The newest DreamWorks film The Wild Robot arrives with a deep and compelling story to charm audiences worldwide.
DreamWorks has a track record for being severely inconsistent when it comes to releasing good movies. It’s the studio responsible for creating some very memorable movies and franchises: from How to Train your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda and even Shrek. This time around, DreamWorks decided to create a movie based on the bestselling book The Wild Robot written by Peter Brown. This time, they adapted something very special, and the movie itself left a lasting impression on me.
About the Wild Robot movie release
The Wild Robot made its UK debut this 18th of October. Before debuting internationally, the movie had already proven its success domestically, making over $112 million just in the US. According to Box Mojo, the international release has made 121$ million so far, and is steadily gaining more revenue. From a sales standpoint, the movie has already proven to be a successful investment, making more than double the $78 million budget it was used to create.
Similarly, the movie has also proven to be quite successful in the eyes of the audience and critics alike. The film gained an impressive score of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes for both audiences and critics alike, a rare case where both the critics and the audience enjoy the movie as much as the other. IMDB also gave the movie a very good rating of 8.3/10.
Review
Although the movie is targeted mainly at kids, you can tell it’s a good movie if it entertains the kids and shows them a lesson, all the while giving the adults multiple layers of symbolism and meaning to digest too. The movie is filled with strong emotions, and many lessons to be taught. Whether it’s about kindness being a survival skill, the parental love of a child, learning to let go of a child, learning to look past differences and work together, the movie holds a lot of messages that resonate deeply with adults and children alike.
The animation itself was very unique, and different from the usual style of animation most animated movies prefer to use. At the same time, the music and sound track was very well done, helping to set the tone and build genuine emotions throughout the whole film.
The plot
Plot wise, the premise is fairly straightforward, the story of a robot stranded on a small island that civilisation has left untouched, raising a gosling, while trying to find a way to come back home. Yet, a simple premise does not mean a simple movie and The Wild Robot has very compelling and nuanced characters that make the plot lively and enjoyable.
Roz, the robot protagonist, is a very likeable character who starts off as a robot, who learns to love and takes the role of a caring mother of Bright Bill. Fink, the fox plays off as a sly and devious character who tries to exploit Roz’s programming for his own gain, but only does so because he desires company and does not know any other way to be close to others.
Every character in the film is fun and interesting and no character was annoying, or I felt was unnecessary. They all had a purpose, good chemistry, and brought to light the best of the movie. I would be lying if I said I didn’t cry a couple of times. The touching moments in Roz’s relationships with the other characters are heartfelt enough to warrant a few tears.
Success of the movie
I think the main reason why the movie was successful has to do with what happened behind the scenes. Chris Sanders, director of The Wild Robot had an interview with Picture House where he discussed the behind the scene details of the movie. Sanders makes a point to mention the passion of everyone involved in the project.
“I think the kindness that is the theme of the film, really pervaded the whole production”.
He adds, “It was the most energising, joyful experience I’ve ever had as a director.”
Having such a positive work environment full of motivated people definitely pushed the film to be produced in the best way possible.
It’s worth watching
Take a great bestselling book, write a well thought out screenplay with compelling characters and ideas and give it a passionate team for production, and you get The Wild Robot. The film really does take advantage of everything and makes the best out of it and ultimately creates a very worthwhile experience to watch. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone that enjoys a touching story, adults and children alike. Out of the few movies I watched this year so far, I can say with certainty that The Wild Robot was really worth my time.
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