User reviews

Henry Selick's welcome return to direction is expectedly visually splendorous. Though a lot more rudimentary in it's appearance than Coraline, Wendell & Wild is brimming with life in the design of every one of its memorable characters and sets.

The unique style and quirky designs add a great deal of vibrancy to the many, many creative ideas present in the story. It makes for a gleefully bizarre, oddly captivating experience. I can see this becoming a cult classic like some of Selick's other stop-motion animated films.

I thought the characters all had more than sufficient unique personality to keep the film effortlessly watchable and engaging.

But there is WAY too much going on here. And I'm starting to see this as a trend in screenplays involving Jordan Peele, as Nope had the same problem earlier this year.

Wendell and Wild as characters are actually barely in this movie, and they are woefully underdeveloped, given the bare minimum of motivations and rushed, shallow character growth. And it's because the writers felt the need to make room for a plethora of other characters and story beats that are never given their time to become impactful.

Kat has an "overcoming trauma" arc that is simplistically glossed over in one scene, and she has magical powers that are introduced with almost no build-up.

Some generically-written friends of Kat's are given even less development and some scenes try to highlight them only to have little to no impact on the story.

I could go on, but I'll lastly mention that there are way too many antagonist characters, and because there's no time to focus on them, they're disappointingly simplistic and cartoonish, and it results in the story's themes being delivered in such an on-the-nose manner that the film's conclusion is unfortunately disappointing.

The idea of Key&Peele as stop-motion characters was enough to draw me in, the problem with the movie is they're not the main characters even though the title says Wendell & Wild, the main character is the school girl Kat, and because her life's trauma left her cold, she hard to like, the animation has high production value, it looks good, but the story is about too many different things, and the title characters fade into the background, Kat is supposed to be some kind of hell something lol, and her mentor played by Angela Bassett has the same powers but it's not fleshed out enough to understand what the purpose of those powers are, overall a cute Halloween movie for a family to watch, parents turn off your brain and let the kids enjoy the animation.

From the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas & Coraline, Wendell & Wild is yet another stop-motion animation offering that brims with originality, creativity & imagination and packs a thematically-rich premise overflowing with ideas but the film as a whole still required more fine-tuning with the script, for the messy structure & muddled storytelling only brings the ride down.

Co-written by Jordan Peele & directed by Henry Selick, the story addresses guilt, trauma, loss, death, resurrection & even prison-industrial complex through its 13-year old protagonist but it fails to properly juggle the various subplots that are unfolding all at once and lacks a firm grip necessary to keep the drama riveting. It tries to tackle too many things & overstuffs the plot in the process.

The stop-motion craftsmanship on display remains top-notch from the get-go and the world it renders on screen has the director's macabre feel to it. Also uplifting the animation wizardry is the excellent use of camera, colour & lighting. Editing however is a mixed bag, for the narrative flow is a bit inconsistent and never truly gathers momentum. Voice acting is fine but the drama isn't compelling enough.

Overall, Wendell & Wild begins on a promising note and is admirable for its ambitious attempt but it needed a more tightly-knitted plot, polished script & better balance between its multiple plot lines to deliver the desired goods. The hand-crafted magic is commendable no doubt but it's the convoluted writing that hinders the film from realising its full potential. In short, Selick's latest is no match to his finest efforts.

When I first saw the trailer, I was really excited for this movie. Henry Selick has made two all-time animated classics with "Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Coraline". Having him team up with Jordan Peele, sounds like a match made in heaven. Ironic comparison given the subject of the movie.

The animation is very distinct. It catches you off guard at first, but you get used to it fairly quick. The movie has a lot of fun and unique characters and create a fascinating world. The characters, animation and moments of humor all work, where does it falter?

The story simply has way too much going on. As the movie tries to juggle these different story points, characters make stupid decisions or unprovoked changes solely for the purpose of moving the story towards a conclusion. And I may have complimented a lot of the characters, but I will say that the villains in this are awful. They are the same old tired villain cliché we've seen a hundred times, with nothing clever or funny to make them stand out.

I like the themes and morals the movie addresses, but just because I like the message, doesn't mean that I liked the way it was presented.

It's a shame because there's a great movie in here, it just doesn't come to its full potential. A good film with just one too many demons holding it back.

