An adolescent lion is accidentally shipped from the New York Zoo to Africa. Now running free, his zoo pals must put aside their differences to help bring him back.
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Powerful
Absolutely the worst movie.
A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
For some reason I saw this movie in theaters. Its really bad and makes no sense. I wouldn't recommend it.
The fact that it's a Disney film that I HATE is bad enough, because I've given so much praise to many forgotten Disney films, and the prospect of there being a Disney film that I consider to be my LEAST FAVOURITE FILM OF ALL TIME is pretty upsetting. Its a Terrible Combination of The Lion King, Finding Nemo&MadagascarThis is the GARBAGE PAIL KIDS of Disney films...The Characters are Annoying, The Jokes Aren't Funny, The Dialogues are Terrible, Even the Ending Credits of that Movie was the WorstAnd Worst of all This Film has Adult Humour How they got THAT into a U film.... I DO not know... The adult humor and innuendos? All that violence and scenes of fright? And that got a U?! I mean, Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Black Cauldron, CARS, TOY STORY?! Those are given a PG but THIS is given a U?! Don't See This Movie Go Rant Fantasia Instead
Samson the Wild (Kiefer Sutherland) claims to be the king of the jungle. He rules the New York Zoo. His son Ryan can't get the roar right and has a fight with him. The animals play when the zoo closes at night. Ryan goes off in a huff and accidentally gets locked in a trailer container. The containers are being sent to Africa to rescue animals being evacuated from a volcano. Samson sets off to retrieve Ryan with the help of squirrel Benny (Jim Belushi), koala Nigel (Eddie Izzard), giraffe Bridget (Janeane Garofalo), and anaconda Larry (Richard Kind). In Africa, they face off against wildebeest Kazar (William Shatner).This came one year after Madagascar and sometimes being first is being the winner. That's the case in this one. I don't necessarily blame this movie. I certainly don't claim that this movie copied anything from Madagascar. In fact, I'm sure Disney had a minor meltdown when they saw the similarities. This is less wacky than Madagascar. This story may be a slight improvement. The voice work is less wacky comedy although there is plenty of jokes. The animation is 3D semi-realism which makes Samson look like a stuffed toy. No matter any possible improvements or deficits from Madagascar, the comparison is never far behind and the movie suffers from the perceived lack of originality.
Decent. This movie-if I were to summarize it in one word-would be decent. Before we progress, I'd like to mention that 5/10 stars is not as horrid as one might suppose. On my charts, it means that I moderately enjoyed the movie. With that in mind, 10/10 is almost impossible to reach, while 9/10 would be reserved to a movie so stellar, that I could watch it one-hundred times and still enjoy it. 1/10 would be so unsatisfactory that the mere sight of such an abhorrent disgrace to cinema would make children cry and grown men cringe. ---If you would like to skip to my summery,thus avoiding my very small spoiler and larger ramble, jump to the final paragraphLet's begin with the characters. Their portrayal was decent, even though for the most part, they were static (the snake, however, was unique I liked the snake). What redeemed them were their lovable personalities, and the clear synergy between each of them while interacting; I personally enjoyed the odds and end gang. With that said, the dialogue was less diverse. I found myself cringing from time to time on the cliché lines uttered by Ryan and his father in particular, while Nigel was-on occasion-so obtuse that I couldn't help but sigh. But perhaps I'm downplaying this movie, as I've seen it through the eyes of an adult. Kids will probably find the dimwittedness of that particular Koala, Nigel, enjoyable and-unless well read-might not pick up on the clichés. However, we're talking about Disney here, and they have an impressive resume when it comes to making their movies enjoyable to both child and parent, without dumbing it down. This leads me to my next point. Since they were confronted by a shortcoming on some of the dialogue between Ryan and his father, they intended to make the movie appealing to us-the parents or older fans of Disney-through the use of mature humor. Though not as blatant as some other 'children movies' I've watched in the past, The Wild has its fair share. Thus is why I ask, confused, why the movie was rated G, and not PG. As for the latter, I have no say in such things, so let's move on.Now, onto the very fabric of the movie itself: I found it needed a few more original songs, and no, dear directors, 'I'm havin' a... really nice day, really nice day' repeated over and over does not count. I did enjoy the Coldplay song at the beginning, however. The storyline itself was jarring, and the use of transition to cover long durations of time was used too often. To counter my negative comment, however, I do applaud the director for attempting to encompass the viewers in the past and present- thus creating a more intimate connection between character and viewer. You would have achieved this wonderfully if only you fixed the pacing! And this leads me onto my final point. I really enjoyed Samson's background story. It was fresh, and when told fully, connected the dots and linked his strange behavior to a logical outcome of an event that transpired in his own childhood. I won't go deeper than that, least I spoil the story!---To conclude, I gave The Wild a 5/10, which is not so bad. It's animated nicely, has some great character chemistry and a good background story for Samson, but loses a few stars because of its occasional cliché lines, less than satisfactory original compositions, and jarred pace. This is by no means a Disney masterpiece, but rest assured that you and your child will find enjoyment in it!'If there be animals inside, expect a review!'~Mike