The Wild Robot (Christian Movie Review)
With beautiful animation and a powerful story, The Wild Robot is a special film about finding love and purpose in a difficult world.
About the Film
On the surface, The Wild Robot may seem to have much in common with Pixar’s Wall-E (2008). Both rely on visual storytelling to tell charming tales about misunderstood robots who are searching for their life’s purpose. But despite these narrative similarities, The Wild Robot is far from derivative. Not only is it one of the most delightful films of the year but it may finally propel DreamWorks animation into the same lofty stratosphere as Pixar’s “golden age.” With beautiful animation and a powerful story, The Wild Robot is a special film about finding love and purpose in a difficult world.
The film’s director, Chris Sanders, also created the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, which includes some of the best movies in the DreamWorks canon. The Wild Robot shows his steady hand once again. Every aspect of the film is crafted with meticulous care. The warm, watercolor animation style is stunning. While not as flashy or attention-grabbing as the acclaimed Spider-Verse movies, it may be the most visually pleasing film I’ve seen in years. The gorgeous visuals are bolstered by an excellent musical score in a way that demonstrates artistry not often found in movies, animated or otherwise.
The soft visuals and stellar music are a perfect fit for the story and tone. On the drive home from the theater, one of my sons remarked, “I noticed that it wasn’t like a lot of other films with lots of action and stuff. It was more about the robot’s life. I really liked it though.” The Wild Robot offers a stark contrast to a movie like Despicable Me 4, which seemed to have the singular goal of offering hyper-charged, diverting entertainment to young viewers (which is not necessarily a bad thing). Instead, The Wild Robot has a gentle, meditative feel. The more mature story doesn’t stoop too low to appeal to younger viewers, though it doesn’t forget them either. The story doesn’t sugarcoat the harsher realities of life (see content section below), but the movie is wholesome and family-friendly, lacking the profanity and other questionable content that has found its way into other animated films. It is a movie viewers of all ages can enjoy.
The Wild Robot may be contemplative, but that doesn’t mean it’s boring. There are plenty of exciting moments, such as when the animals on the island come together to battle menacing futuristic robots or when Roz (the robot protagonist) braves an ice storm to rescue the creatures that are caught in the deathly cold. The story is not necessarily slow, but it never skips over the introspective moments in its rush to reach the next action sequence. Most of the narrative tension stems from internal conflict rather than from battles against external “villains.” Heartfelt scenes, such as when the robot helps an outcast gosling runt learn how to fly, are emotionally satisfying and no less compelling than the higher-stakes action sequences.
The story explores sweeping themes about life and purpose (with several moments that are sure to tug on parent viewers’ heartstrings). The Wild Robot is more thematic than message-driven. My 9-year-old boys struggled to pinpoint a primary message or moral afterwards. Like Roz, who possesses a high-end computing processor for rational thinking but ultimately learns to navigate her circumstances with her heart, the film strives to make audiences feel something rather than merely conveying a message. Even though the story is almost entirely devoid of human characters, The Wild Robot is a fundamentally human narrative. It is about the experience of love that makes life worth living. It may not send kids out of the theater buzzing with excitement, but audiences will be better for having had the rich and wholesome themes wash over them.
For decades, Pixar Studios largely stood alone as the gold standard in mature, emotionally deep animated storytelling. The success of Inside Out 2 shows that reports of Pixar’s demise may have been premature. But DreamWorks proves that Pixar is not the only game in town. The Wild Robot might be the most Pixar-y film Pixar never made. An excellent showcase in beautiful, powerful storytelling, The Wild Robot is arguably the best animated film of the year (and may be my favorite film of the year, animated or otherwise). I suspect that this movie will be celebrated at the next Academy Awards, and the honor will be well deserved. Sometimes it’s important to remember the love and beauty that makes us human, even when that timely reminder comes from an animated robot.
For Consideration
Language: There are two usages of “that sucked,” and one possible utterance of “God” (it was not clearly articulated and may have just been a groan).
Violence: Nature is a violent place. Although the animals inhabiting the story mostly coexist, there remains the uncomfortable reality that some are predators and others are prey (ex. a crab is pulled apart and eaten in one scene, but another crab is present with the united animals in a later scene). Several of the animals are killed by each other or by robots, but none of the violence (apart from that unfortunate crab) is depicted in a graphic manner.
Sexuality: None.
Engage The Film
Love and Purpose
The Wild Robot is rich in biblical themes. In one sense, the entire film plays out as a metaphor or reflection of the story of Eden. At the beginning of the story, Roz wakes up in the jungle and is filled with bubbly optimism about life. Her idyllic worldview is quickly shaken as she encounters the violent, hostile world around her. From there, she is propelled by a desire to discover her purpose. She has an innate understanding that she was created for a purpose. “Who made you?” a character asks. She replies, “I was made?” It should be noted that the metaphor is not a perfect fit, as there is an indication that her creators were not always benevolent, leading her to “break the rules” and rebel against her programming.
The answer to the question of Roz’s purpose is explored in several ways. On the surface, it is clearly applied to parenting (and motherhood in particular), as she chooses to care for an orphaned gosling. The film offers some vivid imagery of the cost of that important role, as Roz, who begins as fresh, polished, and new, becomes increasingly scarred, disfigured, and dirty as she sacrifices everything for the sake of the child.
In a broader sense, the governing purpose of life is shown to be love. Christians can affirm this biblical theme (see Matthew 22:37-39; 1 Corinthians 13). We were created to be loved and to love others. As a high-tech robot, Roz has impressive computing power. But it is only after she develops a (metaphorical) heart that she finds peace. In a speech delivered to a group of animals, she notes that as a robot and as animals, they are driven by a mere instinct for survival. Yet she urges them to “become more than our programming.” The world is a harsh place, but the experience of love makes life worth living.
