The Wild Robot (2024)
The Wild Robot, based on the
book series by Peter Brown, is the final film to be animated completely
in-house at DreamWorks Animation Studio, as it will depend on outside vendors
in the future. As a final bow of sorts, this film should be a lot better than
it is.
The Wild Robot takes place on
Earth in the future, and service robot ROZZUM 7134 (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o)
is shipwrecked on an island only inhabited by wild animals. These forest
creatures are frightened of "Roz," so it's an unexpected twist when she
accidentally adopts a runt gosling. She does get parenting help from a sly fox
named Fink (Pedro Pascal), who actually just wants to eat the gosling for
lunch. As for the gosling, named Brightbill (Kit Connor), he is teased by the
other geese because his mother is a robot monster.
This movie has the beautiful look of a
watercolor painting, and it has the feel of Hayao Miyazaki's films. It also has
some funny characters, including the opossum children who have trouble playing
dead. Where the film falters is in the screenplay by director Chris Sanders (Lilo
& Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon), which is too
by-the-numbers. In fact, the subplot about Brightbill being shunned then
becoming the hero is right out of the classic Rankin/Bass Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special but not as well done.
When something exciting or emotional
happens here, the music swells to ear-cleansing levels that it comes off as
comical. The film is always loud and refuses to give us quiet moments of
introspection.
The Wild Robot is serviceable
entertainment, but it too often feels mechanical when it should be genuinely
heartwarming.
