Earth, our days. The largest IT corporation “Bubbles” announces the release of an advanced and high-tech robot called “bee-bot”. This robot is designed for personal use by schoolchildren, and it combines a smartphone, a game console and a scooter. The new gadget immediately becomes super popular, and now not a single schoolchild can imagine his existence without a “bee-bot”.
In the center of the story of the picture is a boy named Barney Pudowski (Jack Dylan Grazer). He lost his mother early, he is raised by the Bulgarian anti-communist grandmother Donka (Olivia Colman), who runs the household in America as she did in her native Bulgaria, and dad Graham (Ed Helms) is a cheerful loser who sells everything from home to no one the necessary junk.
At Barney’s school, everyone already has “bee-bots”, only Barney does not have his own robot – Graham and Donka cannot afford it. Barney has never been successful with his classmates before, and the absence of a robot makes him feel like a real pariah.
At a birthday party, Barney Graham and Donka witness how the boy is viciously played by classmates: they imitate the delivery of a “bee-bot”, but instead of a robot in the package – a hefty stone. And then the father and grandmother decide that they are simply obliged to get Barney “bee-bot” by any means. They have no money for a robot, by their standards it costs a fortune, and then they buy a defective model from some dark person, intended for disposal.
The robot’s name is Ron (Zach Galifianakis). When trying to initialize, Ron was unable to connect to the Web to download the appropriate database, so his software runs with big bugs, and besides, Ron does not work with the appropriate restrictive modules, and, frankly, he is simply dangerous, but otherwise Barney does not have a best friend, so he still tries to make friends with this defective creature.
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When I read the reviews after watching this film, I was terribly surprised that far from one reviewer, and it seems like film critics, and not just viewers, write that this is a Disney product. It would seem that what is easier – go to IMDB and see who did it at all. But no, it’s easier to write that it’s Disney. Who “again made a cartoon about family values”, “he stole from himself again” and other nonsense.
Meanwhile, “Incorrigible Ron” is the debut of new animation studio Locksmith Animation, a British studio founded by Sarah Smith and Julie Lockhart in 2014 with financial backing from Elizabeth Murdoch, billing itself as “the UK’s only high-quality computer-animated film studio.” with CGI that makes family movies.”
What did they get with, so to speak, the first pancake? Well, judging by the fact that some critics even decided that this was a Disney product, it turned out really great. But speaking seriously, the debut really turned out to be quite worthy: we watched it with the whole family and everyone liked it – this is a good animated film for family viewing.
Yes, and the questions in the film are raised quite serious: problems in the relationship of the child, the dependence of children on social networks, what is friendship in the modern world, and so on.
The “Bubbles” corporation in the picture is quite recognizable, but, of course, these are hairpins not only in the direction of the “Apple” company (the “bee-bot” itself is made clearly in the style of apple gadgets): getting user data and using it for profit is a desire any “corporation of good”, from Apple to Google and Microsoft to Facebook.
The Bubbles presentations, on the one hand, are shown precisely in the style of Apple presentations, however, when this vile man (to be honest, I did not remember his name) seizes power in the corporation with unkind, deep-set glasses, his presentation was clearly copied from a memorable presentation by then-Microsoft President Steve Ballmer.
All this is drawn not to say that it’s really cool, but it makes an impression. And they were especially successful with these robots themselves (is it really not a single good corporation that will release something like this?), As well as a fighting Bulgarian grandmother. Here is the grandmother – she is just a brilliance, well, Olivia Colman voiced her gorgeously. (Unfortunately, much is lost in dubbing.)
Barney’s character is likable and sympathetic. However, some elements of obvious manipulativeness were observed with him on the part of the creators of the picture (not only is he a pariah at school, the child is still growing without a mother and suffers from asthma), but this is a cartoon, there are such laws. Moreover, everything should end well in the end, but how else? Enemies will be punished or re-educated, Ron will finally be re-flashed, he will stop fooling around and work in all the brilliance of the B.Bot 2.14.1 operating system.
I will also note some funny moments that will be understood only by old farts (senior people) who still remember what BBS, Fido (whatever that means) and other antiquities are: Ron tries to enter the Network for the first time, making the characteristic sound of a handshake of antique modems , it was very cool. Well, there are also other funny references that not everyone will understand.
In general, we liked it. A good cartoon suitable for family viewing. Moreover, all sorts of holidays are approaching, which are traditionally celebrated in the family circle – well, here’s an alternative for you, don’t watch Home Alone for the twenty-fifth time, right? However, “Home Alone” can also be reviewed, but after “Incorrigible Ron”.
Ron’s Gone Wrong
Director: Sarah Smith, Jean-Philippe Vinet, Octavio Y Rodriguez Cast: Jack Dylan Grazer, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Olivia Colman, Rob Delaney, Justice Smith, Kylie Cantrall, Ricardo Hurtado, Cullen McCarthy, Ava Morse
Animation, USA-UK-Canada, 2021, 107 min.