This time for a movie review, I will have two reviews for the same movie. The first is a technical review. The second will be a review of the plot after I go see it a second time on Friday for the official premiere.
That should tell you right there I think this movie is very special, but I wouldn’t have requested the day off two months ago to see the premiere if I wasn’t already certain it would be very special. I also wouldn’t have had made two trips to see an art exhibition based on the movie, and I wouldn’t have made a third trip to take an ill-fated hike. Nor would I be making a final trip to see the closing weekend of the exhibition at the end of the month and complete the last section of that hike. There would have been yet another trip last weekend to see something else related to the movie, but I had to rule it out for budget reasons.
Back in April 2025, I said I was reading the second Wildwood book. In June this year, I talked a little about Laika animates their films at 24 frames per section and needing another year to finish Wildwood. Just prior to the first were the messages in the “What book are you reading right now?” topic about using 3D-printed interchangeable faces, there would be a massive battle, and will they use CGI?
Throughout this year, Laika has been releasing a lot of “making of” and “behind the scenes” videos about Wildwood. Various people had posted their thoughts about what the movie would be about.
One of those videos made the case that because Laika is so good at stop-motion animation, people are going to assume this movie was made with CGI. I haven’t watched that video more than just the beginning, but when I got the opportunity to see Wildwood at an early screening on Monday, I decided I was going to first watch it with a technical eye, and I was not going to watch the rest of that video so I wouldn’t be influenced by it one way or the other.
It’s later than I planned, so I’m going to stop and pick this back up tomorrow. As a preview, I want to point out the tagline at the top of the movie poster has six words that are more than just advertising and the studio’s pedigree. They are the answer and the key.
