The Wild Life
Directed by: Vincent
Kesteloot & Ben Stassen.
Written by: Domonic Paris
& Lee Christopher & Graham Welldon.
Starring: David Howard
(Tuesday), Yuri Lowenthal (Crusoe), Marieve Herington (Kiki), Laila Berzins
(Rosie), Joey Camen (Scrubby), Colin Metzger (Carmello), Sandy Fox (Epi), Jeff
Doucette (Pango/Mel), Debi Tinsley (May), Doug Stone (Aynsley), Michael Sorich
(Cecil), BJ Oakie (Rufus), Dennis O'Connor (Long John Silver), Kirk Thornton
(Bosun), Kyle Hebert (Tom Cat).
Oh,
the things we do for all children. I want my daughters to get into the movie
going habit – a habit, I fear, that many in their generation may get out of. If
they determine it’s not for them, then so be it, but I want them to know the
joys that movies can bring. For this same reason, I am about to start showing
my 5 year old classics – aided by Ty Burr’s excellent book “The Best Old Movies
for Families” in the coming weeks. To get my daughter into the habit of going
to the movies, I take her to see pretty much anything that is appropriate for
her (it makes me more than a little bitter that we just out of a bad movie
summer, that would have been amazing for a 7 year old with The Jungle Book, The
BFG, Pete’s Dragon and Kubo and the Two Strings – all of which would have been
just a little too much for my sensitive daughter – who made us leave The Secret
Life of Pets because it had a snake). So, with as much fanfare as I could
muster, we soldiered off to see The Wild Life this weekend – an animated
version of Robinson Crusoe, originally made in France/Belgium, then redubbed
into English for a fall release in North America (it’s not really a good sign
they decided to release it after the first week of school) – hoping there would
be enough parents like myself, desperate enough to take their kids to see any
movie featuring talking animals.
The
concept of the movie is that this is the story of Robinson Crusoe, but instead
of being an autobiography of the man, it’s a story as told by Tuesday – a
parrot on the island he is stranded on. There are not many animals on this
island – and none that are part of a matched pair that may produce future
generations, but let’s just forget about that. The villains in the film are a
pair of cats – that were ratter’s on the ship Crusoe was on, who hate him
because he (and his dog – trigger warning, don’t get attached to the dog)
foiled their plan on a chicken dinner, and allegedly spend years seeking
revenge – and eventually, some pirates, who show up and “rescue” Crusoe –
although, perhaps being stranded is better than being a pirate.
The
Wild Life is, to put it mildly, not a good movie. The animation isn’t bad per
se, but it isn’t very memorable either – the character design doesn’t rise to
the level of most modern CGI Saturday morning cartoon shows, let alone feature
films. The best animated sequence is a chase one – where the gaggle of cats
chases our hero animals down various slides and chutes, in and out of trees, etc.
– which for a few minutes, is actually kind of thrilling. Nothing else in the
film elicits that kind of joy. The writing of the movie matches the visuals –
in that is workmanlike, and not a whole lot else. Crusoe is a little bit of a
dim bulb – but lovably so, I suppose. Tuesday really is the main character – he
narrates the story after all, and is the only one of the animals given much
personality at all (although I’m not sure the desire to get off the island and
see the world is much of a character trait). There are other instances that are
just plain illogical – like how “no one” has ever come back from the
furthermost island in what appears to be a chain that are very close together.
Sure, I suppose, it could be too hard to swim – but there are two birds among
these animals.
The
movie really isn’t very funny or exciting. The pat message – be happy with the
family you have, is predictable and dull. The characters aren’t really lovable
or memorable, the humor is relatively lazy. The film fails so much to develop
an emotional connection to its characters that a dog can be killed – and buried
– and raise not a sniffle in me (nor any trauma in my daughter) In short,
nothing in The Wild Life really passes muster. As we left the film, I asked my
daughter what she thought of the film. She said she thought it was too long
(for the record, its 93 minutes). Smart kid.
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