Wendell & Wild – A Mature Animated Throwback (Early Review)

Wendell & Wild sees the return of director Henry Selick to stop-motion animation after a 13-year absence. His previous films include classics like The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach and Coraline. He also directed the stop-motion/live action hybrid Monkeybone but the less said about that one the better. The basic premise of Wendell & Wild follows two scheming demon brothers Wendell & Wild (Peele and Key) who enlist the help of 13-year-old Kat (Ross) to help summon them to the land of the living while there are also several subplots that tie into the main story involving several other characters.

Wendell & Wild is a solid return to the stop-motion animation genre for Selick even if it fails to reach the same heights as his other work. The biggest issue with the film is surprisingly its overstuffed and messy story. There’s simply way too much going on and it feels very uneven as a whole because of it. There’s so many different subplots and characters that unfortunately take away from the central story involving Kat which is by far the film’s strongest and most investing storyline. The way a lot of the stories conclude in the final act feels a bit rushed as Kat seems to get pushed to the side as the film goes along. It strange this is kind of a mess considering the script was written by both Selick and Peele, but this never really finds as smooth a balance as it should.

While the story might be a bit underwhelming, the visuals and stop-motion animation greatly makes up for it. The animation and attention to detail in every single frame is stunning and this proves that Selick hasn’t lost any of his wonderful imagination as far as world building goes. The world feels so unique and a lot of the ideas at play here are extremely creative. It’s a shame that this film is so plot heavy because it would’ve been a treat just being able to spend more time in this world and learn a bit more about the way it works. It also has a strong central message and a nice amount of heart that was a welcome surprise.

A lot of what makes the film work is its talented voice cast and the quirky characters they all portray. Key and Peele as the titular duo are by far the standouts and even though they’re only voices, they still share such an entertaining and energetic chemistry together. Both of them turn in strong voice work as does Ross who makes Kat a very sympathetic and unique protagonist to follow. James Hong is also great here as Father Bests and is arguably one of the best voice actors working today. There wasn’t a single weak link in the cast, and it was especially fun hearing Ving Rhames and Angela Bassett voices pop up too as Buffalo Belzer and Sister Helley.

In the end, Wendell & Wild gets a lot of things right and is perfect to watch around Halloween night even if the story leaves a bit to be desired. The film delivers a nice throwback to when animated films weren’t afraid to get dark and potentially scare the living daylights out of children unlike the films of today. It is also much more mature and layered than the average animation of today. It’s definitely worth a watch even if might be too much or not quite work as well with younger viewers.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/