‘Wendell and Wild’ Review: Mild With a Side of Wild

While outwardly, the main plots of the film center around Wendell and Wild and Kat finessing a way to get what they really desire, through their journeys to reach those very things, they realize that all that glitters is not gold.

In that sense, Wendell and Wild is a bit of a lesson in learning how to cope and live with your "demons" instead of searching for a quick way to temporarily cure them. And while that message is nice and all, it's also a little predictable given the events that go down in the film as Kat desperately tries to resurrect her parents from the dead.

Part of me wishes that the film had focused on the main plots of Kat and the duo of Wendell and Wild instead of throwing in sub-plots that didn't add much aside from clogging up the two main stories that we were actually interested in.

Sure, it's a shame that the town of Rust Bank is dilapidated and burnt down, but it just wasn't necessary to get into the nitty gritty of that and how an ill-intentioned company wants to come in and overhaul the city. I mean, we've got dead skeletons coming out the wazoo—there are much larger problems in Rust Bank right now.

All in all, if you head into this film with extremely high expectations simply because of Coraline, you might be a little let down. But if you're more of a newbie to the world of Henry Selick, Wendell and Wild is certainly a solid introduction to his repertoire of stop-motion films. The animation in this film is sometimes so clever that it hurts, from Wendell and Wild tunneling their way out of the underworld in the same vein as a tabletop maze to the perfect simplicity of the crackling, swaying radiator in Kat's room.

Basically, if you're in need of some spooky vibes, this film will definitely satiate that.

Wendell and Wild is currently streaming on Netflix.