'Wendell & Wild (2022)' is adaptation of Henry Selick's own book about a troubled girl who meets her demons shortly after being enrolled at an all-girls catholic school in her home town. It's the director's first film since his much-loved classic, 'Coraline (2009)', and it features many of the hallmarks of his delightfully macabre style. Teaming up with Jordan Peele (who takes on co-writing, producing and acting as the titular Wild) seems like a match made in heaven - or, perhaps, hell - and a lot of the movie lives up to that potential. However, ultimately it's one of the weaker entries in either filmmakers' filmographies because it simply can't get a handle on what it wants to be. Straight away, something seems off with the pacing. The editing is very elliptical, even in the most straight-forward sequences, and the overarching structure is very unfocused. The piece bounces around between its various elements, never quite coming together as a cohesive whole. These elements are mostly excellent in isolation, but the fact that they never quite gel leads to an experience that's difficult to get fully immersed in. The flick deals with a lot of interesting ideas, touching on themes of family and guilt while commenting on important societal issues such as the prison-industrial complex, and it's also awash in positive representation (even though I could have done without the deadnaming of one of its characters). It's a bit heavy-handed, sure, but it mostly works and actively enhances the narrative. It's a shame that these subtextual, and even textual, aspects get a bit lost in the overall muddled nature of the affair. There are, I suppose, too many for any one of them to be fully fleshed out, leading to moments in which certain things pop up and affect the plot - despite never having been set-up properly - and then fizzle away just as quickly as they appeared. Despite its issues, though, the film is enjoyable throughout. Its aesthetic is distinct and and appealing, with its fluid animation combining with its colourful characters to bring its gleefully grotesque world to life. It has a tangible vibe to it, which is one of its most valuable assets. Regardless of how messy its story is, it's undeniably entertaining, and it conveys several good messages that are as expected as they are necessary. It often deals with familiar elements in an unfamiliar way, at its best when playing with its more subversive scenarios. The picture is a solid effort, even though it certainly has a few narrative issues. If it were more focused, it could have been great. Still, it's a good time overall.

I love Henry Selick's work in Stop Motion, Coraline is even one of my all time favorite films, however this new effort has unfortunately left me a little cold.

On the technical side it is certainly something great but the script is really simple with an unbalanced pace.

The ending comes all of a sudden and the viewer is not given time to empathize with what's going on.

The protagonists are nice even if some have a design that didn't drive me crazy. However, the film is not a bad film but thinking about past works it does not even reach those levels a bit.

Such a shame as I was very confident for Wendell & Wild.

As a fan of stop-motion animation as well as Keegan Michael-Keys and Jordan Peeles electric chemistry I was greatly anticipating this film when it was announced.

However I was overhyped for its release. The only aspect that is truly outstanding about this movie is stop motion animation.

The story is chaotic and introduces lore without a hint of context. The finale? Condensed. The solutions? Convenient. And for a movie called "Wendell & Wild" the title characters do not get as much screen time as you might imagine. Which is a shame because Key and Peeles voice delivery is stellar.

As a movie? It's middle of the road. As a stop motion movie? It's kinda bad.

Henry Sellick's first stop-motion animated film since 2009's beloved Coraline, Wendell & Wild melds beautiful artistry and a very funny script co-written by Jordan Peele.

The plot follows Kat, a young orphan shipped off to a private Catholic school for troubled girls, struggling with guilt over her perceived responsibility for her parents' tragic deaths. She also happens to be a Hellmaiden, able to summon the roguish demon brothers Wendell & Wild (played hilariously and to pitch perfection by comedy duo Key & Peele). They arrive in the land of the living to try and set up their lifelong dream project of running their own demonic funfair. Much chaos ensues.

I went in a bit blind on the story and wasn't sure what to expect, but Wendell & Wild might be the best stop motion film made since Coraline, or possibly just barely edging past it. Kat is a terrific protagonist, bucking trends and delivering more personality than all of LAIKA animation's somewhat milquetoast leads put together. There's a lot of artistic inventiveness on display, and the script is (for the most part) incredibly strong.

The film has only a couple downsides, which were a bit baffling considering the quality of the rest. Some of the scenes were a bit muddled, with events only making sense long after the fact (a particular sequence with an octopus and a glowing drawer left me scratching my head). The final act, while lots of fun, also feels like it's hastily wrapping up as much as it can in too short a time, with the credits rolling only moments after a bombastic finale - when it really, really could have used a couple more minutes to wind down with a nice epilogue.

