Written And Directed by Chris Sanders
Roz: "Sometimes, to survive, you must become more than you were programmed to be."
For those of you looking for a family friendly animated movie that's not from Disney or Pixar, there's this lovely gem. Yes, I know. I'm three months late to the party but what a movie.
A science fiction tale where a ROZZUM Unit 7134, nicknamed "Roz" (Lupita Nyong'o) ended up the casualty of a storm and found themselves stranded on an island with a slew of different animals to contend with. Most of them animals didn't take to Roz at first but some alliances were made.
First of all, there was the opossum Pinktail (Catherine O'Hara), who was great at giving advice, even if she had difficulty in keeping her death obsessed children in line. Those kids really put a lot of thought into playing dead at times.
However, Roz's most definitive relationship were the friendship she made with mischievous but lonely redfox Fink (Pedro Pascal) and the gosling whose family she accidentally killed named Brightbill (Kit Connor/Boone Storme). The latter also being a runt Canadian goose that would eventually find his flock.
Those relationships are brilliantly handled but also somewhat tested at different points. Brightbill had to find out the hard way about what really happened to his family, Roz was found by fellow Universal Dynamics robot Vontra (Stephanie Hsu) and Fink had to confront his loneliness while also learning to share a hut with every other animal during a harsh winter.
There's moments in this movie that reminded how powerful an animated movie can be because twice during it, I actually found myself tearing up. I mean no one died in it (though I did think Roz was a goner at one point) but those moments really struck a chord with him. Fink allowing himself to be vulnerable and the "I love you" moment between Roz and Brightbill and that ending too was rather sweet.
- There's a wealth of talent voicing various animals including Ving Rhames, Matt Berry, Bill Night, Mark Hamill and Randy Thom.
- It's based on Peter Brown's book of the same name and due to its success, a sequel is being discussed.
- Standout music: Maren Morris's Kiss The Sky.
- Chronology: Takes place over several months, including winter and beyond.
The Wild Robot was an absolutely delightful movie. I knew it was going to be good from the trailers but it completely exceeded my expectations with a heartfelt story, well realised characters and it just looked fantastic from start to finish.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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