**© DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures**

The Wild Robot– Film Review

Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames

Director: Chris Sanders

Synopsis: After being shipwrecked on a deserted island, a robot must learn to adapt to its new surroundings and is put to the test when it has to care for an orphaned baby chick…

Review: Our world is home to a diverse range of fascinating wildlife and plant life. This may sound like something you’d hear in a nature documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough (try reading that first sentence in his voice), but as those series demonstrate, the wonders of nature can be discovered anywhere on this magnificent planet. Since the dawn of humanity, we have explored and uncovered the marvels that the natural world has to offer. Now, imagine yourself as an outsider who has never encountered these wondrous sights or experienced nature’s beauty for the first time. You are a robot programmed to assist humanity, only to find yourself surrounded by an assortment of wildlife. The challenge of assimilation and finding your place in the world is beautifully captured in one of the year’s most compelling films.

Set on an unnamed island, the Universal Dynamics ROZZUM Unit 7134 (Nyong’o) washes up on the beach after a storm. Upon booting up, Roz, as she quickly becomes known, attempts to adapt to her new surroundings and offers to assist the island’s inhabitants. Unfortunately, the locals are immediately hostile towards her arrival and reject her help. After Roz comes under attack from a frightening predator, she inadvertently destroys a goose’s nest, resulting in the death of the mother goose and leaving only a single egg remaining. Overcome with guilt, Roz decides to raise the surviving gosling, whom she names Brightbill until he is ready to join the rest of his kind for migration. Although she admits that this task is “not in her programming,” Roz becomes determined to work tirelessly until Brightbill can swim, eat, and fly, and gain the strength to take his place among his own kind.

As the relationship between humanity and machines, specifically artificial intelligence (AI), is increasingly scrutinized, The Wild Robot offers a fascinating perspective on how a robot might interact in a natural environment devoid of human presence. Adapted from the book series by Peter Brown, having beautifully brought to life the journey of one boy who learns how to train his dragon, Chris Sanders’ script delves deeper than just the exploration of nature’s struggle against AI. In this touching and heartfelt story, Roz often finds herself at odds with her programming as she works to protect Brightbill, a gosling vulnerable to other animals in their habitat. This conflict only strengthens Roz’s determination to help Brightbill gain acceptance in his community. Throughout their journey, Roz and Brightbill encounter various unique creatures, including Fink (Pascal), a sly and cunning fox with a peckish who sees Brightbill as his prey. However, Roz’s persistence and determination to raise Brightbill as her own leaves a lasting impression on Fink, and Pinktail (O’Hara) and her legion of adorable little babies.

Even if someone has never had children, anyone and everyone will be acutely aware of the difficulties and challenges that come with parenthood and raising children, because let’s be honest, we’ve all done things when we were young with the sole intention to annoy our parents. Therefore Roz’s battle to become a mother, something she has no prior experience of, will undoubtedly strike a chord with those undertaking the most difficult task any living creature could put themselves through. Though parenthood is an immensely difficult challenge, it has its own rewards and the film chooses to celebrate those as well as a pertinent reminder of the healing power that community and togetherness can bring, because as Roz herself puts it: “Sometimes, to survive, you must become more than you were programmed to be.”

Speaking of Roz, a robot is not usually the most expressive and emotional being, on account of it being a robot. It therefore takes an extremely talented actor to bring such warmth and emotion to a life form designed with one specific purpose in mind. In Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, you have the perfect actor to bring those qualities and more. Nyong’o radiates warmth and compassion, even though it goes completely against what the nameless corporate bigwigs at Universal Dynamics clearly intended Roz to be. Nyong’o is the unquestioned star of the show, but she is given excellent support in a glittering voice cast from the likes of one the internet’s favourite personalities, Pedro Pascal who is equally charming and delightful as Fink. The bond between a parent and their child can be a loving one, but it is usually not without its fraught moments, and Kit Connor’s voice performance as Brightbill captures this balance of that very complex and loving relationship that develops between himself and his surrogate mother.

With the likes of Sony’s Spider-Verse films, and last year’s Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, the bar for high-quality animation has been considerably raised in recent years by breaking new ground in what audiences thought possible, as well as combining 2D and 3D styles. Sanders and the animation wizards at DreamWorks have outdone themselves here, with utterly breathtaking visuals that feel so lifelike and realistic, if you didn’t know any better, also feel like they could easily have been pulled straight from one of those nature documentaries. In an increasingly hostile and chaotic world, if an outsider like Roz can against all odds, go against her programming and find her place in the world and work with the community around her, a lesson for all of us to take heed to.