This is a film that giddily enjoys keeping way more plates in the air than most films can get away with, and it results in a somewhat messy structure that makes it hard to tell who the main antagonist even is at any given moment, which seems to shift around wildly from scene to scene, from a gigantic Satan-like figure, to a pair of corrupt businessmen, to the titular brothers themselves, to a personal struggle against inner demons - before finally picking a clear lane in the last act. You just never know what direction the story is going to zig and zag to next, which is ultimately more of a strength than a weakness. Wendell & Wild is just as much a supernatural mystery film as it is an adventure/comedy, so viewers should be prepared to do a bit of sleuthing and not have anything spoon-fed.

This is not exactly a film for young kids, sporting heavy themes and a few dark moments, but it isn't that much scarier than Laika films like ParaNorman or Kubo and the Two Strings, only barely earning its PG-13 rating. Any kid that can handle The Nightmare Before Christmas (also directed by Sellick) should be OK with this.

Even with a few nitpicks holding it back, I give this film an easy 8/10. If you're an animation fan, you owe it to yourself to check this out... it's one of the most delightful and creative films in the entire stop-motion medium.

Wendell & Wild (2022) is based off an unpublished book by Henry Selick and Clay McLeod Chapman, the movie is also produced by Jordan Peele who has made 3 great horror movies. I thought Wendell & Wild (2022) was a cool dark stop-motion movie.

The voice acting in the movie is good, like Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele as the two demons Wendell and Wild. The two demons were animated well, and they had funny dialogue that could be funny in a normal way or a dark way.

I love the animation; the movie is a mix of CG and stop-motion that looks well done. The sets, the characters, and the backgrounds look great and fit the tone of the movie. The characters and the demons are interesting, along with the dark things they do looking cool in this animation style.

The music in this feels like the movie Coraline (2009) and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), which makes sense because it is by the same director. The demon world looks creative, and the demons have unique and interesting designs.

There were some unnecessary small scenes, but I still like this movie. Stop-motion fans and fans of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele will like this movie, while also liking it for its dark tone, dark humor, and the directions it will take.

Wendell and Wild is a beautifully animated movie that tackles complex real life issues such as: trauma and how to heal from it, the school to prison pipeline, rehabilitation, and the importance of community.

(Bet you didn't expect that from a movie about a cute punk black girl summoning demons.)

All the issues are treated in a nuanced yet accessible way through a mix of metaphor and plain explanation.

Even the many storylines, that some people have found messy, tie neatly into a coherent whole that serves to convey the overall message of the movie.

And if the incredible plot isn't enough, I'm sure the incredible animation, the diverse cast of quirky characters, and the really good soundtrack will win you over!

Beautiful production design and elegantly scored attempt at emulating classic animated horror for audiences of all ages. Although it mostly succeeds on an audiovisual front, the story is exhaustingly overstuffed, leaving the characters flat and underdeveloped. Ambitiously, it squeezes a dozen progressive ideas it can into 100 minutes, failing to develop them enough to craft insightful commentary or funny satire. There's a point at which including progressive themes can come off as pandering rather than sincere representation, Wendell & Wild wavers. There are so few surprises or conflicts that can't be easily predicted. If the film had compelling characters it'd be enough to get by, but as is we barely know anything about them. Before we have a reason to care about people they're gone and a new character is introduced. Although the voice acting is superb, it doesn't help that most of them are annoyingly one underdeveloped.

Very little charm, not scary or creepy, and lacking any heart. This was wholly disappointing. I had trouble connecting with any of the characters, although I tried my best to! Kat, the movie's protagonist and an orphan, should've been SO much more sympathetic than she was. Even the titular characters Wendall & Wild were pretty one-dimensional.

The story lines also felt very jarring and disjointed. The only thing keeping me engaged was the stop motion and the occasional laugh, but even that wasn't enough to make me care. There's something seriously wrong with this movie. It should've been amazing, but ultimately, there's no magic to be had here.

