BlinkyTM (2011) Reviews

• A bit more subtlety would have made it better but the effects are very well done

  bob the moo2014-03-30

  A boy decides he wants a robot companion like the friendly, smiling Blinky™ that he sees on the TV adverts. His parents oblige and he finds himself with a great friend and servant who never tires and always does what he is told. However, while the boy has this friend he has to see his parent's relationship deteriorate in front of him. This short film has a nice air in brooding tension and it builds it pretty well across the film. The main selling point is of course in the area of the visual effects because for a short film these are very well done. Blinky looks convincingly real for the majority of the time, but he also has a nice sense of menace in the way that all dead-eyed staring and smiling things do; he feels wrong even when he is so clearly just a loyal robotic dog of a thing. So on this level it works but the problem is that the narrative moves us too quickly and the further it goes the more blatant it gets. This is seen very quickly as the brooding menace becomes almost comic excess, whether it be the melodramatics of the boy yelling at the robot or final shots. This disappointed me a bit because it felt like the leaps were too big and undercut the nice build up it had mostly done. It does still work for what it is and the visual effects are well worth a look, but at times it appeared much smarter and more subtle that it ultimately turned out to be, and it was hard not to feel like the journey was better than the destination.

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• Don't let your child get spoiled.

  suissenavy2011-09-25

  This short is well made, great realistic visuals,and even though the gore factor is not present it will leave you with a bit of a sick stomach. The story is obvious, boy gets robot, robot gets boring, boy plays cruel games with robot and acts like an annoying prepubescent tyrant with his electronic companion. Blinky is indeed cute and lovable, but as we know this is not going to end well. The performances are strong for the kid and his dog, and the short screen time for mom is also convincing even though rushed. It is an easy watch and would recommend it to all parents who what a robot to cook for them. Oh and if you don't want to spoil your child, keep them in the fridge.

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• Me and my robot

  Red-Barracuda2013-04-28

  In the future a child is given a pet robot by his warring parents. Before long the neglected child grows tired of Blinky the robot and begins to play unkind games on it. It all ends in tears. This was a decent enough, if unremarkable, little short. The robot is easily the best character, although the child actor is incredibly convincing as an annoying little brat. Mostly, this is a showcase for the animation of Blinky. We also get to see an unusual scene where Blinky and the boy pass by another android in the street, with a future city-scape in the distance. Although it isn't a sequence that has much relevance to the plot-line it's probably the most memorable moment in the film. As short films go though, this isn't too bad. The ending is quite amusing as well.

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• Blinky TM

  tiskec2016-11-07

  I liked Blinky. At first the kid gets Blinky for a Christmas present. The thing must have costed a fortune. It's a fully functioning artificially intelligent robot. It's designed to keep kids company, and play with them. You almost develop a warm feeling with this robot. It does everything the child asks. The kid who was gifted it by his fighting parents, eventually goes nuts, and makes Blinky clean up after him. He blatantly abuses the robot throughout, as he notices his parents fighting more and more. Sooner or later, Karma kicks in, and Blinky gets even. This is a classic tale about revenge, and how you should treat others how you would like to be treated, even robots. I think this was an excellent short film. Who ever appreciates film as art will like this horror short. I did. I won't tell you what happens, but let's just say the brat is in better taste by the end of this short film.

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• A visual effects demo, nothing more

  robotbling2011-12-12

  (www.plasticpals.com) I thought Blinky™ was decent, though it definitely couldn't sustain a full-length film. Technically speaking it's a great demo, used as an excuse to show off the director's expertise with visual effects. The story focuses on a boy's relationship with his pet robot during the break-up of his parent's marriage. You'll have to venture into spoiler territory (and past the break) to get my full thoughts on it. Alex, played by Max Records (Where The Wild Things Are), knows what he wants for Christmas: a 4 foot tall humanoid robot named Blinky. Alex is initially overjoyed, but he soon becomes bored of it. Unable to provide any real comfort or support, the robot is revealed for what it really is: a machine incapable of true compassion or friendship. Alex's anger towards his parents leads him to command the robot to kill his family, and when the robot malfunctions it complies. Unfortunately, both the script and the acting aren't very good. We're never given a scene where the parents sit Alex down and explain they are getting divorced, so we don't see Alex's world really fall apart. It would have helped to show that Alex was an unpopular kid at school to further highlight his isolation and dependence on the robot, while also engendering some sympathy from the audience. Instead, we're given a brief scene where Alex and Blinky are carrying groceries – what's the point? Well a fancy robot walks by, and that seems to be it: to show off more special effects. Sure, the attention to detail on the robot and some of the near-future background elements is nice, but it fails as a film. If you're interested in robots it is probably worth the 12 minute running time, but personally I can think of a dozen ways this could have been better. As a fun aside Blinky looks quite a bit like LG's robot mascot (both feature bulbous heads and are entirely computer-generated).

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