The Wild Robot Review: Pleasant Watch

The Wild Robot is delightful children's fare and a meaningful watch for grown-ups, discovers Mayur Sanap.

It has been a good year for animated movies.

Amid the franchise films Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4, Kung Fu Panda 4 and Transformers One, we now have cute The Wild Robot to add a tinge of originality to the list.

Based on Peter Brown's 2016 novel with Director Chris Sanders at its helm, The Wild Robot is delightful children's fare and a meaningful watch for grown-ups. It's a formula that Hollywood's animation industry has cracked successfully.

Worker robot Rozzum 7134/Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o) is marooned on a forest island after the shipwreck.

Roz, a smart machine from the distant future built to serve humankind, finds itself in the wilderness with no human in sight.

Roz uses smart programming to adapt to its new surroundings even though the animal on the island believe the machine is a monster that will harm them.

As Roz navigates its path through the hostile terrain, it comes across an orphaned baby goose (voiced by Kit Connor) and reluctantly becomes his 'mother'.

Along the way, Roz befriends a sly but affectionate fox named Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal) and the three become an unlikely family.

Like most animated flicks, The Wild Robot is a pleasant film to experience, both from the visual and story viewpoint.

I am not familiar with the original story, but Chris Sanders' screenplay is big on mawkish sentimentality that works well with the plot that packs surprising emotional depth with its messaging about empowerment and compassion.

What makes this film work is its characters and the way they interact with one another. Roz isn't entirely original. The character is your typical genius protagonist, much like Baymax from Big Hero 6 that finds itself in a Rango-like situation. However, Roz's personality is fairly well rounded enough to root for and be a charming central character.

It is also the freshness of the voices that make these characters feel fully formed.

Lupita Nyong'o has the most gentle and compassionate tone that immediately makes Roz an engaging character.

Pedro Pascal brings out Fink's guileful and mischievous nature in his voice performance, while not compromising on the character's inherent innocence.

The relationship between these two characters feels genuine much like Judy and Nick from Zootopia and together, they make for some funny moments.

Its impressive animation and lively voice cast aside, The Wild Robot lags in its narrative especially towards the end.

Despite its many pleasures, once the overarching themes and messaging are conveyed, the film takes a predictable route that feels rushed and abrupt.

I believe the makers are aiming for a sequel to keep it going. In the current landscape of franchise building, that's only fair.