In cinemas; Cert G
Pedro Pascal’s smooth-talking fox and Lupita Nyong’o’s robot in ‘The Wild Robot’
On an uninhabited boreal island, a high-tech servant robot (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) crash lands during a terrible storm en route to her new owners. “Roz” activates and fruitlessly scans for a human from which to take her orders.
With none in sight she scours the island, bringing her into the sphere of an array of indigenous wildlife so that she ends up learning their language and various survival dynamics.
Prompted by a smooth-talking fox (Pedro Pascal), Roz takes it upon herself to foster an orphaned gosling who she names Brightbill (Kit Connor). Doing her job to its best will mean getting Brightbill airborne, thinking like a real goose, and ready for the impending autumn migration. To have any chance she’ll need the help of other species, assuming she can win their trust. Meanwhile, her absence has not gone unnoticed by company HQ.
Animated adventures are rarely as tender, captivating and visually spectacular as this jewel based on the best-selling children’s book by Peter Brown. Writer-director Chris Sanders zeroes in on the motherhood metaphor underscoring everything, knowing just when to push the right buttons to bring on the waterworks.
Five stars
