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Robot Overlords: A Very British Sci-Fi Film

Although ‘Robot Overlords’ may sound like a cheesy ‘80s sci-fi flick, writer and director Jon Wright explains there’s much more to it than that.

It’s already been described as ‘Transformers’ meets ‘Doctor Who’… ‘Robot Overlords’ looks at what might happen to humanity in the wake of a robotic invasion, and who will save the day when your usual sci-fi heroes are nowhere to be found. But I can’t help thinking it’s a lot more subtle than it sounds.

And most of all, it’s a hell of a lot of fun.

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I caught up with ‘Robot Overlords’ writer and director Jon Wright to talk about the film… and discuss why there’s a lot more going for it than you might think.

“It’s a very British sci-fi film,” he said. “But our inspirations were much more American – things like early Spielberg and Amblin movies, particularly ‘The Goonies’ and ‘Stand By Me’, probably ‘E.T.’.”

And that’s all part of its charm.

‘Robot Overlords’ stars Callan McAuliffe, Gillian Anderson and Sir Ben Kingsley, and follows a group of children as they fight back against their dystopian surroundings – in a time when human civilization is completely oppressed by a race of robot overlords, who keep the humans confined to their homes.On the face of it, it’s a very simple premise. But even in its most basic form, the movie has an underlying sense of dread throughout… and when you actually get into thick of it, it’s very clear that this is more than just your usual sci-fi action blockbuster.

In fact, it’s something far more rewarding.

“The reality is, we’re making a film on a British indie budget,” said Wright. “We’ve got a fraction of what the American studios would spend. We can’t compete in terms of spectacle, we can’t knock over as many buildings (which they tend to do in the final act of most movies nowadays) so we’re very much aiming for character – making the characters as honest and true-to-life as possible.”

Of course, this is where ‘Robot Overlords’ really shines.

Sean Flynn is a young lad who is attempting to find his missing father amongst the chaos… and without being able to leave the house. It seems that the entire of humanity has been enslaved, and forced to wear an implant which tracks their movement – if it’s blue they’re indoors, but venturing outside turns the indicator red… and that’s when the trouble begins.

Thankfully, Sean and his friends find a way to disengage their implants. And so they set off to find Sean’s father, and maybe even save humanity in the process.

“I think the more oppressive, eerie tone came out of trying to approach this realistically,” said Wright. “What if this really happened? What would it be like? The central character is an old fairy-tale hero in the sense that, if you go back to Grimm’s fairy tales and the scarier side of children’s stories, you often have a hero who’s unrealistically optimistic. He just thinks he’s going to be okay and everything is going to work out – despite the fact that the situation he’s in is often pretty dire and on the surface it just looks like it’s going to be a disaster.”

“That fairy tale hero gets a magical assist,” he added. “Essentially, the magic sword, the thing that helps him save the day and it comes up unexpectedly from left-field.”

Of course, in ‘Robot Overlords’ it takes a slightly more futuristic approach. In this case, Sean’s implant is replaced during an attempt to harvest his consciousness… but after the gang manage to escape, he is left connected to the network.

And this leaves him with the rather awesome ability to control nearby robots with his mind.

It’s certainly a very visual power to possess… and works incredibly well on the big screen, lending itself to some rather amusing and even action-packed moments. And this is what the film does really well.

Because despite its lower budget, ‘Robot Overlords’ is a very visual story.

“I was making a film for ten-year-old me,” said Wright. “That has kind of worked in the sense that the film sits really well with kids between the age of 8 and 15 – the film is for them.”

“I remember as a kid, when people started explaining the plot, you just really tuned out and didn’t really understand it – weren’t really interested, either. So we tried to make everything as visual as possible.”

But that’s not to say there isn’t a lot more in the movie that can be teased out by the more astute viewers… and that’s where the film really shines.

“The main story is fairly simple and linear and drives forward from one scene to the next… but there’s all kinds of stuff that if you think about the Mediator and the Cube and what they are doing, the robots’ agenda and the psychology of what’s going on, I think there’s a lot there to dig into that’s not actually following the formula.”

Despite its cheesy-sounding exterior, ‘Robot Overlords’ injects a fairly straight-forward plotline with some heavy-hitting drama… and a dystopian setting that makes you wonder exactly how well you would handle the same situation.

‘Robot Overlords’ is an action-packed romp through ‘80s sci-fi classics… a must-see for sci-fi fans. And it has a lot more to say than you might think.

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Picture Credit: Signature Entertainment