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Ron’s Gone Wrong Movie Review

Ron’s Gone Wrong is a 2021 animated family science fiction film directed by Sarah Smith. It is one of the most underrated animated flicks of the year.

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“Old women. Not trending.

Widowed dads, downer!

Enhance and post!“

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This is the story of Barney, an awkward middle-schooler and Ron, his new walking, talking, digitally-connected device. Ron’s malfunctions set against the backdrop of the social media age launch them on a journey to learn about true friendship. What I respected about this movie is its message. It treats technology as everything should be treated in life – with an unbiased look and portraying both sides to it.

Most movies, especially of the animated variety depict technology is bad, which is simply not true. It can be both good and bad depending on the user and how he or she uses it. This film gets that and it teaches children how to use it to their advantage and not to their detriment.

I found the portrayal of this evil conglomerate that controls kids in order to get them to buy their products was incredibly important and brave to depict in a family movie. It is unfortunately true that these corporations invade our privacy and make personalized ads for each person. The film’s villain is typically over-the-top, but he worked in the context of the plot.

But the other side is also shown as these robots can actually help kids make friends and also be their friends in a surprising turn of events. The movie cleverly showcases the possibility of friendships between humans and robots, but also emphasizes just how important it is for kids to befriend other kids of their age. I loved that deeply moving ending and I personally connected with the protagonist as somebody who never had any friends as a child.

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Barney is very likable and also realistically flawed. I liked his eventual friends and how each had their own problem related to their social media profiles. That was so well explored, though these kids eventually needed more screen time. But the highlight of the movie is definitely Ron and he just might be one of the best robots in cinema history, certainly one of the most endearing.

Ron is so damn cute. I loved this stocky, beany design reminiscent to the designs in ‘Fall Guys’. This robot was complex and very well realized. You get how he malfunctioned and how he got to learn about the boy and his hobbies and needs. The two develop a genuinely fascinating friendship and the best moments all focused on the boy and the robot.

My favorite part of the movie was the second act. The first act was somewhat clunky to me while the third was pretty good and emotional, but the mid-section is the heart of it. The forest scenes were absolutely incredible. They were adventurous and so endearing while emphasizing the importance of nature and the physical world in any kid’s life. Ron and Barney bonding was lovely to witness and the two on the run in this beautiful forest was so much charming fun.

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Ron’s Gone Wrong is ultimately better than ‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines’ and I do not know why others disagree with this statement. This one is much more moving and relatable to me. The pacing is all over the place and some of the dialogue can be too obvious, but the script is mostly quite sophisticated while the treatment of it themes was superb.