Animation can be one of the trickiest tightropes to walk in the film industry. While there are many masterpieces that rank as some of the greatest movies ever made, there are just as many poorly made cash grabs that exist less for artistic integrity and more to be a ninety-minute commercial for an upcoming Nickelodeon series. So when a new studio breaks through the ether, it's always worth watching to see how they stake their claim in one of cinema's most potentially lucrative mediums.
Locksmith Animation, founded in 2014 by Sarah Smith (“Arthur Christmas,” “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”) and Julie Lockhart (“Shaun the Sheep Movie,” “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”), has broken through said ether with its first film, “Ron’s Gone Wrong,” directed by Smith, Jean-Philippe Vine (“Shaun the Sheep”), co-directed by Octavio E. Rodriguez (“The Epic Adventures of Captain Underpants,” “Coco”), and written by Smith and Peter Baynham (“Borat,” “Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa”). While there might not be a lot to write home about in terms of originality, the debut film for Smith and crew’s new studio is a silly, delightful romp.
Jack Dylan Grazer (“Luca,” “Shazam!”) and Zach Galifanakis (“The Hangover,” “The LEGO Batman Movie”) star opposite each other as Barney, an awkward middle-school kid and his new ‘B-bot,’ Ron, respectively. The film centers around their budding friendship and the chaos that ensues due to Ron having a variety of malfunctions, such as lacking any safety features other B-bots have and only having the A part of his internal database downloaded.
These glitches lead to various hi-jinks which are the best parts of the film. The animation, while not as complex as that of a studio like Pixar, is still clean and crisp with its own distinct style. There’s also a more colorful look and physicality to everything compared to other Hollywood animation studios. This leads to a distinct look for the film’s locations and a great sense of physical comedy throughout.
It’s the chemistry between Galifanakis and Grazer that makes the film soar. The pair play off each other expertly and their budding friendship proves to be a nice anchor for the film’s shenanigans. It feels innocent, but not without its own issues, and since a large majority of the film is dedicated to the two of them, when the emotional cliches, like the angry breakup, occur, they’re at least emotionally effective.
Like Grazer and Galifanakis, the supporting cast does a pretty good job with the material they’re given. Ed Helms (“The Hangover,” “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie”) voices Barney’s dad with a high level of enthusiasm and a high level of audience apathy. Olivia Colman (“The Favourite,” “The Father”) voices Barney’s grandmother with a thick Russian adjacent accent and plenty of silly pronunciation gags and “weird grandma” moments.
Barney’s friends don’t really leave much of an impact though, or at least not as much as his family does. Kylie Cantrall (“Raven’s Home,” “Gabby Duran and the Unsittables”), Ricardo Hurtado (“School of Rock (2016),” “Glitch Techs”), Cullen McCarthy (“Mission Force One”), and Ava Morse (“Surprise Me!”) all do decent jobs with their material, but most aren’t given much to do and end up in the film for maybe ten minutes max. Meanwhile, Justice Smith (“The Get Down,” “Pokémon Detective Pikachu”) and Rob Delaney (“Deadpool 2,” “Catastrophe”) voice an idealistic young CEO and creator of the B-bots and his partner and COO, respectively. The pair play off each other well, Delaney in particular delivering a constantly amusing antagonistic voice, and prove to be a fun addition without stealing the spotlight.
Thanks to his experience working on projects like “Borat” and “Alan Partridge,” Baynham ends up injecting a lot of oddball humor into the film. There are plenty of slapstick moments that lean into the film’s cartoony style and Galifanakis proves to be an expert at sincerely delivering some truly oddball statements. It's a movie filled with deadpan delivery and honest, silly humor that’s endlessly charming because of the sincerity of it all. When Barney’s dad talks about how much he worries about his son or when one of Barney’s friends talk about how their social media has ruined their life now, it doesn't feel hollow because it's all so achingly sincere.
That’s what “Ron’s Gone Wrong” has up its sleeve compared to every other big budget animated film out now. Somehow, this is a film that is almost completely devoid of cynicism, precociousness, and any kind of sarcasm. It really just wants to have a good time and sprinkles some surface level tech messages in for good measure. Everyone involved, the cast, the crew, the writers, seem committed to just delivering a light hearted good time, devoid of any self-imposed self-importance.
This means it's an easy movie to just kick back and have fun with. Its messages about tech may be the most surface level takes possible (“tech can help but also be bad”) and releasing in the same year as something as nuanced as “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” certainly doesn’t help, but the messages about friendship at the center of it all prove to be so well-intentioned it forgives their sappiness.
Friendship is a two way street, it's about more than just liking the same things, and the fact that friendship can blossom out of nowhere are all prevalent themes throughout the film. This, combined with its genuine sincerity and the silliness of it all means that it might be the most “good” movie out right now.
“Ron’s Gone Wrong” turns a premise that’s been well-worn for years and manages to inject it with a sense of good old fashioned sincerity and silliness. It’s a hard thing to do, making an animated film devoid of sarcasm in this day and age, and yet, somehow, Smith and her new studio have delivered a fun, charming, well-voiced, well-animated, and funny movie that practically dares you not to smile. It’s not the most creative bot in the box, but it's certainly the most eager to please. 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment