Animation Review: Love, Death + Robots (Volume 3)

Very Average Joe
Sep 7
6 min read

Title: Love, Death & Robots – Volume 3

Director(s): Various

Screenwriter(s): Various

Studio: Various

Released: 2022

Volume 3 Runtime: 9 episodes, ~6m–21m each.

As with Volumes 1 and 2, 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 the previous volumes, there are hits and misses. Volume 3 contains nine episodes and these are generally better than Volume 1 as they don’t try as hard to be edgy just for the sake of it.

It is difficult to say whether this volume is generally better than Volume 2, although two pieces, “Bad Travelling” and “Jibaro”, are excellent and are some of the better works across all four volumes so far.

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“Three Robots: Exit Strategies” (10m) – Director: Patrick Osborne, Screenwriter: John Scalzi & Alfredo Torres, Story: John Scalzi, Studio: Blow Studio

Just like the episode in Volume 1, the three robots go sightseeing, except this time they fly to three different places. These three locations reveal how different people tried to survive as society collapsed.

And just like that episode, it’s commentary and exposition regarding the history by these three. It tries to be funny but it’s not. It makes fun of preppers, but it does casually mention the powerful going underground with the intention to later emerge to form the NWO.

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“Bad Travelling” (21m) – Director: David Fincher, Screenwriter: Andrew Kevin Walker, Story: Neal Asher, Studio: Blur Studio

A giant carnivorous crab monster boards a ship and kills many of the crew before taking shelter in the hold. Torrin is chosen to check on the monster which can communicate, indicating it wants to go to Phaiden Island.

One wonders why the crab monster needs to board the ship in the first place but assuming that it wants faster transportation, what follows is some tense maneuvering between Torrin, the ill-disciplined crew and the crab monster. After all, Phaiden Island is populated. Do they release the monster onto the island just to save themselves?

Torrin is a solidly written morally grey character and together with the tension and suspense associated with the conflict between all the parties, it is a captivating short story. The premise and setting have a certain Lovecraftian feel to them, but with more action. This is one of the better across all four seasons so far.

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“The Very Pulse of the Machine” (16m) – Director: Emily Dean, Screenwriter: Philip Gelatt, Story: Michael Swanwick, Studio: Polygon Pictures

Kivelson and Burton, as part of the Io Expeditionary Mission, get into an accident in which the latter is killed. Kivelson is injured and her oxygen tanks are damaged, so she drags Burton’s body along for her oxygen and injects herself with drugs for her long walk to her landing craft. As she walks, she hears voices…

It’s not a bad idea even if it is nothing special. But instead of taking a Dickian approach, which might work, it’s trying to be an arty acid trip but just ends up being pretentious.

The rendering tries to be somewhat like CG anime even though the style is not anime. Either way, it’s not particularly special and doesn’t make up for the mediocre storytelling.

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“Night of the Mini Dead” (6m) – Director: Robert Bisi & Andy Lyon, Screenwriter: Robert Bisi & Andy Lyon, Story: Jeff Fowler & Tim Miller, Studio: Buck

A couple do their thing at a church cemetery, causing zombies to rise. This is a sped-up montage piece with practically no dialogue that shows the mayhem as the zombies spread into the cities and the destruction intensifies.

It is technically well done in the style of miniature models with shallow depth of field. It is amusing. The over-the-top operatic score is well done and is a perfect fit.

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“Kill Team Kill” (12m) – Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Screenwriter: Philip Gelatt, Story: Justin Coates, Studio: Titmouse

A special forces team in Afghanistan come across a cybernetic bear. Whilst the pacing and progression are not bad, it is basically just one action sequence against a Terminator bear.

Although not anime in design, the rendering is somewhat like bad American animation. The fact that the film tries too hard with the action, gore and bad language does not help. The whole thing simply comes across as forced.

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“Swarm” (16m) – Director: Tim Miller, Screenwriter: Tim Miller & Philip Gelatt, Story: Bruce Sterling, Studio: Blur Studio

A pleasant alien race drops off Dr Afriel at a planet inhabited by a race referred to as “Swarm” as part of a business transaction. Afriel’s mission is to study the Swarm. Already on the planet is another researcher named Galina who reveals that the Swarm has a caste system and is an efficient race capable of breeding and working to sustain itself.

Afriel obviously wants to take advantage of the Swarm’s abilities to benefit humanity but, of course, things don’t go as planned.

It’s a good idea for a sci-fi short story but unfortunately relies too much on dialogue, “telling” instead of “showing”. Admittedly, this is not easy given the setting but there are ways around it.

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“Mason’s Rats” (10m) – Director: Carlos Stevens, Screenwriter: Joe Abercrombie, Story: Neal Asher, Studio: Axis Studios

Farmer Mason has a rat problem, the kind where the rats are armed and could fight back. So, he hires the services of Traptech, a pest control company that offers the latest weaponry.

It’s just an excuse for graphic war action in a mildly absurd premise, which is amusing. The narrative manages to set up the rats as the pest and therefore villains but also with some pathos as they get slaughtered, depending on how much one likes rats.

Other than that, although there is progression in the form of escalation, it lacks a plot. It more resembles a joke with a punchline that is mildly amusing but doesn’t quite work either.

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“In Vaulted Halls Entombed” (13m) – Director: Jerome Chen, Screenwriter: Philip Gelatt, Story: Alan Baxter, Studio: Sony Pictures Imageworks

A special forces team chases insurgents into a tunnel system. Their mission is to rescue a hostage. But it’s a cave and it’s horror so there are “things” in there. It starts a little Indiana Jones and, as the title suggests, is a little Lovecraftian but with assault rifles.

The CG looks good enough but everything else is conventional and more-or-less of average standard: the dialogue is standard, and the pacing and progression are as if on autopilot.

It may be the norm for Lovecraft’s short stories to end with some ambiguity as part of the twist, but this could use a little more clarity. It’s not a bad idea but it lacks that necessary wow factor.

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“Jibaro” (17m) – Director: Alberto Mielgo, Screenwriter: Alberto Mielgo, Studio: Pinkman.TV

From the same director, writer and studio of “The Witness” in Volume 1, this short film also has a weird and intriguing premise.

A column of conquistadors and priests travels through the forest and they take a break at a lake. Amongst them is a deaf knight, presumably named Jibaro. A gold-clad siren emerges, her call mesmerizing all but the deaf knight. He tries to escape but she finds him intriguing.

Visually, it is amazing. The texturing and rendering of the vegetation, water and the characters are excellent. Also excellent is the good use of film grain and the camerawork in general, the use of wide shots and handheld shots to heighten the realism or surrealism.

The sound design and editing are also excellent. It needs to be as the narrative is without dialogue. Whilst the music, to a degree, is a matter of taste, the score does augment the tension. It is the moments of muffled sound, since Jibaro is the viewpoint character, that work well too.

Overall, the pacing is very good, more so when the narrative is without dialogue, relying on visual storytelling, everything from the cinematography to the characters’ physicality.