The Wild Life (2016) User Reviews

Not as bad as reviews say

[zzzorf · 6/10 · 8 March 2018]

I went into this movie not expecting much, the reviews I had read where not very promising but I thought well it is still worth a try. It is not as bad as reports say. The story was fine, I like when movies take another point of view of a well known story, makes you look at things in different ways. The characters were entertaining and the graphics were good so I don't see much of a problem with it.

I will say the two of my kids that I watched it with (ages 10 and 3) did walk away from the movie to do other things but I don't think that was due to the movie but interest in doing other things at the time but take it as you will.

Near Pixar Quality Animation, Not Pixar Quality Storytelling

[tiagodb · 5/10 · 16 April 2016]

It may not be fair to compare an independent Belgian animation to industry dominators like Pixar, but the film industry is competitive.

This film has excellent animation considering it was made by an independent company. Many vibrant colours are featured, and although the don't burst of the screen like Rio, it does add to the aesthetics of the film. Yet, it does feel like the film is very self contained, but it doesn't impact it in a good way. The setting explored (or not) has a lack of scope and the film clearly suffers from this. But for kids, this will not be a problem.

Despite strong design and animation, the direction is nothing notable. There are a maximum of two slightly interesting ideas (in the form of transitions) but other than that, everything else seems average, with no courageous attempts add to adding anything to the story.

Unfortunately, the film falls flat on the storytelling (particularly through dialogue) which just results in everything being cliché and predictable; it brings nothing new to the table. It appears that the writers just gave up, a shame considering if the dialogue wasn't so forced then the film wouldn't suffer so much. There isn't even an innuendo to keep the adults entertained.

This film is a good way to keep the kids occupied for 90mins, but nothing that adults will obtain any pleasure from (unless you are in awe of the animation which I doubt you will be).

Definitely not the best animated film I've seen.

[subxerogravity · 5/10 · 30 September 2016]

It was very cute but that was not enough to make it all that good.

The animation was pretty good, and I love the fact that the animation seem to be the focus of the film. So much in fact that no big name stars voiced any of the characters in the movie (Being a very small section of the end credits).

Although this did effect the story greatly. The movie is a retelling of Robinson Crusoe, from the point of view of the animals that help him survive on the uncharted desert isle for so long with most of the focus being on a parrot named mac, but Crusoe calls him Tuesday.

The story is not as good as the animation that is telling it, which is going to cost it from being a classic, but it still a OK animated film to see.

Good for the kids but not much for adults

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 2 August 2016]

As a family film, 'Robinson Crusoe' is a long way from awful but it misses the mark. It may be good for kids, providing that they don't expect too much, but adults won't find much for them.

Just for the record, this is coming from a huge lifelong animation fan in her early 20s with many animated films being considered favourites, just in case one accuses me (as is so the standard thing on this site these days) of seeing it through adults eyes too much.

The best thing about 'Robinson Crusoe' is the animation, with the exception of stiff human designs and lack of scope for the setting. There is a lot of gorgeous detail, especially the parrot's feathers, rich vibrant colour, good smoothness of movement and the animals look good.

'Robinson Crusoe' also has a groovy and dynamic soundtrack, the story (even if a very, very loose adaptation of the story) is at least coherent and easy to follow and some of the characters have charm, especially Ainsley (though really disliked the rather cheap treatment of him) and the humorous if slightly over-used villainous cats.

On the other hand, while the story is coherent it is also very predictable, too safe and bland, not much to be excited by here, even the climax feels like very watered down Looney Tunes/Tom and Jerry or something. The human characters do lack the colour and charm that went into some of the animals, especially the dull and unsympathetic protagonist, and other characters veer on the annoying. The script is lacking in laughs, emotion or any kind of colour. The voice acting is not too great, there's been worse but it does sound inexperienced with clichéd and obviously false accents.

In conclusion, good for the kids but little for adults. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Awesome 3D

[rsr-14 · 7/10 · 9 April 2017]

This movie is one of the best 3D movies ever made, there're simply tons of pop out effects. Actually this is 3D done right - you're constantly experiencing both pop out and depth effects. So the story is what it is, neither bad nor fantastic - but if you're seeing this movie in 2D, then I'd probably not bother, this is a 3D movie, the movie is completely designed to the 3d format, and this movie needs 3D to come to life. After so many years with mediocre 3D movies it's great to see a movie truly using 3D - and then they cancel all 3D TVs, argh... :-)

Not fair

[kosmasp · 4/10 · 27 September 2016]

Is it fair to judge a kids movie on its appeal to adults? On the other hand, with all the good animated movies that came out recently which also appeal to adults/parents and have quality that can be reviewed by "older" people to a better degree, I'd say all is fair. So consider this when seeing the rating and make up your mind, if it's important or what's important in its appeal.

