When the vast majority of the time when we get stories about robots and artificial intelligence they're breaking free of their human creators and turning on mankind it's nice whenever we get these kids movies that frame machines as not only something that can make life better, but things that can become our friends.
Ron's Gone Wrong tells the story of Barney, a twelve-year-old boy in a Bulgarian-American home struggling to get by with an overworked and unsuccessful widowed father, and well meaning but wonderfully weird grandmother. To make things worse, Barney's struggling to find friends at school too, and ends up isolated and alone. There is a solution to this problem, however, thanks to the tech giants at Bubble Corp, who've created the B-bot; cute little robots that are designed to help bring children together and help them to make friends.
Unfortunately, Barney's family can't afford a B-bot for him, and when his birthday comes round and he still doesn't have one he slips into despair. This encourages his father to go out and do whatever he can to get Barney a B-bot; even going so far as to buy a damaged one off the back of a van. Barney is over-the-moon to finally have his own B-bot; but soon discovers that not everything about it is right. The robot can't connect to networks, it gets his name wrong, and it doesn't act like a regular B-bot. Determined to get a 'regular' one, Barney sets out to take the robot back to Bubble, but when his new robotic friend beats up some bullies in order to defend him Barney realises that whilst his B-bot, now named Ron, isn't working how he's programmed to maybe he's exactly what Barney needs.
The world of Ron's Gone Wrong is a hopeful one; a place where not only are there people who genuinely want to do good and to help heading up tech companies, but the things that they put out into the world are actually designed to make lives better. This isn't the world of billionaire CEO's who work their underpaid staff to death to provide people with sub-par phones that'll wear out after a few years; as the head of Buble, Marc Weidell, makes helping children his ultimate goal.
Whilst this isn't the most believable part of the film it does go a long way to explaining why it seems like Barney is the only child in the world who doesn't have a B-bot; as these things must be ridiculously cheap for how advanced they are. These robots are able to access social media, change their appearance, turn into vehicles, organise and run every aspect of a child's life, and all whilst being absolutely adorable too. The designs of these things are pretty simple thanks to their pill-like shape, but thanks to their changing skins and limbs that can pop in and out they all take on a unique look and you're never left confused over whose robot is whose; which is helpful as Ron himself is very much an important character that you don't want blending into the background.
Ron is an absolutely wonderful little robot, and his 'quirks' and faults make him instantly likeable and charming as a viewer; even if they give Barney a headache to begin with. The simple face display he has, which sometimes fails to hold together, the confusion that often sounds in his voice, and the strange dial-up sounds he makes made his first few scenes brilliant, and I very quickly ended up rooting for the little robot.
Obviously, a film like this doesn't have the two friends getting on to begin with, and it follows some very recognisable patterns in the way the story unfolds. But only up to a point. There was a part of the movie that I honestly assumed was going to be the end; Ron and Barney had become real friends, they'd proven that Ron wasn't a bad or faulty robot, and thanks to him saving Barney's life it looked like things were going to be okay. I was ready for things to wrap up and the two leads to go off to have a happy ending. But then I noticed that there was still half hour left. It's at this point the film takes a swerve and suddenly it becomes a story of Barney and his family setting out to get Ron's programming back into his body in order to save his friend.
This was a wonderful twist on what felt like a fairly predictable story, and I think was perhaps deliberately done. The film had followed an established formula, it has done the things I was expecting it to, and then it gave me more; and it even went on to break my heart by the end. My partner and I saw things slightly different when it came to the end. She saw it as a happy ending with a little bit of sadness to it, whilst I was trying not to cry as I saw it as a sad ending with a sliver of happiness. But however you come to see the film come the conclusion I think that you, like I was, would be suddenly surprised how much this malfunctioning little robot had worked its way into your heart. I'd come to care about Ron, and I was genuinely sad that this story had to end.
I hadn't heard much about the film before it came out, I knew nothing about the plot, I'd not seen any images or trailers, and I had no idea who was in it. As such, I was so pleasantly surprised by it. The film looks really pretty, and the animation style works wonderfully for this kind of story; with Ron and the B-bots looking like amazing little creations. The cast were also perfectly picked, and whilst I thought their acting was great it wasn't until the end credits rolled around that I realised I'd been listening to actors I knew. Ed Helms is great as the tired dad trying his best, Justice Smith is perfect as the tech guy trying to make the world better, and Jack Dylan Grazer continues to impress as a good young actor. The two most surprising performances were hands-down Olivia Coleman as the wacky grandmother, and Zach Galifanakis as Ron. Even knowing now who they are I still can't picture those voices coming out of them, and their performances, especially Galifanakis as Ron, were superb.
Ron's Gone Wrong might not have got much attention in the same year as films like Dune, Spider-Man No Way Home, and Encanto, but it's a wonderful, enjoyable film that I'm sure all of the family will enjoy, even if the end does break your heart.
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