Review: Wendell & Wild

A new Henry Selick film is surely an instant must-watch event. Especially when the last one was 13 years ago.

Not only because he is a highly talented director. But it also means some stop-motion animation action which is an art of animated film-making that you have to respect.

The amount of time given to making these films is insane, the levels of imagination and creativity used and sequences that you have no idea how they made that possible already gives you enough aspects to appreciate before even getting to the story and character development.

If you are not aware of Selick's achievements, he is the director of classics 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and 'Coraline' as well as the always entertaining 'James And The Giant Peach'. So with a catalogue like that, it is natural to be very excited to see what Selick has made for us this time.

I have to firstly say that there is a lot going on in this story. A lot of it is accompanied by wonderful character and production design and that vintage creativity that only this genre could achieve.

Also from a narrative perspective, there is plenty of sub-plots being covered here. While I am up for a lot of world and story building, it can sometimes be too much, and it ends up forgetting to actually tell a fully-fledged story. This is kind of one of them.

Don't get me wrong, I was constantly engaged. There is a lot of energy to it and the whole thing had a sense of wonder to it. But I don't think it concentrated on a central idea. It's like they were trying to tell two or three different stories and cram it all into this. That can work up to a point as you don't know where it's going next. But you just almost feel exhausted by the end of it rather than being entertained and enjoying the ride.

The voice work was perfectly fine. It was nice hearing Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele go back and forth with their characters and Ving Rhames and James Hong gave memorable voices that helped their respective characters be more memorable.

Lastly like with all Selick films, it doesn't sugar-coat the darker or more mature aspects of the story. It's a family horror adventure and while I wouldn't call it scary, it does contain a gothic design in its characters and has tragic topics which would explain the 12A certificate. I have always found a sense of respect when Selick tells his stories.

So if you have children and are unsure whether this will be suitable for them. I feel that if they can cope with other Selick films, then they'll be fine.

Even with its issues, I think it's a good enough watch. The animation style is instantly eye-catching and maintains that amazement throughout with its creative style and design. There's plenty of interesting characters and ideas being covered. But I think there's just too much trying to be said for it be truly exceptional. I just hope I don't have to wait another 13 years for another Selick installment.

Rating: 7/10