Having said that, there is also the very real thing of having "star" names of German comedy or cinema taking on major roles here. People have made the argument, that there are professional animation dubbers, who know their job. Depending on your liking or disliking for that matter, someone like Schweighöfer will get a reaction from you. Again, as a kid you won't care, but probably also not read this. So it's the parents who if the kids want something new and you want something that they can watch by themselves, there are worse choices than this

reallly??? cats are like that???

[nalaka_hrth · 1/10 · 2 September 2018]

I wonder why the script writer so much hated cats.... this is one of stupid animation i've ever watched. in vain i wasted my time and money over this. to be honest an animal lover.

What a pleasant movie for both kids and adults

[Dallas71 · 8/10 · 29 June 2016]

I almost missed this movie - that my daughter at 8 and her coisin at 10 wanted to see - after reading the harsh comments here on IMDb. 5/10? come on!... But I decided to give it a go. And what a pleasant surprise it was. The animations are superb, I missed nothing here compared to Pixar and Dreamworks. And the story and screenplay was above average too. I could name dozens of high profiled animation movies with worse stories. I was entertained all the way, and had to stop myself from breaking out in applause at the end. There's something this studio does in its own way, which is not typical the big studios, and thats refreshing. Looking forward to their next piece. Im giving it a solid 8 out 10, and will definitely recommend this film to everyone. A very fine piece of art. Thank you.

I'm an adult and i loved it

[chenggaga · 7/10 · 3 October 2016]

The Wild Life is a movie with little bad quality graphics, not looks so amazing as other recent animation movies. So what? Didn't you watch Japanese animation My neighbor Totoro? Or Grave of the Fireflies?

Both movie looks like old cartoon but amazing story. So let go the graphics. Let's talk about the story.

The wild life, a pretty cute and funny for both kids and adults. The story was different and laughable. I watched it with my younger cousins and they really loved it. The parrot was my favorite character on this movie. He dreams of many things.

Don't listen to rubbish Reviews from "Adult" people. Let your kids watch it. They will enjoy.

Terrible terrible movie!

[cullenmhobbs · 1/10 · 28 November 2016]

Holy crap. I feel like I just sat through torture!!! This movie is terrible! There is almost nothing redeeming about this movie!

Pros. Good animation The 2 main characters are good enough. They have some good character development....... Waddaya waiting for! Oh you want more pros well I don't have any more so maybe you should just move along to the cons section! Cons. You know how I said the 2 main characters are good. Yeah well the rest of the characters have NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT WHATSOEVER! You just don't care about them at all! I also hated how everything was explained to you like your some kinda! I don't know 4 year old! It's that bad! The story Is so cliché and stupid!!! I hate the story It makes no sense and there are some huge plot holes in this movie! I don't mean little holes I mean BIG BULGING HOLES IN THE PLOT BARELY LEAVING ANY PLOT LEFT AT ALL! And the humor in this movie is horrendous! The only type of reaction I got out of the humor was maybe a grin every now and then. A very very very small grin that lasts 2 seconds. So overall The Wild Life is probably one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life I absolutely hate it I definitely don't recommend you watch it ever and It's incredibly bad. The Wild Life gets an F

Doesn't even qualify for the bargain bin at Roses

[robert-durant-626-472948 · 1/10 · 10 September 2016]

In all the years I've been watching movies in the theater I've never once found a movie bad enough that I forced myself to get my money back and leave. Had I not had my daughter with me today to see this I would have broken that promise.

I went into this thinking "hey Rio meets Robinson Crusoe" with funny animals. My kid would like it and I'd be entertained. NOPE!!! By the way did anyone else see the trailer for this and think this was Rio 3 but with a red bird? This looked like something that had a lot of potential going into it and that quickly died the moment i started checking my watch.

