Inside Pulse Review – The Wild

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Credit: www.impawards.com

Director:

Steve “Spaz” Williams

Featuring the voices of:

Kiefer Sutherland……….Samson the Lion
James Belushi……….Benny the Squirrel
Janeane Garofalo……….Bridget the Giraffe
William Shatner……….Kazar the Wildebeest
Eddie Izzard……….Nigel the Koala
Greg Cipes……….Ryan the Cub
Richard Kind……….Larry the Anaconda

Walt Disney Pictures presents The Wild. Written by Ed Decter, Mark Gibson, Philip Halprin and John J. Strauss. Running time: 94 minutes. Rated G.

The idea of animals escaping the New York City Zoo is brought to the screen once again. While not directly plagiarizing the animated film Madagascar, since both were in development at the same time, Walt Disney’s The Wild seems like deja vu. Both have characters that want to roam free in the wild, unrestrained by bars or cages. The two features also have lions, giraffes and all sorts of other exotic creatures popping up throughout.

Whereas the animals journey from New York to Madagascar in the DreamWorks film, here the animals find themselves in a continental region of Africa. Ryan (voiced by Greg Cipes), a little lion cub, is tired of being entertainment for passersby. This is partly due to his inability to deliver a great roar like his father Samson. So, he wanders off and falls asleep in a shipping container destined for Africa. Once Samson (Kiefer Sutherland) realizes his mistake in pressuring his son to do something he doesn’t want to do he races to save him. Traveling all the way to Africa to join the, um, Lion King are his zoo friends Benny the Squirrel (James Belushi), Bridget the Giraffe (Janeane Garofalo), Nigel the Koala (Eddie Izzard) and Larry the Anaconda (Richard Kind).

Thanks to the world of animation there are no limits when it comes to love. I reviewed a movie called Doogal, where a snail was in love with a cow. This time it’s a squirrel that loves a giraffe. The problem is that Benny does not realize he’s a squirrel. Apparently, there are no mirrors at the museum, or ponds in which Benny could see his reflection.

On the journey, the cast list grows with each new encounter. The tame animals meet a trio of drooling dogs in New York who would like nothing better than to eat them. Escaping to the sewers they meet a couple of alligators. Arriving in Africa there are some undercover chameleon operatives called Cloak and Camo and the king of the wildebeests Kazar (William Shatner). Kazar would like nothing better than to be the king of the entire jungle. To do so, he must defeat a lion. Now that Samson is in the wild, it is the perfect opportunity to pounce.

For a movie intended for a general audience it did pack in a lot of action. With carnivorous animals, an exploding volcano, and lava flowing through the land, this could be a bit much for children under the age of five. And since this is primarily aimed at children, parents may want to keep their kids away. But knowing most kids, they will annoy their parents to no end just so they can see savage wildebeests with a strong case of dance fever.

The Wild is the third, possibly fourth, animated movie in as many months to cater strictly to children. That’s good for the studio executives, but what do the parents have to look forward to? Well, if they have seen every kid’s movie with their sons or daughters, then they can easily see this Walt Disney picture borrows from past successes. Madagascar is the easiest one to recall, but the movie also uses story elements from Finding Nemo and The Lion King.

Ryan is like young Simba who wants to have fun and play games. Samson is like the clownfish Marlin who risks life and limb to get back to his son. Intentional or not, to borrow from two great films, one hand-drawn, the other computer generated, is a better idea than say spoofing them to great effect.

In a little more than a decade, computer animation has superceded, in the United States, at least, hand-drawn animation. This is disheartening to some degree; but as technology changes, so does the ways in which movies are made. Under Steve “Spaz” Williams’ direction he does not make the viewer a casual observer. He is crafty in how he ever so subtly cuts to close-ups when we least expect it. Some can be nitpicky at how the movie knows what will happen next. I see it as progress. Nobody ever complains at how a camera seemingly cuts from one person to another in a live-action movie; unless it is chop-socky MTV style. With the ability to cut at a moments notice in dialogue you can overlap the voices or insert flashbacks; allowing for greater flexibility or (gasp) creativity.

CATEGORY SCORE
STORY 5 / 10
ACTING 6 / 10
LOOK/FEEL 7 / 10
ORIGINALITY 5 / 10
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE 5 / 10

Travis Leamons is one of the Inside Pulse Originals and currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Inside Pulse Movies. He's told that the position is his until he's dead or if "The Boss" can find somebody better. I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!