Beautifully animated, with a powerfully resonant and emotional message at its core, Roz and her array of furry friends will charm their way into your hearts and never let go.

Joker: Folie à Deux – Film Review

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Zazie Beetz, Steve Coogan, Leigh Gill

Director: Todd Phillips

Synopsis: Two years after the events of the first film, as he prepares to go on trial for murder, Arthur Fleck meets fellow Arkham inmate Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel…

Review: In what was an incredible year for film, there were fewer films released in 2019 which caused a frenzied debate as Todd Phillips’s Joker. The winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and yet, the controversy which surrounded the film in the run-up to its release was thunderous and widespread, amid fears that it would spark violence and unrest. Despite its very apparent nods to the filmography of Martin Scorsese, the film rode out those fears, taking over a billion dollars at the box office and becoming the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time (a record it held until only very recently) and bagging two Academy Awards. Amid the very divisive reactions, ultimately this version of the Clown Prince of Crime had the last laugh. At least he would have done, had the filmmakers resisted the urge to return to this dreary interpretation of Gotham and make a markedly inferior sequel.

It has been two years since failed comedian Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) violently killed several people, including three Wall Street businessmen, a co-worker, and a prominent talk show host, the latter taking place live on national television, all while adopting the mantle of the Joker. Now imprisoned at Arkham State Hospital, Arthur is awaiting to stand trial for his crimes and at the mercy of Arkham’s guards, who take great joy in taunting him. He soon meets Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Gaga), and the two begin a bad romance, (rah-ah-ah-ah!) with Lee telling Arthur that they will build a great life for themselves once he is free. Meanwhile, in preparation for his trial, Arthur’s legal counsel Maryanne Stewart (Keener) is aiming to convince him that he has dissociative identity disorder and that it was this Joker character that committed these murders, all this is interwoven with musical numbers which attempt to explore Arthur’s mindset, because apparently a song and dance is a better outlet than talking about it?

How do you solve a problem like Joker? This is presumably the question on the minds of Phillips and Scott Silver when they set about writing this follow-up. The short answer is you leave it the hell alone as not every film needs a sequel, but clearly money (especially $1bn) talks. While at least this does away with the very overt references to a superior filmmaker’s work, the decision to go down the musical route for such serious discussions about mental health and the state of Arthur’s mind is unquestionably bold. However, boldness counts for nothing if you don’t fully commit to this and go for broke and commit to batshit musical numbers. Even with a singer as talented as Gaga, the musical numbers are flat and unremarkable, and offer nothing substantive as a means of dissecting Arthur’s supposed identity crisis and both his and Lee’s mental state. Folie à Deux (or shared delusion/madness) is an apt subtitle as these are two souls whose delusion knows no bounds, but it’s a shame that the substance of the script is about as shallow as it could possibly get, and its exploration of mental health is superficial if we’re being kind, and bordering on lazy if we’re not, which we absolutely should not.

For all of the script’s many faults, with another being a courtroom drama that should be gripping and intense as Arthur is held accountable for his actions, even if that is half-baked and farcical in its execution. At least Joaquin Phoenix delivers another compelling performance, even though the material he’s been given is far beneath an actor of his immense capabilities. Gaga has proven she has the acting chops to go toe to toe with some of the biggest names in the business, and she does so again here. Her take on this iconic character is much more softly spoken and warmer than some of her immediate predecessors. However, she doesn’t get enough screen time to truly excel and leave a lasting impression. To underutilise her musical talents, in particular, is an especially egregious sin, among the many many sins committed through a two-hour and twenty-minute run time, with severe drags in the pacing.

What is considerably less sinful is the sterling work of returning cinematographer and composer Lawrence Sher and Hildur Guðnadóttir, the latter of whom won an Oscar for the first film. The scenes in Arkham are aptly dim and grey, to reflect such a miserable place. They stand as a perfect contrast to the vibrantly lit musical moments, while Guðnadóttir again deploys a haunting string-heavy to capture the gloominess of Arthur’s predicament when he’s not having a musical interlude, which ultimately feels like a waste of Guðnadóttir’s talents. Phoenix’s phenomenal performance helped to elevate the first film from its obvious influences to provide audiences with a portrayal of one of cinema’s iconic villains that for better or for worse, got people talking. However, this hollow sequel offers absolutely nothing substantial and has absolutely nothing to say. No one is laughing anymore, and it is time for this clown to exit the stage once and for all.

Even with the incredible talents of the production design and technical team, their efforts and excellent performances from Phoenix and Gaga, are all in service of dull musical numbers and a script devoid of anything meaningful to say.