Reviews

If you can imagine an auto-enhanced "Gru", then "Mr. Hublot" could be that very man. Unlike "Gru", though, this character isn't a criminal mastermind instead he is a bit of an introvert. He rarely, if ever, leaves his meticulously arranged apartment and has no desire to venture into a city that seems remarkably devoid of human life. Watering his plants on his balcony one day, he espies a rather scabby looking stray mutt whom he ends up adopting. Of course, it too is robotic, so there is a semblance of affinity but for the reclusive gent it's going to prove quite a wrench for him to have to learn to to share his life, his space and - more importantly, an ever-increasing requirement for food! Indeed, it's this latter insatiability that might cause the most upset for "Hublot" - but is he ready? I'd be guessing as to the underlying meaning here, but it did leave me with a sense of the joys of taking risks. Not necessarily sky diving risks, but of leaving the safety of our own nests - physical and/or psychological - and trying new things. The "Metropolis" (1917) style of automotive life lived here is really quite illustrative of elements of modern day isolationism with people becoming more dependent on machines for friends rather than real people and in that way I thought it proved quite a powerful critique on the value of companionship tempered with some daft comedic antics and in it's way it extols some of the virtues of courage.