Several years ago, Dreamworks released Madagascar, and shortly thereafter, Disney released The Wild.
Both were computer-animated films about a ragtag group of animals who
escape a New York City zoo and are forced to fend for themselves in the
wild. Both groups included a lion and a giraffe. On the whole, the
premises looked so similar that they sort of canceled each other out in
my mind and I didn’t watch either of them, but I finally got around to
seeing The Wild recently. While I occasionally found it a bit manic for my tastes, for the most part, I thought it was a fun movie.
The Wild, directed by Steve Williams, is a quest story in which daddy issues play a major role. In that regard, it is rather like Finding Nemo,
but in this case, the father, a lion named Samson (Kiefer Sutherland),
has several plucky sidekicks aiding him in his search every step of the
way. Samson delights in regaling the other zoo animals with tales of his
early years in the wild, back when the ferocity of his roar sent the
most monstrous wildebeests running for cover.
His son Ryan
(Greg Cipes), who can’t produce anything more than a kittenish snarl,
does not appreciate the tales so much, and after a particularly
humiliating incident, he decides to run away and find his roar. By the
time he has a chance to rethink his plan, he’s already on a truck headed
out to the harbor. Neither he nor Samson, who dashes off to the rescue,
can imagine the perilous journey that lies ahead.
The movie’s
early scenes showing the rapid transformation the zoo undergoes at
night and the amusing ways in which Samson and his companions interact
with the big city in which they find themselves are entertaining. While
one scene involving a peculiar sport the zoo residents play dragged a
bit for me, I loved the homage to Star Wars that accompanies the
friends’ arrival in the city at large, and I also found the
incorporation of animals reflective of the escapees amusing. For
instance, the runaways catch a glimpse of Geoffrey, the Toys ‘R’ Us
giraffe, on a sign as they run through the city streets.
Joining Samson on his mission are four close friends. The closest is the
squirrel Benny (Jim Belushi), who is annoying but fiercely loyal. He
also harbors a not-so-secret crush on Bridget (Janeane Garofalo), a
dignified giraffe. I found this plot point pretty odd until I recalled
the romance between Donkey and Dragon in Shrek and figured that
if I could accept that, this wasn’t too much of a stretch. Ultimately I
enjoyed the way their interaction with each other changed over the
course of the movie. Many of the stand-alone comedic moments belong to
Nigel (Eddie Izzard), a koala from a London zoo who is plagued by the
popularity of a plush toy in his image. Of the four, the snake Larry
(Richard Kind) made the least impact on me, but he still gets a few good
gags in.
The movie includes several prominent nods to The Lion King,
from a glimpse of the marquee for the Broadway show in the city to the
general prevalence of wildebeests in the plot. The opening in particular
offers many visual parallels with that Disney classic, as does the
climax, revolving around a deranged wildebeest played by William Shatner
– the only voice actor, incidentally, who I recognized at once.
Meanwhile, another element of the climax reminded me of one of my
favorite scenes in Return of the Jedi, though I don’t think that was a direct homage.
The visuals in the movie are excellent, from the natural landscapes to
the bright lights of a New York City night, and most of the animals have
a very realistic look to them. The lions and wildebeests often seem as
if they were lifted out of The Lion King and given
computer-animated embellishment. Some of the smaller characters,
particularly the snake and the pigeons, look a bit cartoonish and silly,
but in most cases, the animation is impressive. I wasn’t particularly
fond of the soundtrack, mostly, I guess, because I tend to find it
distracting when songs designed for radio are deposited in animated
movies. I suppose I shouldn’t feel that way, since I often enjoy their
use in live-action films, but I generally didn’t feel like the songs
added much. The exception is the wildebeest song that is essential to
the plot, though frankly, I just found that one pretty weird.
Overall, I liked the themes of father-son understanding and
self-discovery, along with the importance of having friends who will
stick with you no matter what happens. Some of the humor gelled with me
and some of it didn’t; at times, I think there was a little too much
going on and the jokes got lost in the shuffle. Mostly, though, this is a
well-crafted movie whose characters complement one another well and
conquer their fears through the power of love. Factor in the top-notch
animation, and it’s easy to be wild about this family-friendly film.
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