Following up on the previous post, this is where I'm going to individually discuss the eighteen shorts that make up "Love, Death, & Robots." It didn't feel right leaving any of these out, but I didn't have a lot to say about some installments, so some of the write-ups will be noticeably shorter than others. Here we go, from best to worst:
"Zima Blue" - This is probably the headiest story of the set, exploring artificial intelligence, atavism, and art. Directed by Robert Valley, it also has the best marriage of striking visuals with science-fiction concepts. I love the abstracted forms and the thoughtful use of color throughout. This is my favorite kind of science-fiction, the kind that uses genre elements as a way to explore very human impulses and questions. The journey and final fate of Zima may feature little explicit content, but they are adult in the best way.
"Good Hunting" - A good short all around, with a moving story, truly sympathetic characters, and lots of unpredictable twists and turns. The pacing and the unhurried development of the characters is done so well that it feels like we've spent more time in this world than we have. I think that this one also makes the best case for its use of adult elements, since the violation and reclamation of the heroine's body parallels the anti-colonialist themes of the story. And those steampunk visuals are to die for.
"Three Robots" - My favorite of the funny installments, for its pitch black humor and its absurdity. The three robots are so smartly individualized, and their commentary on human folly is so much fun. Somehow, it's very comforting to think that human snarkiness (and cats) will end up outliving the human race. And if the rumors are true that Netflix is considering turning some of these shorts into series, "Three Robots" is the one that has the most potential to spin off on its own. I'd love to see the trio continue sightseeing in other corners of the apocalypse.
"Lucky 13" - The only reason I can imagine why this short isn't getting more praise for its motion-capture animation is that it's so good, it doesn't look like animation. Created by Sony Pictures Imageworks, the action sequences look like something straight out of a recent live-action blockbuster. Meanwhile, Samira Wiley's performance completely sells the conceit of a pilot developing a bond with a ship with a bad history.
"Beyond the Aquila Rift" - Lovecraftian horror has always been a favorite of mine, and while "Aquila Rift" technically isn't in this category, it's close enough. I do wish the animators would have used more restraint depicting the female lead Greta, who is overtly sexualized to such a degree that it's hard to take anything coming out of her mouth seriously. Still, the horror was so beautifully deployed, I didn't mind too much that we had to detour through a little photorealistic digital cheesecake to get there.
"Suits" and "Blindspot" - These are both appealing little one-shot adventure stories with great worldbuilding. They do a good job of being very distinctive visually, with bright colors, strong character designs, and their own spins on some familiar iconography. As an anime fan, I prefer "Blindspot" with its Megaman-esque main character and ensemble of common shonen series types. "Suits" is in potentially more problematic territory, being based on a pile of farming and redneck cliches, but the execution is great. I'd like to see the further adventures of both sets of characters, which isn't something I can say about most of these shorts.
"Sonnie's Edge" and " Sucker of Souls" - These might seem strange to be discussing together, but they both have the same major problem. The dialogue is terrible. I mean, it's terrible to the degree that it's kind of funny. Every character in "Sonnie's Edge" sounds like a grimdark teenager trying to sound edgier than thou, which undercuts a lot of the pulpy pleasures of watching monster v. monster deathmatches and the terrible humans who exploit them. "Soul Sucker," meanwhile, decides that its very old school European 2D animation is best paired with obnoxious dirty jokes and pop culture references. The underlying horror story about unearthing Dracula is actually pretty fun, but the tin-ear quipping really puts a damper on things. Fortunately, both shorts do enough things right that they're pretty watchable.
"Helping Hand" - Passable is the descriptor I keep coming back to here. The animation isn't great but it's good enough. The writing is so-so and the premise is based on bad science, but it's also engaging and generates a lot of nice tension in the moment. So it feels appropriate to stick it right in the middle of the rankings.
"The Witness" - I wrestled over the placement of this one, but ultimately I can't bring myself to put it higher than this. "The Witness" is easily one of the most gorgeous shorts, with eye-catching animation from Alberto Mieglo that's similar to what we saw in "Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse." The trouble is the story, which is extremely thin, and has the most egregious examples of gratuitous nudity in the entire series. The protagonist has an entire chase scene topless. And turns out to be an exotic dancer at a BDSM club. And her co-workers are literally walking fetish objects. I spent the entire short alternating between impressed by the visuals and rolling my eyes at the ham handed shoehorning of adult elements into the mix.
"When The Yogurt Took Over" and "Alternate Histories" - These are both very brief, humorous pieces based on John Scalzi stories. And they both work way better on the page than as animated shorts. The upside is some good, irreverent gags and some cool, exaggerated animation styles. The downside is that both run out of material very quickly and feel a few jokes too short.
"Fish Night" and "Ice Age" - a lot of fun visually, but there's not just much there in the end. The concepts aren't really developed and both shorts just sort of stop once they reach a certain point. Better writing would have helped both. "Fish Night" gets a few extra points for the hallucinatory neon sea life that made me go, "Ooooh, pretty!"
"Shape Shifters" and "The Secret War" - Pretty generic premises, which are not helped out at all by the animation choices. Both shorts look like they were composed of video game cutscene footage, and feature really dull, uninteresting photorealistic designs and imagery. I get that there are certain limitations that come with this aesthetic, but that doesn't excuse how bland these both look.
"The Dump" - Well, I like the idea of a sentient trash heap being friends with a greasy old codger, but nothing about the execution here really sells it. Like many of these other shorts low on the list, you get a couple of good visuals that show off the animation studio's capabilities, but it's not satisfying as a narrative work.
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