Review of 'The Wild Robot'

A Universal Dynamics ROZZUM robot (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o) finds itself marooned on an uninhabited island where it struggles to find any animal wanting it's services even after learning their languages. Unit 7134, now named “Roz”, accidentally crushes a goose nest, killing the mother and leaving only a single egg which she hatches with the chick imprinting on her. Now with a sense of purpose and the help of Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal), a hungry fox, Roz prepares the chick she names “BrightBill” (voiced by Kit Connor) for migration beginning with eating then swimming and finally flying. When being taught how to swim Brightbill learns from other geese that Roz had killed her mother, confronting Roz and causing a rift between the two. As Roz activates the homing beacon that will bring Universal Dynamics to the island to retrieve her the two make up but the ships are on their way…

A heart warming story of going against your “programming” covering love, family, and coming of age along the way, “The Wild Robot” looks amazing and is great fun to watch. Surprisingly it is also not entirely predictable with several twists and turns along the way that will keep viewers engaged. There is a backstory that we only see glimpses of: The future flooded earth and the survival of humans with the assistance of large armies of robots however this is not something that we are hit over the head with though older viewers will not fail to miss. It is this concentration on the details that really makes the film quite special and a cut above many other animated features. It is also a lot of fun to watch as well with humour throughout.

The primary audience is children but adults should find lots here to enjoy as well from the stubborn beaver “Paddler” (voiced by Matt Berry) determined to cut down the largest tree in the forest to the stressed but maternal opossum “Pinktail” (voiced by Catherine O'Hara) and “Thorn” (voiced by Mark Hamill) the grumpy but ultimately warm hearted (literally) grizzly bear.

The film looks great with almost a hand-painted quality to it that visually dazzles particularly with the amazing set pieces that dominate the film. The screen is lush with details accompanied by warm and fun characters that really bring the story to life.

A wonderful looking film with great characters and a heart-filled message of home and triumph over “your programming”, “The Wild Robot” is definitely worth a watch.

Rating: “I have absolutely no complaints”

Review Date: 2024-10-20

Directed by: Chris Sanders

Studio: Dentsu

Year: 2024

Length: 102 minutes

Genre: Animation

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29623480/