Somebody must have been scammed out of their money for this to get a theatrical release because it barely qualifies as Netflix only kind of movie. The animation is passable but other than that it's just not worth your time or money. Studio Canal and nWave made a much better a movie a few years ago, "The House of Magic" that by far is a hundred times better than this and I didn't have to pay anything to see that, in fact it's on Netflix RIGHT NOW.

There were no funny jokes, repetitious dialogue, multiple endings that made this thing go on and on and on. Save your money or pay for something much better. If you have to see this wait for Netflix but other than that it's completely avoidable.

A pretty decent animation from Lionsgate/NWave animation

[pranayjalvi · 6/10 · 3 September 2016]

Considering that nWave doesn't have the budget to compete with DreamWorks or Pixar (typically the most conservative when it comes to 3D), 'The Wild Life' does well to the match the storytelling of Robinson Crusoe into an animation flick. This clever animal-centric perspective offers a playfully anti-imperialistic spin on Dafoe's classic tale of Western superiority. Director Stassen's 'The Wild Life" offers them another dynamic playground in animation to look for. A small budget animation but was beautifully made.A by the numbers retelling of the classic survival story. With a few funny moments this is nowhere near as anything good from the likes of Pixar but it does just enough to keep you entertained. I go with 3/5 for the work by this new animation studio.

do not see this film

[grumpy-3 · 1/10 · 9 May 2016]

this easily goes into my top ten worst films ever made, the animation was passable, but script, story, dialogue, and especially the dreadful voices were all the worst i have seen for a very long time. i expect anyone over five years old would come away with a splitting headache. when will europeans stop trying to make American films, they completely lack the sensibility and cultural aspect that you need. this was such a misguided film, trying to tick what the producers thought were all the right boxes for a commercial family film. but they got every single thing wrong in a big way. how this managed to get a release here in the UK is beyond me.

A Total Shipwreck!

[wackywookie · 1/10 · 27 June 2020]

The animation is passable, but the highlights end there. This loose adaptation of the classic novel is just so boring and dull. In fact, I watched it only an hour or two ago and I've forgotten most points.

In particular, the plot is predictable, the characters uninteresting and lacking sufficient development; there are barely any jokes and the relation to it's source material stops at the title and a few character names!

Now, I know this is solely just for kids and I'm in my late teens, but even five year olds deserve much better films than this! Give them a Pixar or something, but stay far away from this as possible!

Great animation and 3D Stereography, Not for younger Children though

[3DPhil · 10/10 · 10 January 2017]

I watched this with an open mind Knowing that this was an independent Belgium film, Why people judge everything against multi million dollar Pixar and Disney films i do not understand it. I thought the film to be very well animated for a film with a fraction of what it would cost in Hollywood, with wonderful set design and landscapes, hair and costumes were very good too, The water effects during the storm and ship wreck were absolutely fantastic, This was one of the best 3D stereoscopic animation films that I have seen, great use of perspective, occasionally the use of wide angle shots gave too much distortion and the stereo window was broken at times, but Wow what a great effort, lots of in and out of the screen stereo effects that really worked well, Some reviewers say it was to cramped in its location, hello, this is called Robinson Crusoe, a man shipwreked and surviving on an island, they did try to expand this by adding the island of bugs but it perhaps was not featured enough. This film is not suitable for younger Children though as there are a few adult themes, namely the death of one of the dogs, and some very scary cats. But apart from these reservations I thoroughly enjoyed the film and the 3d experience and highly recommend anyone who loves good looking animation to give it a look. and just think about what this independent company have managed to achieve, I say well done to them all. I give it 9 out of 10

Great for adventure kids

[edenfairbrother · 16 April 2017]

I'm a mildly annoying middle aged woman who doesn't know anything about wildlife stuff but they sometimes have internet stuff about fun facts so this was a good choice by me and yes I'd love to recommend it. I'm told the fx are good but I still think they look fake. The story was a but absurd as if anything can survive out there on treasure island.

A watchable animation

[thewalkingpuns · 6/10 · 19 September 2023]

Robinson Crusoe, or the wild life is an animated retelling of how Robinson Crusoe become stranded on a desert island. A story of which is told from the pov of a parrot and a band of animals that you would not think would be n a island, like a goat wearing glasses. The animation was pretty decent and in some ways was better than more mainstream films. I thought the voice cast could have been slightly better, though strong they needed to sound more like what a talking animal would sound like. I'll give it big plus points for not including a bloody rap song and I thought overall it was a decent family animation.

