By Dwight Brown
NNPA Film Critic
(***1/2) All hail single moms raising kids they didn’t birth. Dedicated parents who shepherd children into adulthood. They’re saints.
It’s almost as if this family film’s theme was ripped from the headlines in this twisted era of demeaning mothers who raise youngsters that didn’t come from their bodies. Or people who pour their love and nurturing into cats, dogs and other alternatives. Call novelist Peter Brown prescient for writing his bestseller The Wild Robot.
Call writer/director Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon) right on time for his very touching adaptation and eclectic casting that pulls the world together. Kudos to the diverse group of actors that help tell this story that preaches the gospel of love and community in the face of adversaries and naysayers. They should all take a bow.
Somewhere out there a spaceship crash lands on an uninhabited island, that’s if you don’t count animals. The lone survivor is a robot, Rozzum unit 7134 (Lupita Nyong’o). Roz is programmed to assists others—to a fault. As she tries to befriend the animals on the isle, they’re either afraid of her or pushing her around. Fate has it that she stumbles across a nest and an egg. Providence hatches the egg and it’s a gosling. A baby goose. Slowly as Roz parents the bird it grows into a young goose named Brightbill (Kit Connor, Rocketman).
She teaches him the importance of eating, swimming and flying. But is perplexed by her bond with the animal. Can’t put a name on it. But Pinktail the possum (Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek) clues her in: “As far as he’s concerned, you’re his mother!”
As time goes by the hodge podge of animals center their lives around Roz and Brightbill. They’re no longer afraid and forming a community. An extended family. Chief among the furry and featured creatures are Fink the fox (Pedro Pascal), who eyes the others as potential prey when his instincts get the better of him. Pinktail and her tiny brood. The big bear Thorn (Mark Hamill) and busy beaver Paddler (Matt Berry). The day comes when the boy goose must become a young adult goose, and his surrogate mom must let go. The day comes when hostile forces will threaten the animals. They will be tested.
Only the hardest heart couldn’t be touched by this story and its vulnerable characters all trying to survive, learn, grow and adapt as a family. The novel was written with middle grade children in mind, and that’s how the movie plays. Perfect for kids and tweens. The kind of film parents can take their kids to see and then teach them lessons about what family, parenting and children learning to be independent is all about.
From Roz’s first harrowing days on the strange island the script and Sander’s direction pulls you into her plight. She needs to be less subservient and more assertive. It’s a tricky balance, but it’s fun to watch her awkward giant steps forward. Also depicting the tech and AI age, with its advances but dehumanizing and menacing ways is also engaging.
Nyong’o brings a sweetness and naiveté to Roz that remains fresh throughout. All done with her voice. With inflection, phrasing, tone and a mix of joy and concern. As the robot becomes more empathetic and shows a wider range of emotions audiences feel the change. Pascal’s devilish turn as Fink is funny and biting. And the innocence and bravery displayed by Connor become more absorbing as he and his loved ones come under attack by the steely, cold hearted robot Vondra (Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once).
Kids won’t squirm through this fantasy because editor Mary Blee knows how to keep a beat. The scenery looks fresh and colors vibrant because production designer Raymond Zibach and art director Ritchie Sacilioc are on the job. Cinematographer Chris Stover’s sense of lighting and composition are right on the mark and Kris Bowers’ music intensifies the ups and downs that make this film a roller coaster.
Sanders masterfully turns a book into a compelling family film. A modern, animated parable audiences will relish from beginning to end. If there is an imperfection it is not in the production but more in the timing. There are sequences of Brightbill and the flock he’s joined, led by Longneck (Bill Nighy), that feel too similar to the recent animated movie Migration. That’s a note, not a dealbreaker.
Otherwise, all hail this single mom and bird lady movie that proves once and for all that families and parents come in all sizes, shapes, species and robots.
Visit Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.
