The Wild Robot

 You know, I'm a bit worried about Dreamworks at the moment. 

They have a new movie coming out in January, Dog Man, but trailers are already showing for Luc Besson's film, Dogman. You'd think that someone picking the trailers would tell the differences between the two considering one is animated and made for kids, while the other is live-action and not for kids. And Besson's Dogman came out stateside around March! Is Dreamworks's marketing getting ruined by mismatched trailers?

Task Acquired: Review Another Movie.

Fortunately, there's no mistaking Dreamworks's current movie, The Wild Robot, with anything else. Whether in title, story or art style, Chris Sanders's adaptation of the Peter Brown book stands on its own among this year's crowd. Let's take a further look.

Ironically, the protagonist of this "unique" film was made on an assembly line. She is ROZZUM 7314 (Lupita Nyong'o), later designated Roz, a product of the Universal Dynamics corporation. And yes, I did recognize the allusion to Rossum's Universal Robots, the Czech play that actually coined the term robot.

Anyway, Roz is shipwrecked on an unknown island during a typhoon. The local wildlife enjoys antagonizing the “monster” among them; they won’t even let her phone home! Roz accidentally crushes a goose nest, leaving a single egg intact. A runt gosling, later designated Brightbill (Kit Connor as an adult), soon hatches and imprints on Roz. Let’s just say being a parent isn’t part of Roz’s programming.

Enter Fink the Fox (Padro Pascal), a self-proclaimed “goose expert.” He decides to help Roz teach Brightbill how to be an independent goose. Unfortunately, the other geese reject Brightbill, who eventually rejects Roz. But Roz can’t give up on Brightbill; it’s not in her programming. Besides, winter is coming, and so is Universal Dynamics.

And neither are forgiving.

This movie about a soulless machine will have you feeling a lot. It has a particularly wicked sense of humor as Roz observes her animal neighbors' casualness towards death. Pinktail the Opossum (Catherine O'Hara) and her brood are the funniest of the supporting characters for that reason. It's quite amusing as Roz treats the world with a stoic, yet chipper voice. It becomes less amusing once she, and we, realize her isolation. It's both funny and sad when the judgmental wildlife messes with Roz's transceiver as she tries to phone home. They don't want her, but they don't want her to leave.

Roz and Fink's interspecies parenting of Brightbill will challenge the sternest hearts during its 101-minutes. Fink is quite a funny liar, yet he's still a great friend for Roz. Brightbill growing up is compelling, though a good chunk of that is unfortunately left off-screen. In fact, there are a few predictable turns, such as the fallout over Brightbill learning his family's fate, but they don't detract from how moving the found family is. When Brightbill finally flies south, you'll be shocked that the film is only half over. Fortunately, the remaining film, where Roz and Fink rescue their neighbors from a winter storm, and later rally them to battle Universal Dynamics, is still moving.

There's much to like about the film's painted CGI aesthetics. The opening shot, in which we see the inside of the fateful typhoon, is not one of them. All the lightning in quick succession made it unbearable to watch; if that's the point, they did it too well. Past that, we get some stunning scenery and very appealing character designs. Roz and her variants are obviously the cuddliest of them all. Even the menacing bear Thorn (Mark Hamill) is appealing once the film shows he isn't that bad. The animated cinematography is absolutely stunning, particularly as it follows Brightbill and his fellow geese in flight. You'll have to see for yourself when Thunderbolt the Falcon (Ving Rhames) teaches Brightbill how to fly. Kris Bower accentuates the needed emotions with a gripping score.

There's the slight probability you might get the wrong Dog Man trailer with The Wild Robot as I did. But please, try not to let that detract from your viewing experience. Its wide emotional range will easily draw you into its animated world; by the end, I wasn't thinking about the wrong trailer. It truly is an unforgettable movie, animated or otherwise, and it's worth seeing as soon as possible, whether or not you get the right trailer. What else is there to say about it? It's just that great.