The film begins on a rainy night, where an infant Lewis is being dropped off at an orphanage by his mother. Mildred, who is the head of the orphanage takes Baby Lewis inside.

Twelve years go by. Lewis has grown up to be smart and passionate about science and inventing. However, his much younger roommate, Goob, finds them overwhelming and annoying.

Lewis also fails every adoption interview. For one of them, he gives a man with a peanut allergy an allergic reaction thanks to his special machine that is supposed to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches easier to prepare.

Lewis then invents a special machine that he intends to access forgotten memories with. It’s called a memory scanner. He takes it to the school science fair.

While waiting for the judging, a 13-year-old boy named Wilbur pulls Lewis aside and warns him about an evil bowler hat guy. He also adds that he’s from the future.

When it’s Lewis’s turn for his project, it not only fails to work, but a disaster strikes in the gym. Chaos erupts, as well. And it’s all thanks to a robot serving the bowler hat guy.

Back at the orphanage, Lewis continues to fix his invention. But he stays up so late that Goob can’t sleep. It even causes him to get drowsy at his baseball game and his team to lose.

Goob complains about this to Mildred. Mildred talks to Lewis, but he refuses to listen.

He goes onto the roof and continues to try and repair his memory scanner. Wilbur comes to help. But Lewis will not believe that he’s from the future, no matter how many times he convinces him.

To prove it, Wilbur gets his time machine and has Lewis fall into it. He then takes Lewis into the future.

Unfortunately, the two get into a fight, causing the machine to break. And that was the second and last time machine available.

Wilbur demands that Lewis fixes it. He even makes a deal with him – if he repairs the time machine, he’ll take him back to see his biological mom.

The boys go to Wilbur’s garage and start getting to work. They also meet their robot servant.

Wilbur realizes that it would be problematic if his family found out that Lewis was from the past. So, he has him wear a hat.

At some point, it’s time for dinner. Lewis meets everyone in Wilbur’s family – except for his dad, who is on a business trip. Their last name is Robinson, and they have a motto called, “Keep Moving Forward.”

Meanwhile, the bowler hat guy is trying to impress a company with his invention. He even pretends to be “Mary” with the 2:00 appointment. But he gets kicked out.

Sometime later, he uses a Tyrannosaurus Rex from the past to attack Lewis. The Robinsons protect him, though. They also welcome him into the family… until his hat falls off. They discover that he’s from the past and ask him to leave. Mrs. Robinson also grounds Wilbur.

If that’s not bad enough, the bowler hat guy takes over and controls everybody. He even kidnaps Lewis and reveals something shocking to him.

What will happen next?

I was surprised with how engaging this film was. The concept was interesting as well as the plot.

Although orphaned characters can be considered cliched, having one be smart and inventative was unique. It was also nice having a twist where the orphans have one other roommate instead of a big room that they all share.

But it is important to know that the United States no longer has orphanages. The last ones closed by the 70s. Then again, cartoons can get away with stuff like this.

Lewis was quite likable. I admired his intelligence a lot. I even hoped that he would finally get a family.

There is also a twist where the protagonist refuses to believe or understand a secondary character, which is something different. Wilbur was also likable as well as the rest of the Robinsons.

I even admired Mildred, despite how minor she was. I also felt sorry for Goob at times.

Many twists and turns occur. In fact, I think this movie had a lot of surprises – more than some other films.

And I also want to compliment on the worldbuilding. According to Wikipedia, the futuristic setting is 2037. That’s not too far from now.

The pacing was usually quick. Some parts got a little bit boring, though, due to less tension. But that was minor.

Overall, I enjoyed Meet the Robinsons. It was a good movie with a great premise and memorable characters.

I give this film 4 out of 5 stars.