Wendell & Wild (2022)
November 2, 2022 2:19 PM - Subscribe

Two scheming demon brothers, Wendell and Wild, enlist the aid of 13-year-old Kat Elliot (Lyric Ross) to summon them to the Land of the Living.

"While the film may be called Wendell & Wild, this is undoubtedly Kat Elliot’s (Lyric Ross) journey of acceptance, forgiveness, and empowerment. Her life has been a series of unfortunate events since early childhood. She witnessed her parents’ deaths, which led to a downward spiral towards a moment of justified anger that lands her into legal trouble. She returns to her hometown of Rust Bank to discover that it is, like her, no longer a spark of joy...

Wendell & Wild does have a lot to say about several relevant social woes. And boy does it push to make all of that commentary connect. While some of it seamlessly weaves into the story, others suggest that there’s way to much to properly chew. Its runtime is not particularly long at 105 minutes; however, those extraneous subplots and filler characters take up space from those we care about the most." - Tai Gooden Nerdist
posted by jzb (3 comments total)
 
Wendell & Wild has a lot going for it, but it's overstuffed. The "school to prison pipeline" plot line is jammed in unceremoniously without doing it justice or adding to the narrative.

We get a quasi-Slayer type mythology with Kat's being a "Hell Maiden" but it seems thrown in just to move the plot along.

Thumbs up for the soundtrack. Artistically the movie is fantastic, and the voice acting is wonderful. It was an enjoyable enough ride, but feels like the script needed to be given another pass or three.
posted by jzb at 2:39 PM on November 2, 2022


We watched this last night. I found it enjoyable, but the story lagged a lot in places and I was almost ready to give up when it kicked into high gear. Kudos for the inclusion of diverse characters and a trans kid completely accepted by his mom and classmates. The stop motion animation was gorgeous and the voice acting was fantastic. I thought the best scene in the movie was Kat and Sister Helly in the redemption chamber where Kat embraces her memories as part of herself. That was really lovely. On the whole, it was fun and flawed, but I thought it was worth watching.
posted by ceejaytee at 4:30 AM on November 3, 2022 [1 favorite]


My complaints about this movie seem to be pretty standard - too much plot in too small a time frame, but I found it overall an enjoyable children's film with an A+ soundtrack.

I am additionally grateful to Peele for creating this for all the former Tim Burton fans like myself who apparently "Don't fit his aesthetic".
posted by Julnyes at 8:49 AM on November 3, 2022 [3 favorites]


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