manufacture a separate conclusion to the film where all the kids stay addicted to their devices, they just needed to update the "algorithm" so it's no longer bad?? As a parent, the end of the film had me feeling a little bit like a missed opportunity.. but I will admit, the little robots are cute and seemingly quite plausible. There are quite a few enjoyable moments, It just falls a little flat when it comes to messaging and morals. Not bad, just flat.