“Robot Dreams” Review: Life in the City

Robot Dreams impresses with its delightful art style and thematic maturity.

In both hilarity and heartbreak, Robot Dreams soars past any initial expectations based on the film’s poster. One might assume the 2D animated robot and dog characters walking arm in arm in 1980s New York would ultimately be too simplistic for anyone over ten to remain entertained, especially when those characters are accurately named “Robot” and “Dog.” However, Robot Dreams surpasses its potential thematic simplicity and hammy comedy in much the same way as its visual contemporaries, such as Bojack Horseman. Using the delightfully quaint art style to deliver mature commentary on life in the city and the nature of meaningful relationships, Robot Dreams nearly manages to completely stuff its protracted runtime with either clever visual gags or emotional beats too effective to resist.

Following the titular “Dog,” introduced as a loner playing 8 bit PONG against himself, Robot Dreams immediately presents its greatest strengths. Visual gags abound, delightful detail in the animation, and effective visual storytelling mark the first five minutes as an impressive teaser for what’s to come. Specifically, the cinematography is an immediate standout that only improves as the story develops. While there may not be a camera, or even any tangible space, the feeling of location is evoked through the “camera’s” unique placement. Jarring high angles, the camera being placed within objects, or compositionally beautiful wides are all present to a degree that gives this animated film a distinct cinematic style. Intentional framing is necessary to tell a story without words, and Robot Dreams manages to establish a storytelling identity all its own. For example, entire scenes will often have the subject perform an action in the background of a scene, placing equal visual focus on our main characters and the world around them. It’s visually unique in an art-style that is comforting with its immediate familiarity, and displays a keen focus during the aesthetic process. No one had to animate the trash can carefully placed in the foreground of a medium two shot 48 minutes into the film, but because it made for a better composition, the effort was made. This attention to detail in cinematography reveals the passion behind this work, and the emotional effect is just as strong as the framing that elicits it.

After losing to himself, Dog sees an ad for a new purchasable companion. The next day, Dog and Robot are best of friends as a pair could be. Delightful vignettes make for a narratively light experience that could dull some viewers, but to those who can’t enjoy the pleasures of a robot and dog learning to value the world around them through renditions of 80s classics and clever animal-based visual gags, I simply feel sorry. However, not every escapade is pure excitement, as a trip to the beach interrupts the breezy summer time activity Robot and Dog enjoy when Robot is rusted to the point of immobility. With the beach closing the next day, Dog has no choice but to wait an entire year to reclaim his friend.

In the meantime, the audience is treated to a more mature thematic exploration of city sprawl and relationships than expected. Upon viewing I immediately wondered why this film takes place in 1980s New York; what is the reason behind this specific time and place? It’s within Dog’s timid nature, Robot’s zest for discovery, and the film’s framing of the city’s diverse population where we find the answer. In a story that follows a self-isolating, timid dog paired with an adventurous robot experiencing the world for the first time, what better location to teach them lessons of companionship and appreciation for the world around them than the big city. New York is a world in and of itself, with an urban landscape that refuses to silence itself for even a moment. Dog is scared of the punk rock pigs in the subway, roller skates with the hipster lions in central park, and never dares a dunk attempt on the basketball playing giraffe. There is life in this rendition of New York, excitement and personality around every colorful street corner that serves to develop our leads. Thematically, the location of New York has a potential that I believe is fully realized in how the film’s attention to detail translates to depicting the city in a way that moves our characters down their central arcs.

With a hyper-focus on the minutiae of 80s New York, one may find themselves no longer surprised at the film’s mature ending, but certainly emotionally engaged. Again, for a seemingly simplistic film, Robot Dreams works to deliver a message more nuanced than “learn to love.” Instead, Robot and Dog’s plights reveal the intricacies of an impermanent relationship, and how a fleeting connection does not have to be a failed one. Narrative devices such as flashbacks and dream sequences are used to emotionally devastate, making for a film that, again without words, manages to draw tears from both laughter and pure heart.

That being said, the film does leave some of its potential unrealized. For example, a moment where Robot sees another of its kind being bullied by his five year old ruler, its expression unflinching in its clear ambivalence. This robot undeniably hates its existence, and Robot’s recognition that sadness is an option in this world, never mind the fact that he could be doomed to experiencing it for eternity for no reason outside of the fact his consciousness costs less than a New York bagel, made me excited for what was to come. How would the film tackle this issue that itself clearly establishes as a possibility in this world? Well, it doesn’t, and there are multiple instances of the movie simply presenting an idea instead of expanding upon it. This light shallowness is unexpected from a film I have just spent paragraphs praising for its attention to detail, and I wouldn’t be complaining about what is ultimately a children’s film opting to not address its own ethical dilemmas. That is, if the movie itself didn’t make these complications overtly aware to the viewer. In Robot Dreams, one gets both mature thematic discussion, and bullet point explanations of multiple heady themes.

Besides cutting those extraneous scenes entirely, I wouldn’t have the final film be any other way. Robot Dreams is in love with its world, characters, and presentation. Passion for the product is felt in every animated cheese bubble popping on microwaved pizza and extraneous foreground element for the sake of compositional beauty. Dog and Robot, despite never speaking, have personalities so rich I felt a tear form in the film’s final minutes. While it may not reach its fullest potential, that is only because the film sets itself up for questions that itself doesn't even seem interested in answering. Follow the film’s focus, and you have a surprisingly nuanced, wonderfully animated adventure into 80s New York that promises to delight and engage with unexpected emotional maturity.