In the future, robotics have reached a new high in terms of their service to humanity. The ROZZUM series of robots has made life so much simpler for humanity, but when one of the robots is stranded on an island populated by wild animals, it begins to question its programming and look at the world a different way. Roz, as this robot dubs herself, takes on a motherly role to an orphaned bird runt, attempting to raise him for his eventual migration. But will the unlikely mother succeed at her task, or will the young bird find himself stranded and unable to survive or migrate?
Although THE WILD ROBOT doesn’t go into general release until this weekend, there’s already been a ton of pre-release buzz about the film. Animated family movies are a dime a dozen these days, but I was certainly eager to see what the hype was about. Having come out of my screening, I can say that the movie, while not quite the masterpiece some critics are purporting it to be, succeeds more often than it falls flat, largely thanks to its humor, heart, beautiful animation, and a fantastic all-around voice cast.
The premise of THE WILD ROBOT is simple, but it works. The stranded Roz robot is essentially a fish out of water, and seeing its “serve the consumer” programming on an island of wild animals speaks for itself. The film is never quite as effective as it is in these early scenes, showing this misfit robot behave in the most hilariously inappropriate ways to a group of wild animals that are even more confused and unsure of what to make of their new arrival. The lightning-fast humor in these sequences had a smile on my face, and I could tell other audience members, young and old alike, were just as amused.
The film of course moves past its comedic beginnings to something more heartwarming and melodramatic. And while this part of the film never quite manages to be as impressive as the razor-sharp comedic beginnings, the film has a heart and conveys this without feeling overly preachy. This is helped by the beautiful animation and a voice cast that seems absolutely perfectly for the roles they’ve been assigned; The WILD ROBOT looks like a million bucks, and sounds the part too. In a world drowning in a sea of children’s movie, THE WILD ROBOT may be the one of recent years that’s come the closest to restoring a sense of child-like wonder I haven’t experienced at the movies in quite some time.
Unfortunately. THE WILD ROBOT is much longer than it needs to be, with a third act that feels completely at odds with everything that came before. The first act of the movie was the hilarious fish out of water story. The second was the emotional turn. The third… well… the third act is mindless action that completely defies everything the rest of the picture worked so hard to build. Note to filmmakers: Not every movie ever made needs action! Had the movie ended about 20 minutes sooner on a more emotional beat in tune with everything else rather than sacrificing it all for action, I’m sure I’d be writing a more positive review.
Even though THE WILD ROBOT goes off the deep end due to its overlong and unnecessary third act, I won’t deny that at least two thirds of this movie are solid through and through. Animation and voice casting are top notch, even if not the most original. It gets a modest recommendation for young and old alike.