THE DIRECTOR of Ice Age, Chris Wedge, and its producers Blue Sky are back on top form with the highly impressive Robots.

This imaginative and polished animation is backed up by the witty dialogue which can even make a joke about flatulence wryly amusing. Trainspotting and Star Wars star Ewan McGregor's voice is virtually unrecognisable for the American accent he uses for the film's hero Rodney Copperbottom.

A talented young robot, Rodney is a dishwasher's son who yearns for a better life as an inventor.

Inspired by his hero Big Weld (Mel Brooks) the greatest inventor of them all, Rodney leaves his loving parents and his dead-end small home town for the bright lights, fame and fortune of sprawling metropolis Robot City. But he finds all that glistens is not gold.

Rodney also discovers his idol is being held by the dastardly villain Ratchet (Greg Kinnear) who is driven by his determination to wipe out rundown robots to create a master race of gleaming modern machines.

Teaming up with the dilapidated street hustler Fender (Robin Williams) and his sister Cappy (Halle Berry), the trio set about saving the robot world from Ratchet.

Wedge, co-directing with Carlos Saldanha, produces a film with wonderful attention to detail and rapid-fire gags.

Robots is great to look at, enormous fun and a welcome change from a number of recent dud animation films. Iwan Davies