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I had the opportunity to catch a early digital screening of the upcoming Netflix original film, Wendell & Wild. This stop-motion animated film from the minds of Henry Selick (director of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Coraline”) and Clay McLeod Chapman (author of books “Whisper Down the Lane” & “The Remaking” and writer for MARVEL series “Scream: Curse of Carnage”, “Edge of Spider-Verse”, etc.) based on their unpublished book, of the same name, with the screenplay by Selick and Jordan Peele (Director of “Get Out”, “Us”, and “Nope”). To say it was a wild ride is to put it mildly.
What is Wendell & Wild?
Wendell & Wild follows a young Kat Elliot (Lyric Ross) who finds herself in a difficult situation and with plenty of guilt following a tragic accident. She discovers that she is a very unique individual and all Heck, forgive the pun, breaks loose. Kat encounters a pair of aspirational, yet dimwitted, scheming demon brothers Wendell (Keegan-Micahel Key) and Wild (Peele) and is thrown into a journey of self forgiveness and redemption where not only her future hangs in peril but the future of the entire town she is in.
Something to Note:
It is obvious that this film made with love and care by the entire production team. Not only is this the most fluid stop-motion animation I have seen in a long time, but the sheer scale and size of the environment is breathtaking. During the credits you will get to see some behind the scenes work and have a chance to absolutely appreciate the amount of work that was invested in this film.
My Thoughts:
This movie is a wild ride and doesn’t hesitate to really jump into action. The macabre style of this film immediately reminded me of the many stop-motion heavy metal music videos of the early 90’s. This story is very much in it’s own world with it’s own rules. I feel like many of the messages and themes would be lost on younger children and think that the set PG-13 rating is appropriate, not for concern of graphic or inappropriate material, but more for the maturity necessary for viewers to appreciate and understand what they are watching. Not to mention, some themes may be to scary for younger children, unless you enjoy sharing your bed with the kiddos.
As with any film that has Jordan Peele’s mark on it, this story attempts to tackle themes like privilege, trans-youth, second chances and the issues with privately run correctional facilities. This film makes many of these points rather quickly and I feel more time could have been used to flesh out the ideas presented, but “Wendell & Wild” does a great job starting the conversation. Many of the characters are extreme caricatures and are meant to be so. It is also easy to identify which real-life people are being depicted by those representations… and its hilariously disturbing.
Overall, Wendell & Wild is a worthy entry for Halloween and bound to be in many people’s watch list for the season moving forward.
Check out “Wendell & Wild” out and decide for yourself. “Wendell & Wild”, in limited theaters now and streaming exclusively on Netflix October 28th.
