The Wild Robot is the latest addition to the Dreamworks film catalog. It’s adapted from the Peter Brown book series of the same name. It was directed by Chris Sanders and released in Vietnamese cinemas on October 11th, 2024. I found it to be an incredibly heartfelt and vibrant film, that’s good-looking enough to hold kids’ attention and with a plot more than strong enough to appease adults.
In terms of plot and storytelling, the film manages to deliver a heartwarming story to please viewers of all ages. Without too many spoilers, the film is about a robot named ROZZUM-7134 (Roz), who finds herself washed up on an island inhabited only by animals after a storm. Roz then begins to build friendships with the animals of the island and also adopts an orphaned gosling. The plot is somewhat reminiscent of Wall-E, exploring a robot building a life for itself after being met with a completely new setting, and in the end, impacting every character greatly. There are also aspects of self-discovery of Roz’s character, as she seeks to discover what she was built to do, and why she has to follow those orders instead of being independent, which is an incredibly fresh plot for an animated movie as of late. It feels like as opposed to watching the plot m
ove along while characters change locations and globetrot, it focuses solely on one setting, the characters in it, and how they develop throughout the course of the story.
Visually, this film is stunning. From the minuscule details like the hairs on the animals’ heads to the sprawling landscape shots, the visual elements of the film have been lovingly handcrafted to the absolute best result. They’ve managed to nail a style of computer animation that looks like hand-drawn animation, though this is in fact a trend we’ve been seeing more in animated cinema recently thanks to the success of the Spider-Verse movies. We saw it in Dreamworks in Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, again in Kung Fu Panda 4, and now in The Wild Robot, and honestly it works more than it doesn’t. By combining artful styles with their top-notch storytelling, the filmmakers succeed in making the film just as appealing visually as it is in terms of plot.
The cast of the film features Lupita Nyong’o (A Quiet Place: Day One, Us) and Pedro Pascal (The Last Of Us, Gladiator II) as Roz and Fink, the two main characters. In supporting roles, there is also Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, and Ving Rhames. However, the star performance is Pedro Pascal, as he invests himself into his character more than any other actor, especially in the moments where the film needs it most. This performance alone elevates the film to the heart-wrenching experience it is.
In conclusion, this movie is a fantastic, visually appealing, and unbelievably heartfelt adaptation. I would say it is 100% worth going to the cinema to watch, especially if you’re a fan of the book, or just an enjoyer of animated movies. Personally I would give it a 9/10 rating.
