The Wild Robot – Review

“THE WILD ROBOT (2024)”

The Wild Robot is another DreamWorks animation film that was written and directed by Chris Sanders and is based on the book of the same name by Peter Brown. I haven’t read the book, so I don’t know how faithful the adaptation is, so I’ll be judging the film standalone.

The Wild Robot was a film that I saw a lot of posters for but didn’t pay too much attention to, but I heard that early screenings had a lot of positive reviews, so I definitely wanted to give it a go.

The story is pretty simple initially but goes into some very interesting areas later down the line. It surrounds a robot named Ros (played by Lupita Nyong’o) who was abandoned on an uncharted island and has to learn to bond with the animals in order to survive. In the process, she is put in a position to raise a small gosling that she names Brightbill (Kit Connor).

It’s a very interesting film. Initially, it was almost a silent movie, and there were some very interesting uses of movement, mainly surrounding Ros having to do mimicry of other animals to get around. But the filmmakers decided not to carry on with that and so eventually Ros creates a translation program so she can speak to the animals.

There’s a very prestigious cast which includes Bill Nighy, Pedro Pascal, Mark Hamill, Matt Berry, Catherine O’Hara, and more. For the most part, they do meld into the roles very well. The most recognisable voices were Bill Nighy and Matt Berry, but that’s because I’m aware of a lot of their work, including their voice acting work.

I’ll say it right now, I think that the acting in this film is one of its strongest points. Lupita Nyong’o in its main role is particularly excellent. There’s a lot of films out there about robots learning to move past their programming, but Lupita really adds a dimension to it that feels fresh and original. As a result, you do really care about many of the characters, and I certainly get a sense of the inspirations that were put into this movie. While I can’t speak for the creators intent, I definitely felt a sense of Studio Ghibli inspiration here. More than most films I’ve seen, this really felt like a Western studio trying to make a Ghibli film. It’s a slow burner in parts, and there’s way more of an emphasis on character development and really fleshing out characters in the time given.

Though, the state of the planet also gave me a feel of the Horizon video game, particularly when I saw a sunken Golden Gate Bridge.

I thought that the designs in this were pretty good. I would like to point to the design of Ros, who looks just like she’s come out of Castle in the Sky.

The animation is beautiful. This is one of Dreamwork’s best looking movies, up there with the Kung Fu Panda films and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Thematically, I think it’s quite a mature film. Not so much that it would go over kids heads, though. I think that’s the best way to make a family film. I hope this inspires other studios to make similar feeling films.