The Wild Robot
Hexagore

Review by Hexagore Patron

The Wild Robot 2024

★★★★★

Watched Nov 30, 2024

Catching Up on 2024 Films: Family Quality Time Edition.

I'm not crying, you're crying!

If you're only going to watch one animated film this year, make it this one. It has a huge, warm heart beating inside it, guaranteed to make you reflect on the things that truly matter. Especially now, as our family is going through a hard time with my wife fighting cancer, I could see the sparkle of movie magic in her eyes. It spoke to her in ways only a film can when shown at just the right moment.

The story centers on Roz (Lupita Nyong'o), a robot stranded on an island after her cargo crate accidentally drops into the ocean and washes ashore. When Roz activates, her programming drives her to serve—but wild animals, acting purely on instinct, see her as a terrifying monster. To survive, Roz has to adapt her programming to navigate nature's challenges. Along the way, she learns valuable lessons about life and friendship through her interactions with a sly fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal) and an orphaned baby goose.

DreamWorks Animation once again delivers their A-game, continuing their streak of outclassing Disney. Following the surprisingly excellent "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)", they’ve now brought us this little masterpiece. The visuals are dazzling, with colors that pop, breathtakingly dynamic and fluid movements, and an incredible level of detail. The Atmos sound and music enhance the experience, making it incredibly vibrant.

The screenplay takes some liberties with how "nature's law of the strongest" works, but its universal language and heartfelt message resonate deeply with audiences of all ages. I initially worried the film might lean too much into the mostly-mute storytelling style of "Wall-E (2008)", given its premise of a robot stranded in isolation. However, they cleverly avoided this by incorporating voiced characters so that a bear could be voiced by Mark Hamill and a falcon by Ving Rhames.

It's funny, clever, and deeply moving, managing to balance its humor and emotional weight perfectly.
Simply put, this is the best animated robot film since "The Iron Giant (1999)"!

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