THE ROBOT

A wildly improbable male teen fantasy of a super-sexy robot and the two geeks who discover it only to realize too late that they are messing with top-secret government property.

Gabe and Dover establish their nerd bona fides to readers early on when they are dumped into actual garbage. The plot kicks in when they sneak into Gabe’s genius father’s lab and discover T.R.I.N.A., a gorgeous, biologically realistic “female” robot they are sure will raise their status out of the Dumpster. The two manage to activate Trina after first checking for underwear. There is none. The sophomoric humor is endlessly fueled by a crassly juvenile sexual focus that supposedly matches typical adolescent fantasies. Gabe finds himself thinking of Trina as a romantic partner and grows offended by Dover’s single-minded obsession with sex as they first lose and then furiously chase their robot to a high-school drinking party and ultimately into a clash with top-secret agents. None of this is particularly funny, realistic or clever. However, that shouldn’t keep its target audience from enjoying this fast-paced, mindless adventure. A subplot in which Gabe suffers from his father’s intimidating and browbeating parenting style is similarly unsatisfying.

Equally demeaning to geeks, women and teen boys, the appeal to the lowest common denominator is safely assured. (Adventure. 11-15)