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The Wild (2006) More at IMDbPro »

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145 comments in total

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64 out of 91 people found the following comment useful :-
Its really all about Nigel, 19 April 2006

Author: dbborroughs from Glen Cove, New York

Similar to Madagascar but not the same this is the story of a zoo lion and his friends who race off to save the lion's son who has been shipped back to the wild. The movie is the race to find the son before he gets to the wild and what happens once they get there.

I have to start by saying the voice cast is top notch here. Everyone does an excellent job. However I must single out Jim Belushi and Eddie Izzard as turning in classic animated performances. Belushi plays a street smart squirrel who is in love with a giraffe and he is a ball of fun. Its clear why he is the best friend of Keifer Sutherland's lion. He is a joy to behold.

Even better is Eddie Izzard as Nigel, a koala who is totally crazed. Izzard is in constant motion and is constantly chattering about everyone and everything and he effectively turns a movie about a lion and his cub into a movie about a deluded koala with a tenuous grasp on reality. Izzard's Nigel will probably go down in history as one of the great cartoon characters of all time.

This is a movie with fantastic animation. It all looks great. The director and some of his crew are from the effects team that made Terminator 2 and other big budget special effects movie look so great.

The problem with this movie is that it was made by guys who until this film made their living making soulless special effects for soulless action films. The net effect is a soulless film. There is no pacing, there is little sense of danger. Worse the characters inhabit a world that isn't real. In this world, especially in the New York scenes, no one exists except the characters. They drive all through the city and encounter no one. There are no other cars on the street. To be frank there is no sign of life anywhere. Its terrible. It kills the film. Its sad but as alive the actors are their animated characters, while looking good, come across as dead constructs.

Still the movie is worth seeing. Eddie Izzard, with an assist by Jim Belushi make it worth seeing. Clearly abandoned by Disney in theaters, you should make a run by this on home video or cable, where its less than the sum of its parts construction will be less annoying.

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39 out of 46 people found the following comment useful :-
After A Great 50 Minutes, film Flounders In Final Half-Hour, 8 February 2007

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

At first, this appears to be a rip-off of "Madagascar," with New York City zoo animals leaving the comforts of "home" for the wilds of Africa. However, it is a totally different story and feel to it, more serious and sentimental than "Madagascar." Personally, I like "serious and sentimental" but not in animated movie, at least not to the degree it was in here. I preferred the other "NYC zoo" film to this one because "The Wild" lost almost all of its great humor in the last 20-30 minutes.

The first 50 minutes of this film was spectacular. I was thinking, "Wow, another great animated film. How many is that in the past year or so?" The jokes were excellent, the characters mostly funny and the animation superb. The dark, rich colors in here are magnificent. This is a beautiful movie! The minor characters are the best in here: the snake, koala bear and squirrel. Eddie Izzard, Richard Kind and Jim Belushi, in particular, are great in their voices of these characters. The two crocodiles that the wandering zoo animals meet in the sewers are hilarious. They produced the biggest laughs, at least with me. The major characters: the lion (Keifer Sutherland), his cub (Greg Cipes) and the giraffe (Janeane Garafolo) were all a little too much on the serious side.

Speaking of serious: the last third of this film totally switched gears. I wonder how this went over with very young kids and their parents? It got too serious, frightening in spots (for little ones) and then the usual corny Disney ending. It's too bad: this could have been super if they had just continued doing what was working the first 50 minutes.

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102 out of 173 people found the following comment useful :-
You don't have to worry about it being like Madagascar and Nemo, 7 April 2006

Author: DavidStodolny from Los Angeles

I went to the Premiere this weekend of THE WILD and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I was concerned about the same thing that everyone else was.

Is it going to be like Madagascar mixed with the same theme as Finding Nemo?

To my surprise I did not even once think about either of those films while I was watching THE WILD. There were some great jokes and gags and it had the pacing of a good action film. This movie is nothing like either of those movies. I encourage everyone to see this movie for themselves and am curious what they think of it. There is a couple plot holes and weak story points. But other than those few moments it's a fun film to watch. The look is refreshing because it doesn't look like every other CG feature in the world. My final statement is this. Kids will absolutely love it. And the parents will be entertained and won't be bored.

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65 out of 104 people found the following comment useful :-
Brilliant Animation...A Great Escape For Kids And Adults Alike!, 13 April 2006

Author: Richard Wilson from Canada

I was lucky enough to get tickets to a preview of this film last week. I also initially wondered why they would copy Madagascar (which I didn't find very good)...I came away with the realization that it's a very different and way better movie with only the basic premise bearing somewhat of a resemblance (not unlike many kid's films and the "formula" that seems to be used).

I found the film hilarious and had a great time watching my kids get such a kick out of it as well. The animation is absolutely incredible and this was a great escape for me and my kids (10 and 7)...if I could only get my 7 year old to stop continually quoting Nigel the Koala then all would be well...

I read a few reviews which panned this flick. I wondered if they saw the same movie we did and/or why an adult who wants to bring a kid for a few laughs would listen to some of the negative crap that's been written?! I would suggest that there is many a jaded movie critic out there who may not appreciate this for what it really is (perhaps they're taking their own "grown-up" opinions too seriously?)...a kid's flick which just happens to appeal (thankfully) to the adults who are brought along in tow. Either some of these reviewers have a different political agenda or they're really out of touch with the audience demographics a film like this is geared toward. You watch...You decide...

