This is a time travel movie about a genius orphan and a villain (who simply goes by "Bowler Hat Man" for most of the film). The genius wants to have a family of his own or make a machine so he can go back to see the face of his biological mother--but Bowler Hat Man is more concerned with mucking everything up because....well,....an evil flying hat told him to do this!

This is an agreeable little film and what you think of it is most likely dependent on your age. For younger audiences, they'll probably give it an 8--it's got plenty of kid-oriented plot and action. For adults, they'll probably be far less impressed and think that they are watching Jimmy Neutron--though an agreeable and not particularly annoying incarnation of Neutron. The problem for me is that both ideas were clearly "borrowed" from the TV show DEXTER'S LAB and having that show plus JIMMY NEUTRON plus MEET THE ROBINSONS is getting to be too much. The fact that there are three genius kid shows or movies out there is indication that this is the case of a film that is almost completely derivative. However, despite not being all that new, the CG animation is pretty good and the story has enough new stuff that it's not a total waste of time for adults, so I'll give it a 6 for the older audience--nothing great but agreeable enough so if you are suckered into watching it you won't be miserable!

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Meet the Robinsons. For me this was a decade where animated films were very hit and miss, and while no masterpiece Meet the Robinsons had something that made it memorable and watchable. I do agree the pacing does get a little too hectic, and the villain was a little too stereotyped for my liking, while there are some parts where it wasn't as interesting. That said, visually and technically it is a marvel, with the character designs good and the colours and backgrounds even better. The soundtrack was a great touch too, and while not exactly original the story isn't too predictable, too derivative or too saccharine. Instead it is fun, while the writing is funny and smart while surprisingly complex too. And the voice acting is top notch from all involved. Overall, not an animated classic but nothing to bury either. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Lewis is a 12-year-old orphan and an unrelenting inventor. After 124 failed adoption interviews, he decides to find his mother instead. There are no clues other than the one in his head. He decides to invent a machine to read memories and thereby find a memory of her face when he was a baby. At the school science fair, he encounters 13-year-old Wilbur Robinson who claims to be a time cop hunting the Bowler Hat Guy. The Bowler Hat Guy is after Lewis' memory reading machine and wants to claim it as his own.

There are some interesting ideas and a time-loopy story. The Robinson family is a little too crazy which isn't always fun. There is sometimes an overloading of wacky when animated movies want to stamp the word fun on the screen. It doesn't help that the story requires a bit of effort to work out giving it a sense of chaos.

Part of the movie is to highlight Walt Disney's words "Keep Moving Forward." I'm sure it was in the original requirements of the movie. It's not a catchy phrase. It's funny that Rob Thomas' song "Little Wonders" starts with the words "Let it go". Somehow, Disney eventually landed on a catchier phrase. Also the confrontation with DOR-15/Doris ends too weakly. Lewis could have done that anytime after finding out that Cornelius Robinson invented Doris. The time-loop story is a little difficult which adds to the chaos of the movie. Overall, I like the movie and its concepts.