Sharuth56

Everyone has gone into length about the undeniable impact that Jaws has left on the movie industry by revolutionizing the summer blockbuster, and being a bold adventure story injected with a shot of terror-infused adrenaline. And 50 years later, it still holds up very well. But Jaws isn't perfect. Jaws has flaws.

Personally, I found the 2 hour runtime to be a little too long, and it tends to slag in the slower-paced sections, especially in the 1st half or so. I know there needs to be exposition in order to establish the plot, and show Brody's concern for the safety of Amity Island's citizens and tourists, despite the officials being ignorant of the peril that lurks in the water. But the makers of the film could've trimmed it down a bit.

The movie makes up for the slightly slagging 1st half by picking up the pace in the 2nd half, once Brody, Quint, and Hooper set out to hunt down the shark. It does slow down again in one scene, but in this case, it's warranted. It briefly eases the tension a bit, before Quint tells the story of the Indianapolis.

Another problem, while not a big deal, is the shark itself. Being a movie from the 70s, CGI did not exist yet, and (for obvious reasons) they couldn't use a real great white shark. But the shots with the faulty rubber/mechanical shark look a tad bit iffy.

I was annoyed by the mayor's lack of concern when Brody warned him about the shark's presence in the beach, even though he knew about the people who were killed by it. The dude wanted to keep the beach open because he prioritized profits over the well-being of his citizens. While it's a fictional example of greedy people in power who are like him, I found his apathy very off-putting.

And my final bone to pick with Jaws is not in the movie itself, but the consequences it wreaked on the worldwide shark population. The titular shark may be a bloodthirsty man-eater, but real-life sharks usually avoid attacking people the majority of the time. Statistically speaking, you're more likely to be struck by lightning or win the Powerball lottery than you are to get attacked (or even eaten) by a shark. But people in 1975 didn't know that, and the movie sparked a widespread fear of sharks. As a result, millions of sharks were hunted and slaughtered, causing their total population to decline by about 50-71%... all because of one fictional shark.

With the big paragraphs I just typed about the problems with Jaws, you're probably thinking that I don't like the movie because of them. But that's not true at all. Overall, I absolutely respect the movie for being an important stepping-stone in the film industry. And the fact that it still remains a timeless classic half a century later is truly remarkable.

I watched The Wild on DVD a few times as a kid, and, being the naive little kid that I was, didn't really mind it that much. But looking back on it as an adult, it's worse than I remember.

The plot is very derivative, like a bastardized hybrid of Finding Nemo, Madagascar, and The Lion King. The CGI is UGLY as hell, which is pretty bad for a movie that came out in 2006. Not to mention the character design is an eyesore. Other animated flicks from 2006 such as Cars and Over the Hedge, while their CGI is a bit dated nowadays, look WAY better than The Wild. I don't understand why the makers shoved in a bunch of cartoon sound effects, because the timing of the humor is off, and the combination of both makes for a stilted experience. None of the characters are charming, funny, or endearing in the slightest (except maybe that one wildebeest voiced by Patrick Warburton.)

The villain's intentions don't make any sense whatsoever. Even if Kazar does manage to kill a lion, how the hell is he gonna eat him? Wildebeest don't have sharp teeth or claws for tearing flesh. And even if Kazar does eat the lion's flesh, he would be at risk of internal organ damage and/ growth abnormalities if he eats too much meat.

But I will give the movie props for the voice acting, particularly the voices of Samson (Kiefer Sutherland), Kazar (William Shatner), and Blag (the Patrick Warburton wildebeest.) Plus, the father-son dynamic between Samson and Ryan is actually kinda okay, even if it is derivative.

TLDR, The Wild is ass, and I can't believe my younger, dumber kid self liked it. I've watched plenty of movies that have gotten worse as I grew older, and this is one of them. But it has a so-bad-that-it's-good charm to it, and I don't wanna give it a 2 or 1 star rating because there's worse movies out there (plus I have some nostalgia for it.) I'm giving this a generous 3/10.