They fully lost me when the killer robots started blowing everything up to kill the- *checks notes -…Geese that flew in through a ventilation shaft. Then those same killer robots burned down an entire forest and threatened the lives of every animal in it to- *checks notes -retrieve another robot. I mean, I suppose I get that part because by now Universal Dynamics has been shown to not be all that great. It didn’t have to be like that though. The antagonist that had been present for the entire movie up to that point was nature; wind, water, rock and claw. It was beating the hell out of our derpy, loveable robot protagonist and the introduction of UD as another antagonist was perfunctory and useless.

I have recently finished reading Becky Chambers’ Monk & Robot series, the first book is titled: A Psalm for the Wild Built which I erroneously assumed The Wild Robot was at least partially inspired by and until the killer robots it could have been. A Psalm for the Wild Built has been described as the first mainstream Hopepunk/Solarpunk novel and I was wanting this movie to tap into that more then just having it as a set piece. They could have made this movie a classic; a ground breaking, thoughtful movie on what our future could look like after climate change settles down (hah). Instead we get killer robots, lasers and a forest fire (like the one you’re experiencing right now kids! Yay! Isn’t that fun?!). I’m glad I didn’t pay anything for it because I skipped through almost half of it. I’m also glad I didn’t take my non-existent kids to see it.

They could have salvaged this corporate script by replacing the cliche, evil tentacle bot with a young intern sent to the boonies to retrieve a probably broken robot. They would then realize this bot learned how to speak with animals, perform field repairs and provide support to hold back the main antagonist: nature.

The ending was confusing too… the predators just decide not to eat anything. I know it’s a children’s film but I think a lot of children would be confused by that, especially since it was introduced as one of the main premises of the film in the beginning… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH