Ron's Gone Wrong (2021)
Ron's Gone Wrong
- 3/5 Cameras
- Directed by: Sarah Smith, Jean-Philippe Vine, and Octavio E. Rodriguez
- Where to find it: Jack Dylan Grazer, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, and Olivia Colman
- Where to find it: Disney +
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| No Copyright Infringement Intended |
Should children be allowed access to social media sites? It’s
a seemingly age-old question that’s been debated from every angle you could
imagine. There are valid points to be made for each side of the argument and
now 20th Century Studios (who are now, much like almost every other
media company, owned by Disney) have joined the conversation with the heart-warming,
yet extremely heavy-handed, animated adventure Ron’s Gone Wrong.
Set in a world where talking, digitally connected robots, or
‘b-bots’, have become children’s best friends, 11-year-old Barney (Jack Dylan
Grazer) discovers that his ‘b-bot’, Ron (Zach Galifianakis), is defective and
follows him on a journey to fight corporate overlords and prove that perhaps
Ron’s malfunctions aren’t all that bad.
Before I delve into some issues I had with this movie, I’d
just like to say that Ron’s Gone Wrong is not a bad movie, and it does have a number
of positive aspects. The tale of Barney and Ron’s evolving friendship is a joy
to watch and even made me cry at one point. Where the film does start to falter,
however, is in the way it chooses to convey its message. Ron’s Gone Wrong is
essentially a commentary on how modern society has become completely dependent
on social media, and in turn the effect it can have on children’s lives. On
paper, this is a thought-provoking and interesting message to get across, but by
making the point so glaringly obvious, it makes me wish that perhaps a more
subtle approach would’ve made for a more effective film. I will say, however,
that I am probably not the intended target audience for Ron’s Gone Wrong, and its
actual target audience, children, will most likely not be bothered or even
notice the underlying message of the film.
In terms of its cast, Ron’s Gone Wrong boasts some pretty high-profile
names. Comedy veteran Zach Galifianakis joins relative newcomer Jack Dylan
Grazer to voice Ron and Barney respectively. The pair work together seamlessly and
as I’ve mentioned before, their friendship is the real highlight of this movie.
Also appearing in Ron’s Gone Wrong is Olivia Colman, as Donka, Barney’s Bulgarian
grandmother. As suspected, Colman is a delight in her role and steals every
scene she’s in. Despite this, Colman’s involvement in Ron’s Gone Wrong naturally
lends itself to comparisons to her other 2021 voice acting credit, the clearly
superior film about a robot-filled world: The Mitchells Vs the Machines.
All in all, Ron’s Gone Wrong is a fairly middle-of-the-road
film that would probably suit families more than it did myself. What seems to
be missing, however, is the certain sense of charm usually carried by films of
this nature, meaning it can’t quite sit in the big leagues of other recent
animated heavy hitters such as Encanto and The Mitchells Vs the Machines.
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