DVD Review: “Meet the Robinsons”

Based on a children’s book by William Joyce, the plot centers on a young orphan-turned-inventor named Lewis. He sets out to find his birth mother, only to meet a mysterious boy named Wilbur, who claims to be from the future on a mission to stop the Bowler Hat Guy. When Lewis’s invention is stolen, he has to travel to the future to retrieve it, and meets Wilbur’s crazy family, who accept Lewis as one of their own. Maybe I’m spoiled in this time of Pixar, but I found this movie a bit lacking. It’s full of bubbly, exuberant energy, but it sometimes works to the movie’s detriment. The plot flies all over the place, and doesn’t really focus on any one of the overabundant themes at play. It does finally settle on the Keep Moving Forward mantra, which complements the optimistic outlook of the movie. The visuals are also pretty impressive, especially the art-deco-styled future. The future family that Lewis meets is interesting at first, but they’re so wacky that the wackiness ends up feeling forced. They’re very one-dimensional, defined exclusively by their quirks. However, I did like Adam West’s turn as a space-faring pizza guy and the food fight which resembled an old kung-fu movie. Special features include deleted scenes, director commentary, two music videos, a family tree game and featurettes about the development of the movie (interesting) and about inventors that shaped the world, which ends up being an advertisement for Disneyland (blah). An optimistic, funny but flawed film.