WARWICK SHOWCASE

THE WILD ROBOT
* * * *
(Must-see Animated Film For All Ages)

Every once in a while — not often enough — a beautiful, thought-provoking and entertaining film comes along that is suitable for all ages.

“The Wild Robot” has it all: a good story, fascinating characters, important messages, creative drawings and positive lessons for all ages.

Rozzum Unit 7134 — AKA “Roz” — crash lands on an island paradise, inhabited by only animals. We are uncertain about the rest of the world, but this beautiful island has everything, including a family of possums, a huge bear, fish, insects, birds and lots of geese.

When Roz lands she unfortunately wipes out a family of geese, leaving only an egg that is ready to hatch.

And it does, producing a cute, cuddly gosling named Brightbill that attaches itself to Roz, thinking the robot is his mother.

Roz has one job — discover who ordered the robot and provide him with whatever he requires.

A sly fox has attached himself to Roz and the gosling, providing advice on raising a child, and helping the little one learn how to survive by swimming, flying and eventually flying south before winter arrives.

Roz and Brightbill are rejected by many of the other animals, especially the geese, until the robot comes up with a plan to save them from a fierce storm.

All join in to teach Brightbill to swim and fly, leading to a glorious and triumphant conclusion.

That’s the basic story, but there is so much more to this wonderful movie.

We learn that life isn’t always easy and nature isn’t always kind. We learn about the circle of life, survival of the fittest, prejudice and love.

The drawings are beautiful, and the animals show emotion and caring.

While the violence of nature is shown, the beautiful side is also displayed.

The PG rating could have been a G, but studios don’t like G ratings, so instead of having a character say “bull----", he says “male bovine excrement,” which will go over the young ones’ heads, but we found hilarious.

What an ideal movie for grandparents, parents and children to see together.

MEGALOPOLIS
* *
(Coppola’s Confusing Saga)

Francis Ford Coppola wrote, produced and directed this confusing, confounding examination of society in turmoil, comparing it to the fall of the Roman Empire, complete with Shakespearean quotes, famous historical names and events.

Adam Driver plays an architect with grandiose ideas about creating a new city (New York?) that would bring people together in harmony.

Giancarlo Giovanni plays the mayor who is seeking to maintain the status quo of the have and have nots. To muddy the waters, his daughter is in love with the architect.

That’s the basic story. How Coppola chooses to tell it is another story.

The movie opens with Driver standing on a ledge, teetering back and forth in a suicidal state.

What follows are a variety of scenes that may make sense to the author/director but will leave most of us totally confused and annoyed.

Voiceovers tie some events together, while the scenes appear disconnected.

Coppola seems to delight in annoying and confusing us, including a lengthy circus-type scene in the middle and adding numerous moments taken from ancient Rome, such as chariot races, vestal virgins and wrestling in the Colosseum (aka Madison Square Garden).

Maybe movie students can follow all of this, but I’m convinced that the average movie-goer will soon tire of all the pretention.

Good luck with this one.