Disney's computer-animated romp The Wild bears more than a passing resemblance to Madagascar, the 2005 film set in a New York zoo where the animals talk to one another when the human visitors are out of sight. Like its predecessor, it throws together an unlikely band of creatures on a journey of self-discovery in the great outdoors.
Phobias and insecurities are overcome, new friendships forged and the various species learn to live in perfect harmony a thinly veiled lesson for us all.
Madagascar chose a lion, giraffe, zebra, hippopotamus and some kamikaze penguins as its main characters. Here the mix is slightly more bizarre: a lion, giraffe, koala, an anaconda and a street savvy squirrel. The critters may have changed but The Wild is similarly disappointing, with a lacklustre screenplay starved of laugh out loud humour and well-defined protagonists.
Eddie Izzard merits occasional chuckles as a sardonic koala, who is quietly proud of his bear heritage: "You mean humans don't lick themselves clean?" he gasps at one point. "Disgusting!" He seizes the few opportunities for trademark surreal flights of absurdity ("Je suis koala. Sprecken sie koala?") but occasional flashes of brilliance fail to elevate the film above the mediocre. Tellingly, the film's biggest laugh comes from the koala discovering leftover food in a most unseemly orifice.
Samson the lion (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) is distraught when his cub son Ryan (Greg Cipes) is accidentally locked in a crate and shipped off to Africa. Giving chase through the streets of the Big Apple, Samson boards a tug boat along with his chums Nigel the koala (Izzard), Larry the anaconda (Richard Kind), Bridget the giraffe (Janeane Garofalo) and Benny the squirrel (James Belushi).
The unlikely quintet manages to sail the tug boat across the Atlantic, eventually washing up on the shore of a volcanic island, where an eruption is imminent. With Samson nervously leading the way, the escapees must fend for themselves in the wild and hopefully track down little Ryan before the island is covered in lava. In the process, they meet a pair of cheeky chameleons called Camo and Cloak (Chris Edgerly, Bob Joles), and the king of the wildebeests, Kazar (William Shatner), who yearns to upset the natural order by usurping lions at the top of the jungle food chain.
The Wild plods along a well-travelled path, paw-sing to allow each of the characters to face their fears and acknowledge their shortcomings. The father-son bonding of Samson and little Ryan is too close to The Lion King for comfort, including the wildebeest stampede sequence and the climactic fiery finale.
Computer animation is scarily realistic in places the movement of Samson's mane in the breeze and vocal performances are expertly synchronised with the characters.
However, it's all too polished and predictable. Ironically, The Wild is simply too tame.
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