Today’s quick review: Robot. After ten years of work, Dr. Vaseegaran (Rajinikanth) has completed his life’s work: Chitti (Rajinikanth), an advanced humanoid robot. But in an attempt to perfect Chitti’s programming, Vaseegaran gives the robot human emotions, causing it to fall in love with Sana (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), his neglected girlfriend.
Robot is an Indian science fiction action movie. Robot is the story of a love triangle that escalates out of control. The movie fuses several different strains of storytelling, including action, romance, musical, and comedy. Special effects-laden action sequences coexist with up-tempo dance numbers and jokes about Chitti’s literal-mindedness. The result is a unique, amusing movie that wears its heart on its sleeve.
Robot’s quality is mixed. The special effects are rough but put to good use in creative action scenes that make the most of Chitti’s superhuman abilities. The story is simple in principle but packed with details that help flesh it out. The musical numbers serve as light, well-choreographed interludes, while a steady stream of humor balances out the elements of drama.
Robot has odd pacing. At a low level, the movie proceeds rapidly, flitting quickly from shot to shot and jumping wholeheartedly into even the most insignificant tangents. But as a whole, Robot is a slow movie that clocks in at nearly three hours. The movie takes over an hour to set up its main conflict, and its long musical numbers slow it down even further. Most scenes are enjoyable but not essential.
Give Robot a shot if you are in the mood for an earnest, unusual variant on the sci-fi genre. Its length and cultural differences make it a heavy investment, but those willing to put in the effort will be treated to a special experience. Just steer clear if you prefer more guarded movies. Also skip it if you are looking for a tight plot, plausible speculation, or high art.
7.1 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for creative action and an enjoyable tone.