Robo Jî / Robo-G (2012) - Certainly a different kind of robot - 7/10 (28/05/12)

I had the chance to watch the brand new Japanese comedy movie "Robo G" on an Air Canada flight a couple of days ago and I quite enjoyed this movie. Let's cite the negative things first as there aren't too many. The movie has a couple of lengths towards the middle of the film. Some jokes work very well while other ones seem a little bit too generic to get a laugh. Another bad point is the rather predictable story that offers nothing truly interesting.

The strong points of the movie are its sympathetic and humorous moments in many hilarious slapstick situations when the brand new robot suddenly reveals a couple of weird abilities that put a lot of pressure on the untalented and somewhat lazy creators who have many challenges to hide their biggest secret and make the world believe that their robot is a real one and not only a disguised human. This scenario is nothing original but keeps the entertainment on a high until the very end.

Another big point is the good good acting. The young Japanese star Yuriko Yoshitaka is not only charming and beautiful but also a charismatic actress that plays the role of a somewhat hyperactive and naive but also very smart student. The Japanese actor Mickey Curtis plays a rather unusual and stubborn senior movie hero who slips into the costume of a robot and suddenly gets a star out of his boring and lonesome life as. Next to many superhero movies with young actors and many computer simulations or special effects, his acting is quite refreshing and gives the whole thing a very human and authentic touch. This idea is an interesting alternative to other very human robot movies such as "Short Circuit" or "Wall-E" and quite innovating from that point of view even if the mentioned movies are still more philosophical and touching.

The movie also shows some subtle criticism concerning the Japanese society by portraying an old and lonely man left by his wife who is not quite appreciated and sometimes even ignored by his old friends and his family. His story is touching and quite sad as he tries a lot to get not popular on television but especially within his very own family that doesn't care much about his emotions, his energy and his great acting skills. This side story of the old masked hero creates many funny but also sad moments all along this flick.

In the end, this is a very different kind of your usual robot movie that convinces with a solid acting and a couple of good ideas. On the other side, many lengths and the rather predictable ending rate down this flick that could have hit harder and have been even more innovating at some points. It's certainly a good watch once one DVD or even in your local movie theatre but I would not directly recommend a purchase of this movie.