AngierCorleone’s review published on Letterboxd:
Damn it Dreamworks you inconsistent bastards you’ve done it again, by some dumb luck you’ve pulled a masterpiece out of the hat after tripping over yourself! It’s miraculous to see and Lord knows they needed this win!
This year has been a shambles for the animation studio I’m not gonna lie, I’d hoped that after Puss in Boots 2 they’d have some sort of renaissance era but that’s not been the case. We’ve had a mediocre Kung Fu Panda movie, something I never wanted to see and yet it’s the reality and I was so disappointed by it. We also got a direct to streaming Megamind sequel… which I will never watch for my own sanity. And then there was some bullshit pretentious shlock called Orion and the Dark they dumbed onto Netflix in January that might be my least favourite Dreamworks movie of all time, which is saying a lot honestly considering who we’re talking about here like they made Shrek the Turd god damn it!!!
So it’s safe to say I didn’t have very high expectations going into this, the visuals looked outstanding and similar to The Last Wish but I didn’t know if the story was gonna be any good. And now I feel foolish because everyone else expected this to be great and they were all right, I was blown away by and left stunned by how beautiful and emotional this was. Honestly is the charming and wholesome movies I’ve seen all year, it is so good to see an original Dreamworks movie be this great for the first time in years! It has been so long since they’ve made something new, I found this to be a massive breath of fresh air and I think it could legitimately be the new standard for the studio going forward.
I have to gush about the animation for a second because it’s a stunning piece of work, like I said it’s similar to the visuals that were used in Puss in Boots 2 but that felt like the style of a painting in a storybook while this is more rustic which I adore. I don’t know wether it’s a blend of 2D and 3D animation or not, but it’s like a picture book brought to life in the best way possible. I also really like how this doesn’t shy away from how cruel the world can be and how life is quite deadly out there, everyone is out for themselves but there’s pieces of kindness poking through all of that. This movie teaches us to try and see the best in people and help them to be better, which are things I think people need to hear.
But what I love most about this is the bond between the titular Wild Robot and the goose whose family she… kinda killed them, oh and the fox who wants to eat him. Yeah not the happiest start to a family dynamic, but they’re together and in their own little way they do care for each even though they struggle to communicate about it. Watching Roz go from her robotic form to breaking every convention of her programming to raise that little baby warms my heart, she struggles at every turn but she still goes to great lengths to help him. He doesn’t always see that, but by the time he has to literally leave the nest that love is felt across the screen. And honestly it’s enough to make a cold hearted bastard like me cry.
I have to admit I do worry about Dreamworks sometimes, they always seem to make the most random decisions possible and half the time it doesn’t even work out. It’s partially the reason they got brought by Universal, so I don’t know what the future holds for them or even if they’ll survive the decade. But I think even if the studio dies (which I really hope doesn’t happen), there will still be great movies that will carry the legacy of the studio for years to come. And I’m pleased to say this is one of those movies, it is filled with such passion and such love for not only the story it’s based on but animation as a whole that completely reevaluates my faith in that one animation studio that I have known and admired for my entire life.
This left me with a warm and joyous feeling in my heart that I haven’t felt for quite a while, please watch this when you get the chance. It’s like receiving a reality check and a massive hug at the same time.
Anyway, thanks for reading. :)