Set in the town of Rust Bank, troubled teenager Kat Elliot (Lyric Ross) is enrolled in Rust Bank Catholic (RBC) after she's deemed a candidate for a special program that enlists juvenile offenders in private schools. Since the death of her parents in the town some years back, Kat has hardened herself against any attachments and maintains an abrasive exterior preventing anyone from getting close to her. Meanwhile in the underworld, two demon brothers, Wendell (Keegan Michael-Key) and Wild (Jordan Peele) are stuck with the menial job of replanting their father's, Buffalo Belzer (Ving Rhames), hair following his discover of the duo's Dream Faire plans. The two discover Kat is a Hell Maiden who can summon them to Earth and contact cat in her dreams, while Wendell and Wild promise to resurrect Kat's long dead premise, the results are not so simple.

Wendell & Wild is the latest film from noted stop-motion animation director Henry Sellick of Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Selick began working on the film, an adaptation of his unpublished book of the same name, with Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael-Key in 2015 following Selick's brief stint at the Walt Disney Company where Selick's project Shadowmaker/The Shadow King was shelved following meddling from John Lasseter. The film was picked up by Netflix in 2018 with the film going through a lengthy production process that even went through the COVD-19 pandemic with some of the animation being done remotely. The end result of Wendell & Wild is undeniably entertaining, but it's also a very overstuffed movie that can feel a bit unwieldly with how much is going on.

As per usual, the animation on display in Wendell & Wild is quite amazing with the sets and models visually distinct and memorable with some eye-catching designs backed up by solid voice performances from its ensemble cast. The town of Rust Bank is a character in and of itself with the town being virtually empty and only kept alive by the few holdouts who keep the developers from coming in. Needless to say Key and Peele's chemistry is on point in their dialogue exchanges and their energy and passion is well suited to the realm of animation as anyone who saw their role in Storks can attest to. The movie also features a much more diverse cast than we've seen in previous films of this type but still very much makes the story its own. Lyric Ross is very good as Kat our protagonist, Sam Zelaya is also quite good as trans boy Raul, and Tamara Smart is also good playing a character named Siobhan who is played against conventions of being a popular girl stereotype in a refreshing change of pace. The movie also deatures strong supporting players rounding out the supporting cast in Angela Bassett, James Hong, and Ving Rhames and all bring some great life to their roles.

Where Wendell & Wild stumbles however is in its very overstuffed narrative as there are multiple antagonistic parties at work in this story with a company called Klaxon Corp trying to buy out the town, a life giving cream stolen by Wendell & Wild they plan to use to get money for their Dream Faire, James Hong's Father Bests character having a stake in things, and even a pair of demon hunters and there's so many elements stuffed into this story that it can feel a little overwhelming and it feels like the movie could've probably tightened itself a little by paring down or combining story elements to give something more cohesive. In terms of problems for a movie to have a movie with too many ideas is always preferrable to a movie with too few, but it is an issue that holds the film back from being at the same level as Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I probably liked it about the same level as Selick's James and the Giant Peach.

Wendell & Wild is a welcome return for director Henry Selick, even if it doesn't reach the high benchmark he's set for himself with his prior work. The film features beautiful design work and solid voice work from its cast, but an overstuffed narrative keeps things from coalescing as much as they should, and the story probably could've benefitted from being streamlined. Overall this is a good film from Selick.

I'm a fan of Mr. Henry Selick. I follow creepy animated movies subgenre thoroughly. I'm sad to report that this movie was uneven and average. Story was disjointed despite being modestly inspired. At least characters were ok. Animation was respectable and stylish but a bit simplistic compared to Selick's earlier works. Some backgrounds having too little work on them constantly reminded me that this movie is direct to tv stuff. Jokes are too few and far in between. A lot of things and situations go around the movie despite most of them are not fleshed out. Don't hold back if you really want to see it. It is ok. But go with low expectations. You may opt out for a better movie if you are a casual movie goer.

I just finished "Wendell and Wild" and I certainly appreciate the direction the movie was trying to go and it's always refreshing to see a stop motion film, it's a very underappreciated medium. The character designs in particularly really stood out to me. But the script, my God. It's jumbling wayyy to many storylines at once and it gets very overwhelming to keep track. You're probably going to care more about certain plots more than others and it's pacing makes the film feel simultaneously too long yet too short. I feel like this would've been better fleshed out as a series. I would check it out if you want something different and if you want something to visually marvel at but the pacing might get to some.

