Writer: Ng Suzhen

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Watch this if you liked: “Robots” and “Meet The Robinsons”

Replacing the role of men, monkeys and Gods, robots play out the story of Ramayana, which focuses on the fight between good and evil in the forms of Hanuman the monkey king and his mortal enemy, Tosakan.

In this Thai production, Hanuman is a three-wheeled robot while Tosakan is a giant robot with ten heads and ten arms. The movie begins with the end of their great battle with both of them seemingly destroyed by a giant laser in the sky, designed to end Tosakan. While their story remains a legend a million days later, both their bodies are unknowingly unearthed by metal scrapers. The both of them are later revived with an electrical shock but suffer from amnesia.

Forced to spend time with each other because of a chain (actually Hanuman's 'tail) linking them together, the two subsequently become friends despite all odds.

Kids, especially boys, would find this animation delightful. The fight scenes especially, are something to look out for. The producers have obviously gone through meticulous planning to produce moves that work out so fluidly and the animation is done beautifully. Visual-wise, the animation is pleasing on many levels as it is very well designed.

Following the path of old Disney animation films, the movie has a few of its own original songs thrown into the fare. While they do not exactly play out to the sing-and-dance routines, they do make one reminisce about the cartoons of those days. The songs are actually pretty good although at times it is hard to catch what they are singing due to pronunciations.

Adults however, might find the film lacking. The dialogue especially is something that makes you cringe a little in your seat as the delivery timing seems to be a little off. While the animation attempts to be internationalised with the addition of some American wit in the dialogue, it falls short at hitting the right mark. The humour might have worked better in Thai as jokes turn out to be flat most of the time.

The first half of the movie is a little tiresome with Hanuman turning out to be annoyingly bossy when stripped of all heroic duties but luckily; his negativity is blunted by Tosakan's sincere giant who turns out to be a darling with a big heart that matches his size.

The interesting part sinks in when the two become fast friends and Hanuman regains his memory, realising that he has to choose between friendship and duty while Tosakan remains oblivious to the change in their relationship.

While the flow of the story may not be at its best, "Yak The Giant King" still manages to entertain and probably squeeze in a touching moment or two, even when it does seem forced at times. All in all, the movie is best-catered to kids who will no doubt be enthralled by the robots.

Cinema Online, 14 December 2012