‘The Wild Robot’ Movie Review: Lupita Nyong’o Delivers Emotional Depth in a Visually Stunning Animated Adventure Movie (LatestLY Exclusive)

The Wild Robot Movie Review: Good storytelling can occur even when a plot is familiar, and the beats are predictable if emotional resonance elevates the experience, making you forget you knew where the narrative was heading all along. Chris Sanders' The Wild Robot is such a film. It explores unexpected bonds and themes of kindness, solidarity, and humanity in a movie that features no main human characters. Is the point of The Wild Robot that humanity is less evident in humans and more in animals and robots? After all, ROZZUM 7134 learns humanity despite having no interaction with people, whereas a robot trained by humans, who arrive later, is more ruthless. Inside Out 2 Movie Review: Amy Poehler's Animated Sequel is an Utterly 'Joy'ful Journey Through Teen Angst and Emotional Evolution.

When a cargo ship carrying multi-purpose robots is wrecked in a typhoon, leaving them stranded on an island with no human inhabitants, only one robot, ROZZUM 7134, is accidentally activated. She has no idea where she is and assumes this forested island is where she must perform her services. The animals see her as hostile, and though she makes an effort to learn their language (conveniently, all species speak the same one), they still call her a monster.

In an accident, she destroys a goose’s nest, but one egg survives. ROZZUM 7134 takes this as her new task, protecting the egg and, later, the hatchling from harm. However, the gosling, whom she names Brightbill (Kit Connor), is a runt. Her new mission becomes teaching him how to find food, swim, and fly, with help from Fink (Pedro Pascal), a fox who finds a friendship with the wild robot beneficial for his own survival.

Watch the Trailer of 'The Wild Robot':

The Wild Robot borrows familiar elements from other stories and makes the best out of them. Like Ice Age, the film focuses on unconventional parenting. It's an underdog story, a sports drama, and a touching tale of friendship and love. It all culminates in an entertaining, mini-Endgame-style fight sequence that left me giddy (there's also an 'On your left' moment).

Just when you think we’ve seen it all in terms of animation quality, The Wild Robot delivers stunning visuals. From the beautiful scenes of migrating geese to the pinkish glow of a forest fire, the movie is gorgeous to watch.

Story-wise, it took a while for The Wild Robot to connect with me as a viewer. It wasn’t that the film was boring early on, but it was laying the groundwork for the characters—particularly ROZZUM, Brightbill, and Fink—to develop into well-rounded individuals with their own arcs. The humour, occasionally tinged with dark touches (as with the opossum family), helps the film sail smoothly through these scenes as we get to know and like these characters.

The film picks up momentum during the ‘training’ scenes and gains dramatic weight after a rift forms between ROZZUM and her foster son. The later portions, where ROZZUM realises her services on the island are far from over (no pun intended), are where The Wild Robot shines the most. Be sure to have tissues handy—it’s hard to finish the film without shedding a tear. The Garfield Movie Review: Chris Pratt's Animated Film is Occasional Fun but Falls Largely Short of Purrfection.

The voice cast is exceptional. Lupita Nyong’o is incredible as the robot whose AI evolves through care and love, not just for a runt gosling, but for the entire forest. She subtly infuses emotion into the role while maintaining an AI’s tone. Pedro Pascal is deviously charming as the opportunistic fox who finds his own growth through an unexpected friendship. Kit Connor is likeable as Brightbill, while Catherine O’Hara and Matt Berry—voicing a kindly but exasperated opossum and a sardonic beaver (who gets his own heroic moment) respectively —steal scenes. The rest of the cast, including veterans like Bill Nighy, Mark Hamill, and Ving Rhames, are fantastic.

'The Wild Robot' Movie Review - Final Thoughts

The Wild Robot is a visually captivating and heartwarming animated film that takes familiar themes and elevates them with emotional depth and strong character arcs. While it may take some time to fully engage, its blend of humour, touching relationships, and stunning animation makes it a thoroughly rewarding experience. Do not miss this in theatres as The Wild Robot releases in India on October 18.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 16, 2024 02:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).