Movie review
Shipwrecked on a strange shore, a robot named Roz sets forth on a journey of self-discovery in “The Wild Robot.” It’s a gangly critter, a construct of long ropy arms and legs snaking forth from a roundish body and globelike head featuring glowing eyes that serve, when needed, as headlights.
Wholly nonthreatening, in other words. A perfect protagonist for a picture aimed squarely at young kids. Makes sense, considering that it’s based on a popular children’s book by author Peter Brown, who shares screenwriting credit with director Chris Sanders (“How to Train Your Dragon,” “Lilo & Stitch”).
But what truly makes the character special is the voice work of Lupita Nyong’o. The voice she uses is warm, reassuring, with an element of questioning. Literally fresh out of the box, so new all Roz has is her factory-installed internal programming to guide her. She’s programmed to be helpful. It’s her prime directive. But she lacks info on who, or what, to be helpful with, or for. Where to aim her benevolence?
Enter a newly hatched gosling. Like Roz, a kind of blank slate. Ah. Synergy. They will go forth into the world together, learning the ways of life as they go.
It’s an eventful journey. And it takes place on an island that for all intents and purposes is an Eden. No people. Just animals going about their business in gorgeously rendered settings, full of tall trees and rock-strewn shorelines.
The CG visuals are spectacular. A scene in which geese fill the sky taking flight is a wonder of mass movement and light. It’s frankly overwhelming. It’s the kind of scene that practically demands to be seen on the largest screen one can find.
Fresh from the egg, the gosling, Brightbill, forms an instant snuggle-up attachment to Roz, who it perceives to be its mother. There’s a problem, however: None of Roz’s programming is of a maternal nature. Parenting does not compute.
What to do? Well, there is this fox named Fink, voiced by Pedro Pascal. He knows a thing or two about geese. Mainly that they’re tasty. And consequently he expends considerable effort early on trying to make Brightbill an entree.
Roz perceives this is not a good thing and so bends every effort to prevent nature from taking its comestible course. Learning curve for all concerned.
The verbal interplay between Roz and Fink is very clever and frequently funny.
All the vocal talents here are very well chosen, with Bill Nighy as a goose flock leader who imparts wisdom to Brightbill (in adolescence voiced by Kit Connor) on how to fly in formation during migration being a particular standout.
The screenplay is multilayered, with an underlying theme of the interconnectedness of life and how cooperation, which is often difficult to achieve, is essential for the survival of the denizens of this Edenic setting. When the megacorporation that manufactured Roz sends a mothership to search for its errant ‘bot, Eden is in danger of being uprooted and destroyed.
Complex and lively, “The Wild Robot” is thoroughly delightful on every level. It’s a rare treat, not just for kids but for adults as well.
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