4.5/5
Review by John P. Harvey.
On a gloriously lush island paradise awakens Universal Dynamics robot Rozzum 7134 (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o), with no idea how she got there or for whom she is intended for assignment of tasks. The island lacks any other English speakers; in fact, it is entirely uninhabited by humans. So Rozzum 7134, her name later shortened to Roz, must spend time absorbing the languages of those who do live there.
When an accident lands Roz with the care of an orphaned gosling, Roz’s new friend Fink (Pedro Pascal), a fox, helps Roz get creative. She names the gosling Brightbill (Boone Storm; later, as the older Brightbill, Kit Connor) and begins to learn something of the island’s ecology and the need for Brightbill to learn to swim and then to fly in time for her species’ annual migration.
There are obstacles, though: Roz has no idea how to care for Brightbill; Brightbill is roundly rejected by the island’s other geese; winter arrives, deadly cold; and Roz’s manufacturer, Universal Dynamics, is coming for her.
The Wild Robot offers much to entertain and move adult and child alike: a touching story displaying empathy and kindness; insights into learning mother love on the fly; and visual contrasts between bountiful wilderness and high-tech wizardry, and the jokes and surprises that arise from the combination. But the film also champions obtaining personal freedom through transcending whatever preordained instructions one may be programmed to follow.
Little wonder that the film is being released in at least 34 languages. With animation by DreamWorks rendering the natural world in captivating detail; a plethora of funny interactions; and imaginative design of robotic anatomy and functions, enhanced by a soundtrack intensifying the film’s emotional highs and lows, its appeal is universal. The Wild Robot richly deserves a place by our hearths.