A popular work of 18th century fiction gets an animated adaption in “The Wild Life: Robinson Crusoe”. On a tiny exotic island, Tuesday, an outgoing parrot lives with his quirky animal friends in paradise. However, Tuesday can’t stop dreaming about discovering the world. After a violent storm, Tuesday and his friends wake up to find a strange creature on the beach: Robinson Crusoe. Tuesday immediately views Crusoe as his ticket off the island to explore new lands. Likewise, Crusoe soon realizes that the key to surviving on the island is through the help of Tuesday and the other animals. It isn’t always easy at first, as the animals don’t speak “human.” Slowly but surely, they all start living together in harmony, until one day, when their comfortable life is overturned by two savage cats, who wish to take control of the island. A battle ensues between the cats and the group of friends but Crusoe and the animals soon discover the true power of friendship up against all odds (even savage cats). “The Wild Life” is directed by Vincent Kesteloot, and is rated PG for mild action and rude humor.
“The Wild Life” is a special breed of french cinema that caught me totally by surprise. Up until last week, I had no idea that this movie was even an actual thing that was being promoted and released here in the United States. After watching the trailer, I formed some less than favorable opinions, and sadly my enjoyment for the movie never rose above that level. This is a very flawed animation film that feels like the kind of kids movies you watch in history class. The entertaining level is very low on this return, and it makes for one of the most boring cinematic experiences that I have had this year. There’s a point in watching “The Wild Life” where you swallow that ball of regret that relates to you how this movie will get no better than its current value, and that’s a sad thing because there are some positives within this very flakey telling of fictional literature. When you compare it to companies like Pixar or Disney, you realize the great value in characters along side a storyline that kids and adults can mutually bond over. What Kasteloot gives you here is nothing short of a screen waste at the local cinemas. Nothing in this movie warranted a big screen release, and it overall made for one of the worst animated features that I have sat through in 2016.
First of all, the animation. There are some very luxurious and detailed backgrounds and backdrops to the movie’s central location of the island and the ocean that surrounds it. These are gorgeous examples of Illuminata Pictures setting an adventurous stage for the characters to play out on, but sadly that example doesn’t last long. When you first start watching this movie, you will be spellbound by the animation in this movie, and how it really creates a style unlike anything going today. The problem glares like a bad zit as we move in closer to the projections, and soon the motions of the characters feel very wooden, and the facial features feel very uninspiring in emoting. On the latter, the mouth movements doesn’t line up correctly with the three or four syllable words that are coming out of the mouths of these animals, and I felt a great lacking for the attention to detail in fur traits, as well as characteristics in each exotic animal that made them feel anything but accurate. This animation feels like something out of a mid 90’s Playstation or Mac computer program, and it presents the most difficult of presentations when trying to lure the audience in.
The story never elevates itself from the basics of the Robinson Crusoe storyline that we know. Honestly, this story has always been boring to me, so I was curious to see what differences the screenplay was going to make to craft this as an entertaining story for kids. That same audience are the ones who need results right away or they will give up on this movie early. This movie takes forever before anything of entertaining relevance even takes place. Considering the first ten minutes of the movie lays everything out in detailed foreshadowing, there’s really very little suspense or worry for the well-being of our characters. The movie plays out in a story being told by one of the animals, so everything that follows is just going to be a sorted, predictable mess that never lands on the ground of creativity. The only memorable thing that I can mention is that of something that should probably never take place in a PG kids movie; the fiery death of a lovable animal. I honestly couldn’t believe my very eyes that this happened, and the movie and characters just kind of move on from this without any sembelance of heart or tragedy. As for the rest of the movie, it’s really just situational humor that stays in one constant place. One thing that makes Pixar such a visionary in crafting stories is the versatility in subplots. This movie has none. It’s a confused, charmless muck on an already boring tale.
Nothing makes the characters stand out from one another remotely, as every actor voicing this movie hands in the bare minimum of emotional delivery. These animals all blend together, so nothing ever feels memorable for the 90 minute investment. Perhaps my favorite character was that of Tuesday the parrot (Voiced by David Howard). This is a relatively unknown cast to American audiences, so it’s really a fight of who breaks-through first, and Howard feels the most relevant to hit that plateau. What makes his character even remotely enjoyable is that he serves as the voice of conscience for this island of animals, and that dependency leans him towards the protagonist that the story deserves over the bumbling Crusoe (voiced by Matthias Schweighöfer). I know it sounds like I’m complaining a lot for this story, but that’s because performances like Matthias’s never felt inspired or anything beyond just one take for a particular line read. For a movie that has the name Robinson Crusoe in the title, we really get no idea of why his legend is so heralded, besides the endless supply of wood that he crafts a castle out of. He’s afraid of everything, a major clutz, and the worst of hero protagonists because he never transforms as a character from start to finish.
“The Wild Life: Robinson Crusoe” is an anomaly for its very existence inside of theaters all across the country. Not enough laughs to justify its recommendation to child audiences, and not enough creative fire within the script of the movie to ever serve as anything more than a two hour babysitter for children who need a time out. A dull, uninspiring alienating movie, with so-so animation.
3/10