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BY BRETT MICHEL
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Scrat, the saber-toothed squirrel and breakout star of Chris Wedge & Carlos Saldanha’s 2002 computer-animated Ice Age, hilariously stars in a short film announcing next year’s Ice Age 2. Then Robots, the latest feature from Wedge and Saldanha, begins, reminding you what an unexpected pleasure Ice Age was. Self-help sloganeering ("Shine, no matter what you’re made of!") masquerading as family entertainment, the robotic screenplay, courtesy of ’80s-era writing factory Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, rivets this point for at least an hour, until the fart jokes take over. Visually extravagant but continuing the non-Pixar trend of relying on celebrity talent rather than content, Robots could be subtitled "Shark Tale 2." Ewan McGregor headlines a huge vocal cast as Rodney Copperbottom, a plucky young automaton with dreams of working alongside the Wizard of Oz–like Bigweld (Mel Brooks) in Robot City, a name that conveys the level of invention on display. Robin Williams recycles his now-cliché’d sidekick shtick, embarrassing himself alongside Oscar winners Jim Broadbent and Halle Berry, the latter doing little to erase the memory of Catwoman. Cameos include Jay Leno as a fire hydrant; insert your own piss joke. Full of bolts, but devoid of any nuts, this Robots shoots blanks. At the Apple Valley, Entertainment, Flagship, Harbour Mall, Holiday, Providence Place 16, Showcase, and Tri-Boro cinemas. (90 minutes)
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