Chase 🦊’s review published on Letterboxd:
“Sometimes, to survive, you must become more than you were programmed to be.”
To be honest, I was really optimistic and hopeful about this film and it was even one of my most anticipated films of this year but unfortunately, The Wild Robot is another disappointing film that wasted both its premise and the talent involved here. Other than the animation and its score which are both fantastic, its story honestly feels so weak with all my hopes of it getting better after the first act getting squashed by a terribly written third act. I really wanted to connect to Roz and Brightbill but I just couldn’t, even scenes like the training montage and when they say their goodbyes for a while where they felt heartwarming didn’t get me well invested in them. I’m sorry to everyone that like this film, I just really wanted to like this one a lot, there was so much talent involved and the story could’ve been so great but the execution felt so flat.
So much of its themes such as overcoming what you’re programmed or born for and motherhood had so much potential of being good to great but it went so bland that I honestly just wanted the whole film end by its climax. Watching it left me with a sour taste. I really wish this could’ve been longer in order to connect to the story much more and get invested with all of this. I hope DreamWorks can do more longer films because this film deserved to be 5 to 10 minutes longer. So much of the pacing would’ve been improved a lot.
The whole film may not be a masterpiece in my opinion but the animation is. I do wish they toned down the Spider-Verse like style for some of the scenes in the futuristic city but despite that, it really captures the beauty of nature so well, and there’s a couple of shots so stunning to look at that you just want it displayed in your house. The people at DreamWorks did such a fantastic job with it that I forget about so much of its problems. There are a few things I liked about the story like the first 10 minutes. I liked how Roz was introduced and the story as whole, trying to adapt to the wilderness she’s in and learn to understand the animals around her. I also loved the realization scene where she learns where she came from, even though I wish it was even more devastating if they showed more time of Brightbill’s aging. I just wished it could’ve been so much better than it is.
Anyway in short, The Wild Robot is another disappointing film with weak execution of its story and themes and characters not getting time to get exposed other than Roz. The talent going to it is what carries this film. They deserve so much better than a weak script. I’m glad I didn’t go see this at the movie theatre because it would’ve wasted so much of my time.
I really hope it’ll get better over time and on rewatch like another DreamWorks film, The Bad Guys.
6.5/10
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