The Wild Robot Review
‘The Wild Robot’ is an adaptation of the 2018 novel of the same name by Peter Brown, where a robot called Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) is stranded on an island populated by only animals. In a string of unfortunate events, she unwillingly has to take care of a baby gosling, and make sure he grows into full maturity. Along the way, Roz and her foxy friend Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal) learn there’s much more to life than a series of tasks to be completed, rejecting their programming along the way.
The first thing to say about this film is that the 3D animation looks absolutely stunning, with scenes being a painted into a beautiful moving canvas. Dreamworks continue to prove why they’re a strong Western animation studio, showing that they can continue to push the boat out in different directions and still blow people away. It will be a surprise and a blow if ‘The Wild Robot’ isn’t nominated for any awards, in fact it ought to win some. The animation style alone justifies watching ‘The Wild’ Robot’ in cinemas, but the acting and story creates an undeniable demand.
Lupita Nyong’o shines in her role as Roz, using her voice to help show the robot’s arc throughout the film. It starts off robotic, shouting her automated cries at the indifferent and otherwise scared animal kingdom, indicating the rigid programming Roz herself is still trapped in. As the film goes on, Nyong’o becomes more and more relaxed, more human, showing Roz herself is becoming more human. Nyong’o’s voice is also integral to get right as Roz doesn’t have a typical face to emote with, meaning everything has to come through the performance. Pascal doesn’t rely on his iconic voice to voice Fink, putting in effort to change it. He starts off as a seeminly confident know-it-all, telling Roz that of course he can help her raise a gosling, but goes as soon as the layers peel back, insecurity begins to show, reflected in how delicate Pascal’s voice becomes.
On the note of characters, Vontra, a recovery robot, is a surprise stand out villain from the film, and wholly original to it. Her design is a squid-like robot, with her many grasping tentacles independently moving. That immediately puts audiences on edge, but then Stephanie Hsu speaks, giving Vontra an incredible neutral and polite voice, but one that harkens back to Roz’s robotic nature, and betrays her as the voice of the unfeeling tech company Universal Dynamics, which has no care for wildlife or natural habitats. Vontra displays the last part too.
‘The Wild Robot’s’ story has echoes of well-known robot tales like ‘The Iron Giant’, and others, but it’s wholly its own. Much of this is creditable to Brown’s original novel, a story of adventure, the unlikeliest of trios, and learning to become more than what anyone starts out as. It’s a wholesome tale, but one that doesn’t default to a happy ending. Director Chris Sanders knew which parts of this tale he could cut and which parts had to remain. He and his team also adds and changes sections that retain the fundamental story Brown crafted, or alter its ending but boost the story being told – Vontra being just one example. It’s a simple tale told with complexity, not insulting the adults who have come to see but not losing any children along the way. It’s a difficult act to pull off.
‘The WIld Robot’ is sure to delight both children and adults alike, taking them on their own emotional journey alongside Roz. The film is bound to put huge smiles on audience members’ faces and fill them with laughter, cause them to grasp with dread, and, if they aren’t a robot, cause tears to stream down their eyes. This emotional rollercoaster demands a cinematic setting, with audiences bount to have a meaningful experience. The animation, acting, and story all come together to deliver something that can’t be missed.
‘The Wild Robot’ is already out in US cinemas, and will be in UK and Irish cinemas from October 18.
