The Wild Robot
Collector’s Edition
[Blu-ray & Digital Code]
Boy, this is a tough one to write. Wild Robot is full of things you want from a good movie. It has an interesting plot, cool designs, it’s fun AND funny, has vibrant characters, robots (ok, maybe that one’s just for me) and it’s full of coziness. It’s also full of great performances from the cast. Lupita Nyong’o is able to bring heart to a character who’s supposed to be all brains, and Pedro Pascal (who I don’t know from anything else) is fun, warm and vibrant in the role of Fink. Wild Robot also looks pretty damn cool. There’s a slightly unpolished feel to this movie while still remaining lush and beautiful. Kind of like the real world, isn’t it? Also, when’s the last time any of us saw a CGI movie where the characters are so expressive and retain so much personality? When Wild Robot is building its world, it’s a fascinating, compelling and engaging experience. It’s also about parenthood, and that’s my jam right now.
So, what went wrong? Well, almost exactly halfway through it seems like the movie has completely run out of ideas. When you hear that Coldplay-adjacent anthem while Brightbill has his montage that’s a sign that things are about to take a nosedive, so brace yourself. No good can come from music like that. Sure enough, it’s at this point that Wild Robot turns into a boring, predictable, mess. You know what the obstacles are and how they’re supposed to be overcome, what the big lessons are that everyone is supposed to learn, and how they’re going to achieve this by somehow (SOMEHOW) overriding their programming. It’s basically the same old story…but with robots and geese. It’s truly perplexing, almost as if a completely different creative team was in charge.
This collector’s edition has director’s commentary (for the kids!), and features involving the design and casting of the movie. It even has a tutorial on how to draw the characters (for the KIDS!).
What happened to you, Wild Robot? I know you ran out of story to tell, but you didn’t have to use AI to finish the movie for you.
