Vida salvaje

1st of all, I tend to agree with other users who said that The Wild isn't an original. Yeah, in a way it is not an original. Disney seem to reuse their characters, and follow a somewhat same storyline, like their previous movies.

The storyline goes that the cub, Ryan was fed-up being compared to his Dad, and wished to be in the wild. But unlike the previous Disney movies, the poor Ryan was taken to the wild by accident. So his dad & their friends went on a trip to find and rescue Ryan.

So the adventure started! They found their ways through the urban New York, down the sewer and other places you'd usually do not find that animals there.

The animation is top notch, with details on the color texture, with smooth movement by the characters. The voice-over is also superb, especially Kiefer Sutherland's lion & the cuddly koala bear, Izzerd.

All in all, the movie is good for the whole family, be it a toddler or a teenager as it has very good moral values. The story do not have foul language, unlike Ice Age. The only drawback that this movie has it that the characters are very much alike the previous Disney movies such as Open Season and Madagascar. But apart from that, this movie simply rocks!

This movie was presented to the Dutch press in a small viewing room, but we sure got a good look at it. And really: this movie isn't bad at all. But compared to Chicken Little everything looks great I suppose.

The bad thing about The Wild is the appearance of its characters. They all look like they were borrowed from a toy store. That's probably good for merchandise, but for the movie that's plain bad. In a time in which even giant gorillas can make a believable performance thanks to CGI you can wonder why Disney chose for this option.

The first 20 to 30 minutes, when all the action takes place in the zoo, is very entertaining. There's a wonderful scene that involves curling and the escape out of the zoo is big fun. But when the animals enter the wild the movie becomes rather dull. The finale is okay though.

Of course people will compare this movie to the overrated Madagascar. But because of the story - a young lion wants to be as cool as its father - it resembles The Lion King more than the Dreamworks movie. So here's the good news: I think that viewers who liked Madagascar, will enjoy this movie too. It fills up the time until the real Disney computer animated blockbuster of this year will be released: Cars.

2006 is the year of the animal animation. Earlier in the year, we had the local stinker Zodiac Race, and over the next few months, there are offerings like Over the Hedge, Barnyard, Happy Feet (no doubt inspired by March of the Penguins) and Open Season. It's an animal world out there in the world of animation.

I'm not too sure why this was made. Sure, the graphics were photo-realistic and crisp, and it had the usual elements of modern day animated flicks. But I guess it's time for filmmakers in this genre to realize that the substance of the story is of paramount importance too. Then again, it's meant strictly for kids.

However, even a 3-year old kid who attended the same screening as me, sensed a deja-vu, and didn't take too long to realize that it's so "Madagascar" (2005's offering from Dreamworks). The premise, if you strip it all down, is also about a group of animals from New York Zoo who made their way (so the motivations might differ slightly) to Africa, where they meet nasty native animals, and engage in plenty of mindless song and dance.

The Wild also adapted a few more plot elements from its own library like The Lion King, and incorporated the father-son seeking acceptance relationship from last year's died-in-its- own-hype Chicken Little, and borrowed the "I am God, worship me" plot from Ice Age 2. What gives folks? I'm aware of some rumours that the filmmakers between the Wild and Madagascar split, and those who jumped shipped to Dreamworks managed to get their product out in the market first. Still, having two movies battling each other, doesn't work well for the one released later.

The first half of the movie was bogged down by its melodrama in the fore-mentioned dad- son plot, while the second half dealt out more madcap humour. It's build up to the finale with the bulls wanting to top the food chain, sounded familiar too. There are funny characters abound, but they all lacked somewhat, especially the snake and the giraffe. The joke on the Koala, while fun initially, was repetitive and you'll really want to kick and rip any Koala soft toy out there by the time you're true.

The voice talents did a commendable job with the flimsy story, with the likes of Kiefer Sutherland, James Belushi, Janeane Garofalo, and even William Shatner grunting like animals. But the lineup is quite forgettable, especially with rival Dreamworks' offering in the horizon (also about animals!) Over The Hedge (Hey, got William Shatner too!)

As mentioned, the graphics were great though, but the storyline just stinks. I like the way the Lions were done, could have been a showcase of what The Lion King could have looked like if it was conceived some 10 years later. But you probably want to walk out of the theatre as soon as the animals start dancing to the music in the finale.

Bad rip-off!

Well I hired this film out yesterday along with two others and must admit i was expecting to be the same old stuff in Disney films, but i was pleasantly surprised.

I thought it had good characters in and that the actors and actresses that did voice overs really took on the persona of the animal they were betraying and it made me laugh my favourite actor within film was Eddie izzard as he is so cool but saying that as i mentioned every one of them did good job.

Where watching this film is concerned defiantely give it a go as i think many people will be surprised i have not seen Madagascar but think this was under rated due to them coming out around about the same time, i am definitely added this to my collection when i get time.

Saw a preview screening last night, and it was really fun. First, the movie is visually gorgeous. The texture (hair especially!) work alone is enough to recommend the film to animation enthusiasts. To all the comparisons with Madagascar I will add that The Wild is much funnier. And judging by the 10-year-olds sitting with me, kids will love it. As the movie was made by C.O.R.E. in Toronto, was directed by a Canadian, and stars a lot of Canadians -- there are a few Canadian jokes (and sports) in the movie that international viewers might miss. It also has a fun self-referential attitude in the humor that's enjoyable without becoming gimmicky. To build on the previous poster, it is not Citizen Kane -- but has much funnier animals. It's a movie that does what it sets out to do -- entertain you. And it does that very well.