Animated films that feature future concepts often revel in the freedom of that art form. Ron’s Gone Wrong uses that advantage to the fullest. It mixes forward-thinking ideas with an old fashion take on the difficulties of growing up different and trying to find one’s way through the jungle of youth.
In this case, Barney voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer is an outsider for various reasons, most central to this is his oddball family. His widower father Graham (Ed Helms) scratches out a living by selling silly novelties from a home business while his old-world grandmother Donka (Olivia Colman) runs the household to hilarious effect.
When a personal A.I. robot comes on the market, Barney’s parental units can only afford a damaged and decidedly second-hand unit with a malfunctioning CPU and the innocence of a young child. United, the two grow together and learn what it means to value friendship and to take a chance on one’s self.
It’s a message that has been central to so many movies and to repeat a storyline this familiar you need to bring something new to the table. This is done with a combination of critiques of the current effects both good and bad of social media and the success that can come from adhering to a solid sense of right and wrong. It delivers this massage with technical imagination and time-tested humour.
Rob Hudson
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