First Take - The Wild Robot - DreamWorks’ best hope at an Oscar as their in-house era ends with a bang

SYNOPSIS: 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

DreamWorks, oh how we have missed this level of quality. After a few years of relatively decent sequels, some missteps, and dare I say the word Trolls, they are back with a book adaptation that delivers and then some - and on top of that, it could be a dark horse come awards time next February, it is that good.

Chris Sanders of Lilo & Stitch fame is the man tasked with directing and adapting Peter Brown’s 2016 novel of the same name, and even with the obligatory changes to make it a viable feature, this comes in as an incredibly well thought out 1 hour 42 minute film that will make all audiences feel a lot as it all unfolds. While it does push the threshold of a U certificate, bordering on PG at times, it is a film that has more heart than a lot of that has been missing from the releases the Glendale studio have put out of late, this is namely due to the animation style, with this being the last film to be made at their campus in full ahead of a partnership with Sony Imageworks starting next year. Kris Bowers’ score also creates this world so well, making this one of the finest technical achievements in the near 30 years Dreamworks have been in business.

Understandably the voice talent are another key reason as to where this film excels, with Lupita Nyong’o delivering a performance that carries the emotional core of this story incredibly well, which is even more impressive when you have talents like Pedro Pascal, Mark Hamill, Kit Connor, Catherine O'Hara, Bill Nighy, Ving Rhames and Matt Berry in that cast. Seeing this film do as well as it has is brilliant for all the studios, even if over in the States it has come at a small cost (there have been reports of people buying tickets for this, then sneaking into the viral sensation Terrifier 3), but either way, this is a film that showcases everything that made the studio who brought us Shrek, The Croods, How To Train Your Dragon and more stand out in a very Pixar dominated world. Having both studios delivering fantastic movies in one calendar year can only be a good thing long tierm.

THE VERDICT

The Wild Robot is an incredible piece of work from a studio that have consistently released animated films that pushed the boundaries for what is possible - some audiences will be scared at times considering the certificate, but given the impending changes at the studio this is one hell of a way to bring the curtain down on the Glendale campus.

RATING: 5/5