Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Robotropolis'

Written by Scott Edwards

Everybody has thought of what they can do to make the world a better place but considering where the problems are for the common person, we usually do not get to see our dreams become reality. The richest of the rich are able to pull more strings to make their dreams come true and even have a chance to witness said dream come to life in their lifetimes.  

Gordon Standish is the ultimate rich nerd that has turned his dreams into reality. Being the first person to implement the full roll out of robots into his oil fields, his next goal is to have robots in every city in the world. Trying his hardest to stay positive in the public eye, Standish gives his first public interview on the GNN network to try to make sure everyone is on board with his new roll out. New Town is the first town to have robots roaming freely around and although there is not a huge rift between the humans and androids, there is some tension mounting.

Christiane Nouveau is leading the interview with Standish and is looking to make a name for herself.  With her soon to be ex-boyfriend producer leading her with the correct questions to ask at all times, they make the perfect reporting team. Christiane moves from the interview to a look at practical applications as the team discovers a group of men playing soccer with a robot. With her camera team doing their best to catch all of the money shots, they also capture the image of the robot shooting one of the humans on the field. Knowing they have captured something huge, Christiane’s producer Jason, urges her to pursue the story.  

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A robot killing, unprovoked for that matter, is a sign that the mechanical counterparts have developed free will into their programming. Experts are not comfortable with this as the robots are supposed to co-exist with the human race, not hunt and destroy them. As Christiane digs deeper into the current problem at hand, she finds that it is much more dangerous than just one machine going bad, but all of the robots in New Town are hunting and killing every person they can find. No longer being able to control the robots from home base, Standish tries to devise of a way to shut them down before his lifelong dream turns into everyone else’s nightmare. 

Robotropolis follows Christiane Nouveau and her new team as they stumble onto something more dangerous than a common robot malfunction. As her search gets more in-depth, she finds that there is not a solid answer as to what is happening, except that no place is safe with the robots on their current rampage. Gordon Standish was held in the highest regards for his work in bringing his dream, a symbiotic relationship between human and robots, to life, but seeing how fast his dream was taken away from him in just a few hours following a news report, is nothing short of devastating. Trying everything within his power to bring the robot uprising to an end, he finds that one of his own holds the answer as to why the robots have turned and why the failsafe’s were removed.  

This is one of those ‘what if’ movies that are fun to let play around in your mind. What if robots were so powerful that no one could control them? What if they received a virus that could change their programming and rather than help the human race, they try to exterminate it? These could be valid questions and that is what the movie takes a shot at. With some fun special effects and a robot uprising, this is a pretty good film even if all of your questions are not answered as it ends. As technology starts to grow and people continue to make their dreams come true, it is good to be prepared as these dreams will start to effect more than individuals, but the world.  ​

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