This film was quite simply a blast! We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

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39 out of 56 people found the following comment useful :-
It's good a movie for kids..., 18 April 2006

Author: womack238 from United States

The Wild was advertised as a movie for kids, and it lived up to it's billing. I saw it this past weekend with my 5 year-old. It had a good story line and enough action and music to keep him entertained. He has already asked can we buy it when it comes out on DVD. Since it is a clean movie I will happily get it for him. I didn't have to cringe or be on edge because of suggestive dialog or foul language like Ice Age 2 has. I don't enjoy exposing my son to entertainment that contains language he cannot repeat. If you want to treat your kids to a real kid's flick, take them to see this. It's not a contender for an Oscar, but you'll enjoy it, too.

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41 out of 63 people found the following comment useful :-
Fun, funny and adolescent-friendly, 12 April 2006

Author: kschuller from Canada

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.

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18 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
I thought the movie was awesome, 7 May 2007

Author: theobalk from Netherlands

Reading these reviews I'm not sure we've all seen the same movie. I really liked it, the story was simple but I wanted to see something uncomplicated and it was good for an animation movie. I especially enjoyed the visual aspects of this movie. I've seen it in a hd version at home and I was stunned by the quality of the animation, the aliveness of the motions. The ugly pigeons, the psychedelic elements in the end... The animators did a great job, I haven't seen such a good animation ever, but then again it's the first animation in hd I saw... If you like to have a relieve from forces plot twists and just wanna feel young again and enjoy some top notch animated animals talk go see this movie.

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16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
I think it was wonderful, 30 December 2006

Author: lilferret from United States

I would have to say I personally thought this movie was wonderful. The animation was superb, the characters were amusing, and the dialog and banter was fabulous. I laughed throughout the movie, sometimes so hard I thought I might hurt myself. My husband also enjoyed it.

And I have to say, I disliked Madagascar immensely. I never laughed once during that entire film. The humor in The Wild was much more believable. And I thought that the plot in Madagascar was much more predictable than that of The Wild.

Overall I would have to give The Wild a 9 out of 10. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if it was longer. But you know, you really can't go wrong with an all star cast.

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14 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
If you're pre-judging this film after seeing Madagascar, you're really giving this film the short end of the stick., 26 November 2006

Author: vwmw from Canada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

For the record, even though the plot of The Wild has all too many similarities to that of Madagascar, I must note that The Wild - or Madagascar 2.0, as I like to think of it - is on an order of several magnitudes better.

-Of course, let it be noted that some say work on The Wild was begun before Madagascar, and Madagascar was simply released first, while others say the Madagascar was begun first. Let's just say they were created in parallel, and independently.- When originally viewing the commercials I wasn't impressed. Like others, Madagascar was too fresh in my mind, and the comedic clips extracted seemed artificial and flat when taken out of context. On viewing, I'm glad I gave it a second chance and allowed it to win me over. Furthermore, those who demonise this film because of its alleged similarities to The Lion King are really misunderstanding the whole point of the Lion King references - this is *comedic satire*, not plagiarism. Please learn to see a running gag when one presents itself. (The Snake character is also a stab at other snakes who have appeared in past Disney movies...) Sure, The Wild wasn't perfect; admittedly, I had a few of those cheesy cringe moments whenever the musical montages came on (I had far more during Madagascar - Chris Rock's character grated somethin' mightier than two lions at times)... as well as through most of the musical numbers. There is the one huuuuuge plot hole in The Wild: Tugboat... fuel?!. Although a hoot in her own right, Janeane Garofalo's giraffe 'Bridget' is all too similar to Ellen DeGeneris' 'Dory' from Finding Nemo, one among many similarities to this film's aquatic Disney cousin. The overall premise - even where it varies from Madagascar - is tired and predictable. However, while the penguins are really the only reason I would buy Madagascar, I would actually consider purchasing this DVD... Hey, you can't beat William Shatner - as the *villain* for once! I was unexpectedly impressed with Shatner's characterisation and performance, and the special details he put into his voicing. Jim Belushi's squirrel was also quite memorable.

The animation quality of the The Wild has miles on the first in terms of textures, realism, character design (I disliked the too-"stylised" look of the characters and animation in Madagascar), and motion. The script, dialogue, comedy, wit (all the tongue-in-cheek moments were keepers), plot, and characters too, are all vast improvements, with the possible exception of Madagascar's penguins. The secret agent chameleons of The Wildcertainly give the penguins an excellent run for their money, though. One more note about characters: it is the secondary characters that really shine in this movie. The chameleons are used in a very interesting way, given their abilities. The villains of the film turn our notions of good and evil on their tails... or hoofs. That is where The Wild shines the most.

Measured purely by LOL moments, I found I had many more for this film but then again, I'm an adult viewing this film. And... Oh... being Canadian, the rif at Canadians helping out Americans was one for the books. That, and *curling*! And as for crazy squirrels, if you liked Over the Hedge, you should quite enjoy this film.

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15 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
It is better than Madagascar, 24 December 2006

Author: Adam Singer from South Africa

Plot A group of zoo animals escapes from the zoo in search of Ryan, a lion cub who was mistakenly shipped off to the wild. They search through city, sea and jungle in search of the cub with a determined Samson who is Ryan's father. The animals must put aside their differences in hopes of reuniting the father and son.

What's right with it?

All of the characters have unique personalities that stand out. It is easy to relate to each of the animals. The animation is one of Disney's best to date. We should have more CGI animated flicks like this.

What's wrong with it?

The story isn't completely original. It is very similar to Finding Nemo with the father-son relationship as well as Madagascar, although It was in the works long before Madagascar was even thought up. It is also similar to The Lion King.

Watch it if you liked: Finding Nemo, Madagascar and The Lion King.

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