After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island’s animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.

I’ve reviewed some good animated movies recently and ‘The Wild Robot’ is another good one to add to the collection, this time coming from the well established Dreamworks Animation studio. The plot is relatively simple – a service robot is lost from a cargo ship during a storm and becomes stranded on an uninhabited island, where it must adapt to unfamiliar surroundings. After coming to terms with its new wildlife companions, the robot ROZZUM or ‘Roz’ for short (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) ends up becoming a mother figure for an orphaned little goose called Brightbill (Kit Connor), thus kicking off a stirring tale that will draw you in with glorious animation and win you over with real heart in the storytelling.

I was impressed with how sweeping and soaring ‘The Wild Robot’ is, deftly moving between themes including coming of age, fish out of water and the pros/cons of artificial intelligence. It differs quite significantly from its obvious robot movie companion in Pixar’s ‘WALL-E’ and shares a lot in common with the works of Studio Ghibli in how they often get to the heart and the beauty of the natural world. It has a stellar voice cast (as most major animated movies do these days) with Nyong’o finding the perfect balance for Roz, alongside supporting cast members such as Pedro Pascal, Bill Nighy, Catherine O’Hara and Mark Hamill. This is the type of movie that will open children’s eyes to the possibilities of moviemaking while also touching on themes that will resonate strongly with adults, a difficult balance that Pixar at their best are masters of. In short, a very good family movie.

‘The Wild Robot’ is a very good movie but I don’t think it’s quite the masterpiece it is being made out to be in some quarters (including the trailer which is hard selling it’s quality a lot), but it is a very enjoyable movie, superbly crafted with clever writing that belies the simplicity of its premise. I can see why it is well loved.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Chris Sanders

Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Catherine O’Hara, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Matt Berry and Ving Rhames

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt29623480/