The world can be a bleak place. That’s why it’s important to have positive and heartwarming entertainment. The new movie, The Wild Robot, is being called one of the most touching and wholesome movies of all time. Let’s look at why that may be with a quick review.

Very light spoilers for The Wild Robot are below.

The Good

The animation in The Wild Robot is especially top-notch. It blends a 2D, hand-painted visual style with terrific 3D animation to create something incredibly unique and absolutely breathtaking. The colors perfectly set the tone. The characters’ movements, especially with Roz’s wild flailing and the animals flying, swimming, and tumbling, are extremely fluid. The likes of fire and water look gorgeous. This is easily one of the most visually striking movies in years.

The film is an emotional ride from start to finish. I dare anyone to sit through it without crying at least a little bit. The story is very touching, as Roz learns to love over time, and all the animals grow to accept her. It’s a story that encourages kindness and love that uses fleshed out characters that anyone can relate to. It’s such a wholesome tale that fans will rewatch it again and again for therapeutic reasons.

The story touches on quite a few important themes and messages. Like previously stated, it encourages kindness. It also focuses on motherhood and found families, which are also important to have in the spotlight. Perhaps the most important theme in the film is that it encourages unlearning programmed hate. Many of us grew up being taught to hate others for trivial reasons, but we should unlearn that hate and embrace kindness and cooperation so that we may all live in this world together. The way the movie covers this feels organic to the story without ever overlooking its importance. It’s overall an incredibly powerful story.

Adding to the heart of the movie is the character development. Each of the major characters grows throughout the course of the story. Seeing the characters overcome certain obstacles or change their way of thinking for the better is incredibly satisfying to see play out on screen. The fact that so many of the characters were able to organically grow during the story without anything feeling cramped or rushed is an impressive feat on the filmmakers’ end.

The movie is not just an inspirational tearjerker. It’s also quite funny. There are plenty of witty lines of dialogue and moments of slapstick that are hilarious. A welcome surprise, though, is that there’s also a bit of dark humor used throughout. Nothing too adult or scary happens, but there are some funny scenes that do involve small animals being eaten and the like. It led to even more laughs in the theater.

The voice performances are all positively stellar. Lupita Nyong’o manages to capture an emotionless robot early on with a computer-like voice but gradually gives Roz more and more emotion and life as the story progresses, which must have been tricky to do. Pedro Pascal’s voice is completely unrecognizable. Stephanie Hsu makes a happier tone sound intimidating. Everyone on the cast does a fantastic job. This is another example as to why there needs to be an Oscar category for voice acting.

The Bad

This is going to sound nitpicky, but it does affect the plot of the movie. For most of the animals we see in the film, there would be more of them. There wouldn’t just be one fox or one bear or 2 moose on the island. The amount of animals comes up during a key moment in the story and it does matter, so being as realistic as possible would have made the most sense. That being said, the issue is a microscopic one.

Conclusion

The Wild Robot is a modern masterpiece that tells a moving story for audiences of any age. It’s heartwarming, emotional, inspirational, and funny. It features important messages without talking down to its audience. The visuals are absolutely breathtaking. This is a movie that should be seen by everyone.

Rating: 10/10

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