“The Wild Robot” is a film directed by Chris Sanders, released on Sept. 27. It follows a robot named Roz on her journey of finding purpose, as well as the bridge between technology and reality. The animated film, based off of the novel “The Wild Robot” by Peter Brown, brings many characteristics of the original story. The film proves to be unexpectedly emotional and dives into deep and relevant topics like advancing technology, artificial intelligence, and parenthood.
The movie has earned great overall feedback from critics and casual watchers. It has gained a 4.9 star rating on Google and a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes over the past 2 months since its release. It is set to be released on the streaming service Peacock, but the official date is not yet released.
A ship of robots crashes into an island in a wreck to start off the story, with the only surviving robot being the main character, Roz, voiced by Lupita Nyong’o. This robot is wired to assist someone, so her programming causes her to search the island for someone in need. As time passes throughout the film, Roz is able to develop real feelings towards the animals she meets.
As the story progresses, Roz interacts with many different animals on the island. She even ends up adopting a baby goose who she names Brightbill, voiced by Kit Connor. The relationship between Brightbill and Roz is one of the biggest plotlines in the story.
Brightbill sees Roz as a motherly figure and the audience follows as the two go through the complexities of their relationship and parenthood as a whole. Roz’s relationship with Brightbill is what eventually causes her to gain the ability to feel real emotions.
The production also has a very familiar and talented cast of voice actors, featuring Pedro Pascal, Mark Hamill, Bill Nighy and the previously mentioned Connor and Nyong’o. These actors bring the characters to life and even further push the emotional and realistic aspects of the film.
Throughout the movie, the plot revolves around self-worth and identity following the animals of the island alongside Roz as they learn to work together to benefit the island. This furthers the idea of utilizing nature and technology together as it becomes more common in society.
For many, this movie is one that’s plot isn’t directly shown throughout the trailers, causing the film to be a surprise for most when discovering the deeper messages within the movie. With directors hitting the hardships of parenthood, finding true identity, accepting others and more. While the movie is colorful and well animated, this film caused many emotional reactions due to the relatability and overall message.
The story has had such an emotional impact on its viewers, largely due to its themes, but also because of the realistic relationships that allow emotional moments to be so well executed. The relationships between Roz and the habitants of the island also compare to how society can work to bring together nature and technology.
With such a big future in technology, people need to learn to balance the natural aspects of the Earth as well. The movie does a great job of representing this when showing the hardships Roz initially faces and how she is unwelcome at the start. As time progresses, however, Roz befriends the island and fights with the animals for its safety.
Outside of the heavy themes, the film’s beautiful visuals play a large role in the success that the film has seen since its release. The animation style uses bright colors and precision of each shot to make the film lively and fun to watch. The animation of it makes the film not only emotionally compelling, but also visually appealing to the audience.
All of these features, along with the recognizable cast of voice actors, make the movie extremely intriguing and prove it to be an unexpected and emotionally intelligent film. Even if one were to go into the movie knowing nothing about the story, the visuals and intense plot would make the film memorable and enjoyable to much of its audience.
