The Wild Robot Movie Review

“The Wild Robot” is an animated movie where Nature meets Nurture. And in this case, Nurture is in the form of a Robot crash-landed onto a remote island. The Robot is designed to provide service to humans and complete any assigned task. But can this Robot give the one thing that a little newly-hatched gosling really needs? A Mother?

ROZZUM unit 7134 is the Robot with a slight problem. The delivery vessel crashed on an isolated island, and never made it to the populated city to where it had been headed. The unit, who calls herself Roz for short (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) thinks that the mission is still on, that her goal is still to find a human whom she can serve.

But there is only wildlife on this island, no humans. Everything from foxes to moose, and from raccoons, beavers, possums, geese, and grizzly bears — this island has inhabitants. Just not any residents are human.

Roz goes into ‘learning mode’ for many, many days — learning how to make sense of the animal noises. She can soon speak to any creature on the island. Of course, that freaks them all out. There is an accident, and Roz crashes down a steep hill. She lands on a small nest, quite by mistake. She kills the mother goose, and all the eggs except one have been smashed. A sly fox, named Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal) first steals the egg.

Roz gets the egg back, because she feels responsible for the destruction. Fink gives back the egg. But the little egg hatches right in Roz’s hand. The small gosling runt looks at Roz — the big mechanical assistant.

The little guy has found his ‘Mother’. Oh Boy — Fink says, you are in trouble now. That little guy thinks you are his mother goose – and you will need to raise him. The little gosling will need to learn how to eat, how to swim and then how to fly. Roz thinks this is great. She knows all about how to get tasks completed.

But a passing-by opossum Mother, named Pinktail (voiced by Catherine O’Hara), says it is much tougher than it looks. Fink agrees, and he says he will be Roz’s guide to the “Wild”.  Pinktail tells Roz that first, the little guy needs to have a name.

Roz and Fink find some grub for the baby, and she constructs a suitable shelter. Roz decides that a good name for her gosling adopted son will be Brightbill (voiced by Kit Connor). Fink is still being ‘helpful’ — as long as there is something in it for him. Roz and Brightbill meet up many of the other residents of the forest island.

They meet up with a beaver named Paddler (voiced by Matt Berry). Roz gets Brightbill some flying lessons from a friendly falcon named Thunderbolt (voiced by Ving Rhames). But everyone in the forest tries to steer clear of the local grizzly bear — Thorn (voiced by Mark Hamill).

Brightbill has learned how to eat and how to swim. With some help from Thunderbolt, he is now one of the fastest and most capable flying goose on the island. But due to his small size, and his being raised by a ‘monster’ called Roz — many of the other geese still shun Brightbill.

But the oldest and the wisest goose, an esteemed leader named Longneck (voiced by Bill Nighy) comes to Roz and explains that he knows that Brightbill has some fantastic flying powers and he could be a leader in the next Migration. That will be coming up soon, before the Winter sets in.

Brightbill goes with Longneck and all the other geese. Roz says that her tasks are all now competed. So she must use a beacon signal to call back to ‘home’ — Universal Dynamics. The manufacturing giant will send an automated team to pick her up and get her ready for a new assignment. But first, the weather has changed, so the full signal does not go out. It is harsh Winter — and all the many animals of the forest are in danger.

The bitter cold is frightful, but Fink and Roz go on a journey to find all the wild animals. Each and every one of them is welcome to stay in the suitable shelter that she constructed. Now that Brightbill has left, she does not want to feel alone over the Winter in the shelter.

All of different animals find it hard to get along — what with many Predators and Prey in one little place. Fink tries to get all of the creatures to settle down. Don’t ruin a good thing. But Thorn, the grizzly bear, speaks up — everyone should be behaving and be thanking Roz. After all, most of them could be dead from the extreme cold.

Roz, who runs on solar power, has not seen daylight for quite some time. She needs to power herself down to conserve energy. Once the Winter is done, she will be able to recharge. She will also be able to see if her little Brightbill was able to make it there and back.

Spring comes around, and the geese flock back to the island. The esteemed leader named Longneck gave himself up to allow the rest of the flock to return. They were led by Brightbill, and everyone cheers him on. But something else sinister is afoot. A large object comes down from the sky, with the name ‘Universal Dynamics’ on the side. Roz will need to go back home.

Down from the large airship comes a new Robot, one named Vontra (voiced by Stephanie Hsu). This Robot has a mission to get Roz back to headquarters, even if the whole forest burns down as a result. Roz is not happy that Vontra is being so harsh.

Vontra is sending killer Robots out to hunt any creature that might imperil the mission. All the animals, after spending the Winter together in harmony, are willing to work together to save Roz and stop the Robot invasion.

Does the ‘Universal Dynamics’ return policy work when a large group of wild animals band together to fight against you? Even the geese get airborne and find ways to block the airship from leaving with Roz. Vontra is outside the bounds of knowing what to do. Roz has been re-adapting her internal programming — so she knows exactly what to do. She will continue to be Mother, and continue to be Wild…

“The Wild Robot” is a very visual movie, with bright and distinct animation. It glows with energy and pep, and the vocal work of all the characters is right where it needs to be. This is adapted from a book, and the tone is even-handed.  Even with the Predators vs. Prey, and the harsh Winter conditions, the animals all learn to get along.

The vocal is really to the point. Lupita Nyong’o is playing Roz, and at first her voice is a little robotic and stilted. But later, her voice opens up to be more gentle, caring – and maybe even a little ‘wild’. Pedro Pascal plays Fink, and he does a great sly little rascal. All of the other vocal talent fit the animal that they represent.

The visuals are stunning and quite beautiful. The soundtrack and music (by Kris Bowers) is excellent. The pacing is good, but for a younger audience it might be a little too long. But that gives you more time to enjoy the visual designs of island and the creatures. This movie is a fun adventure for the whole family.

“The Wild Robot” is like a warm embracing hug from a Robot who has ‘become more than she was programmed to be’, and now she has become Wild…