Forgettable

[coolkidd-79823 · 3/10 · 2 November 2017]

First of all,the characters are annoying,predictable and just bland,the humor is infested with potty humor and gross out jokes,the first half is the most predictable movie I've ever seen and the 2nd half was slightly less predictable and boring and the story was incomplete.Overall just bad.

How did they pick the animals?

[cam-88268 · 7/10 · 25 April 2019]

I probably don't have to add to much more about storyline or animation that hasn't already been said. However, I'm confused over where this is supposed to be set? We have a South American Macaw, a Malayan Tapir, Asian Pangolin, Australian Echidna (or is it a European Hedgehog? My daughter thinks the nose is more like an Echidna), Asian Blue Eared Kingfisher, African Chameleon and what looks like a Russian Goat. I'm all for artistic license, but surely some sort of consistency. Otherwise, a reasonable enough movie, definitely for kids though, my daughter really enjoyed it. Also, anybody else think the cat looks like one of the Gremlins?

The whole plot tends to be open-minded.

[yoggwork · 4/10 · 19 February 2019]

The whole plot tends to be open-minded. Personally, I don't like the plot very much. But as far as the film is concerned, a few aboriginal animals talk a lot of nonsense, which slows down the overall rhythm.

Good & Bad

[Traditionalist101 · 5/10 · 30 December 2021]

What was good?

The animation.

The lack of annoying songs.

No woke messaging.

What was bad?

Crusoe was reduced to a bumbling idiot.

The animals were annoying.

There were way too many disasters.

The humour was non existent or at least landed flat.

The story never really progressed well.

Not the best, but will do for kids

[IMDbabe1807 · 3/10 · 23 July 2020]

The storyline of this film is not particularly gripping, although the animation may be its saving grace - at least it is quite visually attractive while not much else is going on. Children will enjoy the sweet animal characters, but if you're looking for a film which will keep the whole family entertained I'd stick to Disney or Dreamworks.

Great family movie

[colpaty · 8/10 · 9 September 2016]

This is a movie that definitely will entertain the kids. Superb animation, colorful characters and beautiful score. The storytelling is at an easy pace which differs from some other titles targeting the same audience but is highly appreciated by the kids at least in the theater where I saw the movie. The story is loosely based on the story of Robinson Crusoe by the book of Defoe. Earlier work from the same studio was pretty good as well but this one tops the former ones. Curious to see their next feature and nice to see that a small studio from Belgium makes films that can stand next to Pixar and DreamWorks. In short: great animation - go see it in 3D though - for kids and yes, parents will enjoy it as well.

The Wild Life - Kids Wonderful

[ldelvalley · 8/10 · 9 September 2016]

This is a fresh breath of air, in that it is very wonderful for the kiddies (all ages/family film too)lots of adventure, inventive, nice work on all the animation. This is a more wholesome type film, in which we have totally been lacking for ages...There is but one odd scene - that details to the audience 'in case you didn't get that...and explains it to the viewer(s) to acknowledge - that's odd, I mean is that sarcasm derivative, or a pun intended? should audiences go see it know that much is involved, I would say this movie makes a Great DVD, or TV Movie at it's best, still it is mostly wholesome, that's a Grade AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA+++++++++++++++++++ in my book :)

Only Korea has not yet opened...

[tpjmovie · 10/10 · 31 August 2016]

In South Korea, but still before opening corresponds to the expectations for this film. Childhood read Robinson Crusoe. I think the memories and remind adults who have children have the feeling of fun and will give you a lesson. Only the trailer looks exciting characters look so cute looks interesting. Because the holiday season opened in September in Korea seems even better view as the family. Because it is the same director and director of Sammy's Adventure Fun sees already guaranteed. I have a wife and children at this time of Thanksgiving and the holidays of Korea In South Korea, but still before opening corresponds to the expectations for this film. Childhood read Robinson Crusoe. I think the memories and remind adults who have children have the feeling of fun and will give you a lesson. Only the trailer looks exciting characters look so cute looks interesting. Because the holiday season opened in September in Korea seems even better view as the family. Because it is the same director and director of Sammy's Adventure Fun sees already guaranteed. I have a wife and children at this time of Thanksgiving and the holidays of Korea