If you have been to the movie theaters recently, there is a pretty good chance you saw a poster for Dreamwork Animation’s new movie “The Wild Robot”, featuring Kit Connor and Bill Nighy. Released into theaters Sep. 27, 2024, I went into the movie theaters with no expectations, except maybe the fact that the last few movies by Dreamworks were flops. I was blown away by this movie as it greatly exceeded my ex
pectations.
The movie is about a robot named Roz, or Rozzum 7134. At the beginning, we are introduced to her as a shipwrecked robot, who was part of a shipment to a company who plays a big part in the movie. Roz tries to navigate the hostile island she lands in, and finds animals trying to survive in the circle of life. She tries to “assist” the animals, as that is what she is coded to do, but they take a disliking to her and end up attacking.
When chased by a bear in the forest, she takes a steep fall down the edge of a cliff where she lands on something. In a disturbing reveal, she lifts up a limp wing of a goose from the wreckage of the fall she took, revealing a nest of broken eggs. But somehow, one egg miraculously survives.
She decides to care for the egg, saving it from a fox named Fink, who is one of the main characters in the movie, and who also ends up befriending Roz. When the egg hatches, Roz first sees it as a finished job, due to her programming. Fink tells her she needs to raise it, much to her disliking, until she is finally convinced by a mother possum and her children. She takes this as another assignment to complete.
For the rest of the movie, she works to raise the little gosling, teaching it to fly and swim. As he gets older, people mock him for being different, and raised by the “monster.”
During the movie, Roz begins to put aside her protocols and what she was assigned to do as a robot, and develops actual feelings as a motherly bond with the gosling is created.
The animation of the movie was beautiful, taking some ideas of the animation style from the acclaimed Puss in Boots movie. The voice acting for the movie was great, with some notable actors such as Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, and Mark Hamill.
The story was exceptional, and despite the fact that I have not read the books personally, my siblings, who have read the book, said that the movie reflects accurately the books. It was an incredibly emotional movie, and though I didn’t cry during the extensive deep and emotional scenes, I could tell that this movie had struck the hearts of a lot of the adults in the theater.
Overall, I give this movie a solid 9.5 out of 10. After numerous flops in the theaters this year, Dreamworks has redeemed themselves with this movie. It is definitely worth the watch, so if you have not seen it yet, I would recommend watching it at the nearest theater, or wait for it to be released on your at-home streaming services.
