Wendell & Wild (2022)
Makes the tummy tingle.
It’s been a while since I’ve watched a stop motion animated movie. Indeed, you barely see them come out these days - people have largely all moved on to the slightly less time-intensive forms of animation like computers. I don’t blame them, it’s a bit of an underrated art form in my book. Still, that does make it easy to peak my interest whenever I do see one come out, and honestly that’s pretty much all it needs right there. Tonight we get some Key and Peele smooth as clay, but let’s see how it will play out in Wendell & Wild.
I’m going off the beaten path for this review, and it’s not exactly uncommon for me to do. When the main thing that drew me to the movie is the fact it’s stop motion, that’s going to be the main part I want to talk about - and indeed, I feel like an alright number of others are probably wondering about that part as well. It’s quite well done here, admittedly perhaps not quite as smooth as long running champs behind Wallace and Grommit - although when you look at it on paper it feels like the name is even a bit of a nod to them. It’s largely greatly done, with only perhaps a few moments where things might seem a little off - nothing as big as stuff stuttering across the screen or anything like that - largely just every now and then it’ll feel like things are just slightly off, as though the frame rate suddenly slowed down for a couple of seconds. Absolutely trivial in the long run, especially for all the motions and fun things they are doing with this one.
Such fun things include fancy camera moves, like a nice rotating hallway move towards the start that give’s that classic movie pizzazz to the scene. There’s also a little bit at the end showing some behind the scenes stuff- like the scale of some of these models they were working with. Everything is colorful, well moved, and quite detailed. There’s times when I’m actually wondering about some of the details - are they suppoded to wrinkles? Tattoos? Just something to break up the smooth texture? It looks good, either way, but does help it from just being everything is smooth and clay looking. The paper-like qualities of the ghosts are a particular crazy one, as I can’t imagine the horror that had to cause anyone working with them. Characters get plenty of chances to move and dance and act with their shapes on both the demon and human front, and I feel safe saying if you wanted to watch something for the sole reason of being stop motion, this will satisfy.
There is more to a movie than just animation quality though, so let’s finally stop beating around the bush and get to the story. An unfortunate accident during a storm leaves a little girl an orphan. She gets in trouble and ends up back in the town it all started as a second chance kid, and that’s when things start getting interesting. Turns out she may have the power to summon demons - and the demons might have a way to bring back her parents from the dead. Now, on the demon’s front, they just want to escape dad and build the most amazing amusement park, and have gotten to the point where they are willing to do anything it takes to do it - including potentially lying to a a girl with the potential of summoning them. You can see where the paths intertwine, and things only get even more twisted when you add in a shady family wanting to game the system with private prisons and failed second chancers. Hi-jinks will ensue, and they will have various levels of moral impact.
Dance moves
Despite just being little figures, it’s safe to say there’s a pretty inclusive bunch in here. It’s also safe to say that, for the most part, they could have made the little figures whatever the heck they wanted because the story is largely independent of any real world politics. The most impactful thing here existing in the world is guilt, greed, small town economy and chasing after dreams. You could tear up a bit over the kid blaming herself for what’s clearly an accident, or you could get steamed up over just how shady the big prison folks are willing to be to get their way on a dying little town. You could be annoyed by the demons doing whatever it takes, or you might find it sound that they still have their own moral dilemmas when they come to having to make some would-be rough choices. It feels all pretty simple and black and white when you are watching it, with things almost feeling as though it’s just simple nods to bigger things - but those are still bigger things that people more attuned to them might associate with.
Audio is well balanced. There’s a few song numbers in there - I feel like anyone would probably expect that going in to be honest. They aren’t bad - not exactly latching on like an ear worm, but also not making you want to rip your ears off so fair trade. The music is very punk rock, and I can dig it even if it’s not my main preferred genre. In total bluntness, I don’t really thing a genre could better encapsulate the main characters angst quite like punk could, so even at a level beyond the specific song choices it works very well with the movie.
Actors do a good job. It’s not always the most lively performance, but it all feels pretty well set to the characters speaking it. The characters themselves are all decent enough done, actually leaving space for a couple of advancement threads for characters beyond what you would normally expect to find. It has that family-themed vibe when it comes to some of the completions and learning lessons part of it, but the actors do a good job of selling it. Honestly, the only time I’d even think of the acting as being not great is usually less to do with line deliveries and more just how it feels sometimes in regards to inter-character interactions. Still, this thing is no slouch, and that dang bear will probably creep out at least one person on voice alone.
It’s all fun in games in the cups until someone spills the tea.
This was a well put together movie. I love the stuff that’s on display here, and even though sometimes it’s not blowing me away for feeling like it’s some crazy modern marvel, I love the feeling that comes from something that takes the level of patience and dedication that stop motion takes. The movements feel intentional and like there’s some passion behind it, and that alone is enough to sell a lot of things visually - but then you add a good cast in here, a good enough story, and some interesting characters and it feels like your right back home in some nostalgia you forgot you even had. It’s a good time and although I admit the mileage might vary from person to person, especially being more on level with that family-movie sort of feeling, I think a good number of people could have a bunch of fun watching this.