Wendell & Wild (2022) is a movie my daughter and I recently watched on Netflix. The storyline follows an orphaned teenager who summons two demons to help bring her parents back from the dead. Unfortunately she discovers once the demons are back with the living they'll do everything possible to extend their stay rather than grant her wish.

This movie is directed by Henry Selick (James and the Giant Peach) and contains the voices of Lyric Ross (This is Us), Keegan-Michael Key (The Predator), Jordan Peele (Get Out), Angela Bassett (Boomerang) and James Hong (Big Trouble in Little China).

The animation in this is so good and well done. It's stop-motion animation that feels like claymation at times. This feels like a Tim Burton picture in a lot of ways. This has elements of Beetlejuice/A Nightmare Before Christmas (there may even be multiple Jack Skeleton cameos 😉 ). The universe is very interesting and the demons and underworld are well presented. The circumstances are unique but the end is a bit predictable. The soundtrack is very good also.

Overall, this isn't as good as the Tim Burton animated horror family films but it is worth a watch. I'd score this a 6.5-7/10 and recommend seeing it once.

When I first saw this movie, I had high hopes. And then when it was over, I left the theaters delighted. I made sure not to miss a single scene, which I recommend. This is a fabulous movie. The characters were likable, it had a diverse cast, and the humor was excellent. I'm so glad Keegan and Jordan cane back together. And combined with Selicks demonically good animation style, This is easily one of the best movies of 2022. The only issue I had with it was the ending. It could have been longer, and it seemed a bit rushed. If they added in a solid 5 minutes, this movie would have been better. But still, this movie is a cinema masterpiece. This is a solid 8.489/10.

I really appreciate movies that take the time to make the story stop motion. You always seem to end up with more stylised characters and environments, and that's what you get with this movie. The designs for some of the characters are not easy on the eyes to say the least, and that's not a criticism! It goes really well with the tone of the film.

My favourite part was probably getting to see Jordan Peele as Wild. His character design is clearly based on his own features, and his little demon figure is pretty cute and funny.

The story seemed a little all over the place. There was a lot going on but it felt a lot longer than it needed to be to get to the outcome at the end. Kat was a nicely designed character and you get to see a lot of the reasons why she is the way she is, but even though the film felt like it went on for so long and she is the main girl, it still didn't feel like you got to 'know' her that much at the same time; sometimes it felt a little hard to get past her angsty side, which I think might've been the way to feeling more connected to her if they focused a little bit more on her in that sense.

I really did think this was going to be one of my favourite films, but it fell a little flat for me. But at the same time I don't think it's a bad movie by any stretch of the means; it's good to look at, it's funny, and goes into great real-world topics that I don't think I've really seen other movies go into before. So even if it fell a little flat for me, I'd still recommend you watch it.

I usually love Henry Selick's work. In fact the Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline are two of my favourite movies. But this just didn't hit the mark.

There was far too much going on, and many of the additional story points feel unnecessary, which ultimately ends up taking away from the quality of a film that could've been great, but really wasn't.

This film would've been so much better if the story was simplified and streamlined a bit.

Pretty disappointing overall.

The animation style was nice though, although not my favourite of his work, and it was nice to have diversity in the characters.

Characters, visuals, comedy, sets, it was all brilliantly done. Even the voice actors were perfectly cast. It was wickedly spooky with definite 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' vibes, a real treat. Also it was darker than I thought it would be and much more adult themed and I love that.

Was wonderful to see Key and Peele joking around in animation form.

The only thing I would say is at times the story goes off track for no reason and has so much extra stuff going on, it could have had 10 minutes cut, easy.

Other than that I thought it was blimin spectacular and felt compelled to write this review.

Give it a watch. 😁

The best parts of the movie are the art-style, animation, and Wendell & Wild themselves. They are easily the most interesting and entertaining characters (and Manberg). Kat on the other hand, is the most negative and spiteful main character I've seen. While I understand the trauma she went through, she never shows an ounce of sympathy to anyone except her parents. There's nothing likable about her.

The plot is alright. Some interesting twists and payoffs, but the commentary about private prisons is as subtle as environmentalism from 90s movies (in other words, in your face).

As a fan of stop-motion, I was hoping to like this. Although it's rated PG-13, I'm not sure who this was made for. The humor and art style seems directed at kids, but then there's really dark scenes and heavily political topics.