'THE WILD' GETS DOWNRIGHT BEASTLY.Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer A lion who has never set foot (or paw) in the jungle, must channel his inner predator as he travels to a remote jungle island after his son goes missing. The erstwhile King of the New York Zoo There are several New York Zoos
Anaconda (ănəkŏn`də), city (1990 pop. 10,278), seat of Deer Lodge co., SW Mont.; inc. 1887. and a squirrel. What? you ask. No covert operation-loving zoo penguins? No Gloria the Hippo? No Marty the Zebra? Negative all around. In fact, "The Wild" is not a sequel to last year's delightful "Madagascar." Rather it's a half-baked zoo animal quest story buoyed by a father-and-son-learn-a- valuable-lesson reconciliation. With those stakes on the table, could we be anywhere but in Disney animation land? It's not so much the signature schmaltz schmaltz also schmalz n. 1. Informal a. Excessively sentimental art or music. b. Maudlin sentimentality. 2. Liquid fat, especially chicken fat. that hamstrings "The Wild." It's the air of retread re·tread tr.v. re·tread·ed, re·tread·ing, re·treads 1. To fit (a worn automotive tire) with a new tread. 2. , the sense that director Steve "Spaz spaz or spazz Offensive Slang n. pl. spazz·es One who is considered clumsy or inept. intr.v. spazzed, spazz·ing, spazz·es To be clumsy or inept. " Williams and his team of four screenwriters are borrowing from other studios' movies, and from the Disney vault as well. On their way to the New York harbor New York Harbor, a geographic term, refers collectively to the rivers, bays, and tidal estuaries near the mouth of the Hudson River in the vicinity of New York City. This is sometimes construed in the sense "the Ports of New York and New Jersey". , for example, our intrepid zoo rescue squad rides a garbage truck through Times Square and passes the theater where Disney's "The Lion King" is playing. I suspect the beasts have seen this show. I know their creators have. "The Wild's" opening scene, Samson recounting a fictional story of how he faced down wildebeests, is hugely "Lion King"-esque. And the animation is terrible. Over the course of a thin 80 minutes, the film gives us a roaring lesson between father Samson (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) and cub Ryan (Greg Cipes); flirtatious banter between squirrel Benny (Jim Belushi) and the understandably leery object of his affection, Bridget the giraffe (Janeane Garofalo); assorted chases involving funny/menacing creatures (including a rabid poodle); and the inevitable father/son reckoning. Sutherland has been playing an urgently imperiled character in prime time for so long now that he could now voice Samson the Wild during a "24" danish break. Belushi and Garofalo slip easily into comic sidekick roles. Far more enlivening is the voice work of Eddie Izzard as a koala at odds with his cuddly image, and William Shatner as an evil dance-happy wildebeest wildebeest: see gnu. ("I am Kazar. Prophet, leader, choreographer."). The posters, by the way, are misleading. The animals spend most of the movie trying to get out of the Big Apple, not back to it. This affords the screenwriters little opportunity to break out any choice New York jokes. They get in a couple. There are, we learn, alligators within the sewers of the city. And they have Brooklyn accents and know the best route to the Statue of Liberty Statue of Liberty great symbolic structure in New York harbor. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] See : America Statue of Liberty perhaps the most famous monument to independence. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 284] See : Freedom . Would that "The Wild" had any kind of consistency of cleverness. Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com THE WILD - Three stars (G) Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Jim Belushi, Eddie Izzard, William Shatner. Director: Steve "Spaz" Williams. Running time: 1 hr. 20 min. Playing: In wide release. In a nutshell: "Madagascar" meets "The Lion King." All told, pretty tame. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Disney animals see the sights in Times Square, including the marquee for ``The Lion King.'' |
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