“The Wild” (Walt Disney Pictures)
In “The Wild” a father loses his son and searches for him frantically. Sound kind of “Nemo”-ish Also in “The Wild” a host of wild animals are living in a zoo in the United States until they set sail for Africa. The second half of the movie takes place there. Sound kind of “Madagascar”-ish Yes “The Wild” is a combination of those two movies with maybe a hint of “The Lion King” for good measure. And though imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery, audiences do not like rehashes in their movies.
In “The Wild” Samson (voiced by Keifer Sutherland) is a lion living in a New York zoo. He keeps his son Ryan (Greg Cipes) entertained by telling him about the good old days in the “wilds” of Africa. Ryan is a little intimidated by his father’s exploits and also by the fact he can’t roar as good as the old man.
Samson’s best friends at the zoo are Benny the squirrel (James Belushi), Bridget the giraffe (Janeane Garofalo, Larry the python (Richard Kind) and Nigel the koala bear (Eddie Izzard). They all are alarmed when Samson tells them Ryan has gone missing. Immediately they devise a way to get out of the zoo and head for the docks where they think Ryan is being held.
Ryan is at the docks and ends up being shipped to Africa. Samson and his gang take off in full pursuit. Eventually they all end up in Africa where they are confronted by a Wildebeest (William Shatner) who is trying to make a name for himself with his herd.
All of this sounds fun and funny – but it isn’t. It is just trite and repetitive. The squirrel is in love with the giraffe – ho hum. The head of the wildebeests is into choreography – who cares. There are a few songs thrown in along the way but they fade from mind as soon as they are over. What happened to all that Disney magic these kind of movies used to have
The film is rated G so the kids can go to see it and have a good time, but I doubt this will ever reach the stage of a Disney classic.
The animation in this movie is CGI and it makes the characters more lifelike than cartoon animation does, but when the characters are as lifeless as these that process doesn’t make any difference in the long run.
When we have all just seen the comic genius of “Ice Age 2” then any animated film that follows is sure to have a tough time. But “The Wild” would have had a tough time no matter which animated movie it followed. This one is just not up to the usual standards. Other than kids, audiences are not going to be wild about “The Wild.”
I scored “The Wild” a tame 4 out of 10.
