MORE THAN ROBOTS – Review

The movies have helped to propel our fascination (especially kids) with mechanical men. And women, since one of cinema’s most iconic fantasy images comes from the silent era, namely the female facsimile of Maria played by Brigitte Helm in the Fritz lang classic METROPOLIS, which in turn inspired the look of C-3PO in the Star Wars franchise. In those fifty years in between, there was the clunkier Tin Man of THE WIZARD OF OZ, countless slow-moving metal menaces in cheesy sci-fi and horror flicks and serials. leading to the more whimsical Robby the Robot in FORBIDDEN PLANET (who’s a not-too-distant relation of the Robot from TV’s “Lost in Space”). And there are countless more human-looking “artificials” in WESTWORLD and the many Terminator incarnations. We’re not quite there, though there have been “bot-building” contests and competitions for teens over the last thirty years. That’s the focus of this new feature-length doc which follows several of those teens from around the globe striving to show that their passion encompasses MORE THAN ROBOTS.

The camera crews are truly “globe-hopping” as they profile the different high school teams prepping for the 2019 FIRST Robotics Competition, an event begun by Dean (Mr. Segway) Kamen as a way to motivate and inspire young minds. After a brief prologue set at the big contest, the film jumps back three months to introduce several hopeful entrants. There are a couple of California-based students interviewed. In El Segundo, Jacob is proud to be part of his school’s team (each has a number and a creative name) #4201 the Vitruvian Bots, while over in Compton, Aaron has high hopes for#6904, the Terawatts. From there they skip across the “pond” to Chiba Japan where Kanon has arrived from Minnesota to be a mentor to the just-formed team at the Chiba Institute of Technology, Sakura Tempesta. And south of our border young Mariana is a big part of team #4010, Nautilis out of Mexico City. After Winter break, the different teams meet at a preview event to find out what the theme for the year requires in the way of tasks for their devices. FIRST has teamed with Lucasfilm ( a producer on this film also) as part of the Star Wars: A Force for Change initiative, and a fabled cast member of that movie franchise briefs them via video on the “mission”. Their robots will have to gather up spongy yellow balls, shoot them into hole-like “ports” (getting points for every ball going in). and then have the robots pull themselves up and balance on a lowered pole (though it resembles a huge coat hanger). Then the kids are off and running after getting a big box of assigned materials. The filmmakers follow them and their teachers and mentors through the whole process, full of long hours and mechanical “snafus”.Everyone’s laser-focused on the Spring event, not knowing that the year 2020 has a few “surprises” in store for them.

Hot on the heels of LUCY AND DESI just a couple of weeks ago, this new film marks the documentary feature debut of yet another talented comic (mainly) actress, Gillian Jacobs (best known for the TV series “Community” and soon to be seen in THE CONTRACTOR). With the confidence of an old “doc pro” Jacobs deftly balances the personal stories of the global quartet with a history of the FIRST tournies and a sweeping, up-close, in the middle of the action, overview of the big event that they’ve all working toward. The energy and enthusiasm of the young people are infectious as they scurry about, making last-minute “fixes” and cheering each other on to new heights. She captures the fervent mania of the big FIRST event which almost feels like the college basketball annual tournaments (like “March Madness”), but a big difference is extolled by the participants and the founder, Kamen. The sting of competition is softened by the fact that the teams merge, two become one, in the final challenges, learning to work together and build on their ideas and strengths. Sure, it’s mainly a “feel good” modern fable, but Jacobs shows us that all the tests and ‘trial runs” can be for naught as the machines seemingly refuse to function. But there are no wailing and gnashing of teeth (braces mostly) displays of dramatic despair, rather an “Oh well, back to the drawing board (or laptop)”. Plus there’s the unexpected element of suspense as Jacobs lets our knowledge of the early 2020 world events creep in, making the plans of the teams more poignant. And again, when the world “stopped” they go on to use their skills in another arena with a very different set of goals. We come away feeling that, yes, “the kids are alright” because their dreams are about much MORE THAN ROBOTS.

3 Out of 4

MORE THAN ROBOTS begins streaming exclusively on Disney+ on Friday, March 18, 2022