Nowadays, we live in a world full of technology. We walk around with a computer, camera, telephone, etc. in our pocket and we can turn on lights and lock/unlock doors when we aren't even home. We can even start our car from inside our home without a key. So many of us have become so dependent on technology that we forget about the organic things in our lives. Don't get me wrong, technology plays an important part in our lives (for instance, I'm writing this right now on my laptop while sitting in my kitchen) but it shouldn't overwhelm us to the point that we lose sight of everything else that is out there in the world. DreamWorks/Universal Pictures bring this theme, among others, to their latest animated, feature film, The Wild Robot.
Roz (Lupita Nyong'o; A Quiet Place: Day One) is a personal robot sent to a customer with the sole purpose of being given tasks to complete. However, when her transport crash lands on a deserted planet, she finds herself in strange and unfamiliar territory without a clue of what to do. She tries to seek assistance from the inhabitants but finds she can not communicate with them. Turns out they are the forest animals who are afraid of her and run every time they see her. Over time, Roz learns their various languages and tries her best to be of help to them.
One day, though, after being chased by a bear, Roz ends up crashing into a tree and accidentally smashes a goose nest. There she finds a lone surviving egg that suddenly hatches with a baby gosling inside that hatches and imprints on her. Unsure of what it is, or what to do with it, Roz gets help from a nearby fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal; The Mandalorian), who has ulterior motives himself. As the three become an odd type of family, all the other forest animals take notice and Roz learns there is more to life than simply "completing a task".
Nyong'o has a lilt and a cadence to her voice that makes Roz sound as sweet and caring as she sounds metallic. Pascal plays the sneaky fox to perfection. However, besides those two, there are also a number of talented actors voicing characters. Everyone from Kit Connor (Rocketman) to Stephanie Hsu (Joy Ride) and veterans such as Ving Rhames (The Mission: Impossible Franchise), Catherine O'Hara (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) and Mark Hamill (the Star Wars Franchise) lend their voices to the woodland creatures.
The DreamWorks team has outdone themselves as far as the animation goes. Specks of dirt on Roz's metal are detailed down to every last scrape and scratch. The feathers from the birds, the fur on the bear and the fox...I could go on and on about the care and time taken to masterfully depict each thing on each creature, tree, flower, etc. The colors are also beautifully shaded and there are moments you almost feel as if the film is live-action rather than animated.
The overall story is not original and, of course, if one wanted to read too deeply into the plot, one could say Roz symbolizes a slave making her way through the treacherous woods to freedom but that might be stretching it a bit much. It is a story of love, family, and the ties that bind them no matter what circumstances have brought them together. With simplicity and humor, The Wild Robot gets its point across without overburdening any part of the whole, it is fun family fare.
Grade: A-
