The Wild Robot 2024

B+

This movie looked good from the previews and then got pretty decent reviews, so I was looking forward to seeing it. My theater usually has 25 minutes of previews and I was 20 minutes late only to find it started without me. I don't think I missed much and would have missed less if I could have scanned my electronic ticket without waiting in line with people who were buying tickets. End rant. This is a good movie with an artistic style to it and some good themes, but it aslo feels very familiar. Not just the robot trying to understand people (in this case animals) around her, but there are some heavy moments involving loss of a parent, not saying I Love You, and a giant faceless corporation as the bad guy. Then there is the paradox of the wild when making cute movies which is all of these animals are trying (and do, for laughs?) eat each other, but then they also are forced to get along. It is still good, but as emotionally manipulative as any Disney or Pixar movie, which I think may be part of why the scores are so high. I feel like the story took a few shortcuts when better writing could have told the story without those shortcuts. There is a good voice cast, but not really recognizable as themselves, which also makes things seem a little generic. Maybe I am nitpicking, but I was hoping for a little more.

Written: 10 Oct 2024