Animation Review: Love, Death + Robots (Volume 2)
- Very Average Joe
- Aug 24
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 7
Title: Love, Death & Robots – Volume 2
Director(s): Various
Screenwriter(s): Various
Studio: Various
Released: 2021
Volume 2 Runtime: 8 episodes, ~6m–16m each.
As with Volume 1, the anthology contains films produced by various studios from around the world. Each episode is based on at least one of the titular themes of “love”, “death” or “robots”.
The titles that are in bold and with screenshots are, in my opinion, the better episodes, taking into account the storytelling as well as the visuals. It does not mean they are great, just that they are arguably better on balance.
Just like Volume 1, there are hits and misses. Volume 2 contains eight episodes and these are generally better than the previous volume as they don’t try as hard to be edgy just for the sake of it. That being the case, if only considering the better pieces of work, Volume 1 is better; for example, “Suits” is still one of the best episodes across all four volumes.
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“Automated Customer Service” (11m) – Director: “Meat Dept”, Screenwriter: John Scalzi & “Meat Dept”, Story: John Scalzi, Studio: Atoll Studio
In a world where everything is automated, the plot follows an elderly woman battling her homicidal Vacuubot. She calls customer service which is also automated with its useless options.
The Vacuubot is an obvious homage to HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and The Terminator (1984). It is essentially one action sequence but it does have decent suspense.
The ridiculous customer service is an absurd contrast to the situation without ruining the tension as does the visual style. The environment is sleek, somewhat like retro sci-fi, whilst the characters are like caricatures. It’s a deliberately silly piece but it mostly works.
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“Ice” (11m) – Director: Robert Valley, Screenwriter: Philip Gelatt, Story: Rich Larson, Studio: Passion Animation Studios
Two brothers, Sedgewick and Fletcher, recently moved to an ice-covered planet. Fletcher, like everyone else, is “modded”, whilst older brother Sedgewick is not. One night, Sedgewick tags along with Fletcher to meet up with his friends to view the frostwhales.
From the same studio that produced “Zima Blue” in Volume 1, it is done in a posterized style with something like paper-craft layering.
It’s a nice little “coming of age” vignette with a good balance of drama, tension and action.
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“Pop Squad” (16m) – Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Screenwriter: Philip Gelatt, Story: Paolo Bacigalupi, Studio: Blur Studio
In a rainy, rundown city, Briggs and his partner hunt “breeders”, those who illegally have children. It’s a society in which some go through regular “rejoo” treatments to prolong their lives but without reproducing.
It’s the typical “bad guy having second thoughts about his life” plot and a Blade Runner rip-off, but it doesn’t hide it. The characters can look better but still, it overall looks good, from the design to the rain. It is derivative and can use one more scene for better progression but it is executed well enough.
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“Snow in the Desert” (16m) – Director: Léon Bérelle, Dominique Boidin, Rémi Kozyra, Maxime Luère, Screenwriter: Philip Gelatt, Story: Neal Asher, Studio: Unit Image
Snow lives on a desert planet and he is wanted by bounty hunters. In a bar fight/shootout, he is saved by a lone woman who requests to travel with him.
It avoids the cliche of her being a bounty hunter, instead using her as a source of exposition on why Snow is a popular target. Ultimately, it ends in another shootout, which is fine, but one expects better from someone like Snow.
The CG rendering and animation look good, but the film is nothing special in terms of storytelling. It’s a missed opportunity for worldbuilding because hints of a bigger world are done through clumsy dialogue.
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“The Tall Grass” (11m) – Director: Simon Otto, Screenwriter: Philip Gelatt, Story: Joe Lansdale, Studio: Axis Studios
A lone middle-aged man is a passenger on a steam train that stops in the middle of the field. He takes a cigarette break and even though the conductor warns him not to, he wanders into the field of tall grass with spots of glowing light…
It is typical of contemporary horror to provide no substantial explanation of the malevolent forces involved and although it is good to provide something, the attempt at an explanation at the conclusion is clumsy. This could be more effective through visual signposting.
The rendering style is painting-like, a cruder version of Arcane (2021). It generally looks good. Overall, it’s not a bad piece with effective tension. It is a film I want to like more but it lacks the wow factor that the genre needs.
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“All Through the House” (6m) – Director: Elliot Dear, Screenwriter: Philip Gelatt, Story: Joachim Heijndermans, Studio: Blink Industries
It’s Christmas and Leah and Billy wake up to some noise coming from downstairs. They are excited to catch a glimpse of Santa but find something else. Even though it’s not a particularly original idea, it is mildly amusing but is otherwise more like a joke.
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“Life Hutch” (12m) – Director: Alex Beaty, Screenwriter: Philip Gelatt, Story: Harlan Ellison, Studio: Blur Studio
A military pilot crash-lands on some rock. He is able to make this way to a “life hutch” but the maintenance robot inside malfunctions and perceives him to be a threat.
Whilst the particular malfunction of the robot is arguably contrived, at least it is a malfunction, thus giving some license to be a little convenient. This is basically one sequence of suspense and action broken up by flashbacks of how he ended up in this situation.
The sci-fi designs are cool as are the CG texturing, rendering and animation.
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“The Drowned Giant” (12m) – Director: Tim Miller, Screenwriter: Tim Miller, Story: J.G. Ballard, Studio: Blur Studio
Steven and two scientist colleagues visit the beach to see the body of a naked giant human male. He narrates his observations of people’s curiosity and of the body as it decays and is dealt with.
The giant and the environment, both the beach and town, are rendered nicely enough, but the regular human characters don’t look quite right.
The theme is obviously death and its impact on those who are alive, but other than that, it’s a pretentious piece of pseudo-philosophising. In other words, it’s pointless.
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