Smash and Grab (2019)

Smash and Grab Review

Smash and Grab is a 2019 animated short film and the second one from Pixar’s program called SparkShorts.

It tells the story of two robots who are stuck in the same, repetitive job routine of mining ore on an asteroid and when they find there is more world outside of their train, they escape. Let’s first state the negatives out of the way. The film instantly evokes comparisons to ‘WALL-E’ and it’s simply never as great as that movie because the pacing isn’t great and thematically it’s too subtle. I also would have liked a bit more focus on characterization.

But still the two robots are exceedingly likable and they form a wonderful friendship throughout the film. I also loved its attention to detail as the ore, the weapons and the entire asteroid is beautifully brought to life and the movie has a slick, very cool look to it with a great darker color palette. The world building is extraordinary for such a short runtime and the score’s also cool. The ending is my favorite scene for sure.

Smash and Grab isn’t great, but it’s endearing in its characters, superbly animated and wonderfully imagined in its sci-fi world.