Summary
It has strong themes of grief and guilt that come through in the stunning animation. Kat’s feelings are manifested in Wendell & Wild, but they’re never fully explored. It’s almost as if her storyline is cut short because of situations at the school, in the underworld, and in the corporate business
Watching someone you love pass away is always difficult, and when you’re able to fully process the grief, you notice little things. Moments like that find a way of creeping up on you when you least expect them. It’s as if your mind registers these images without you even realizing it. The themes in Wendell & Wild explore the friendship between a young girl and her imaginary friends after she loses her parents at a young age. We see the young woman has grown into herself because of her past trauma.
Kat (Lyric Ross) still struggles to move forward because her past continues to haunt her. In this film, two devious demon brothers, Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Jordan Peele), have to face their arch-enemy. Sister Helley (Angela Bassett) is notorious for expelling demons, and she ends up helping them. However, the brothers are not just plagued by her but also by her altar boys.
The film is directed by Henry Selick and co-written by Jordan Peele. The theme of grief carries that emotional weight and is powerfully explored through the stop-motion animation. However, the direction of the story is somewhat disorganized. The pacing of the film felt rushed because the character introductions were cut short and not explained. At times, the story with Kat is put on the back burner because of the other storylines being explored.
There is a connection between the underworld and Wendell & Wild that also serves as a weak link to Kat, as they use her to bring them back to the Land of the Living. Anything is possible through animation, so her theoretical demons manifest into physical beings for her to see. Unfortunately, Kat blames herself for her parents’ deaths and carries this with her. She attends a new boarding school and discovers that she possesses unique powers that connect her to the underworld.
Three different stories are being told, and it could have worked if they were layered differently. Each new piece of information is being added to the mix to create a more personal connection to Kat. There are monsters that we carry, monsters that we don’t believe in, and monsters that manifest themselves in other people. Selick and Peele also try to address big corporate monsters who do not care about the little people, which completely gets lost in this story.
Kat is a distinct character, as her punk-rock look and detached demeanor somehow lend this movie its character. Not only is she a young teenager looking to find herself, but she is also a “Hellmaiden” with a direct link to the underworld. It is also a parallel to her being able to search deep within herself to expel the darkness from her mind to live free of her past.
Wendell & Wild features strong themes of grief and guilt that are effectively conveyed through its stunning animation. Kat’s feelings are manifested in Wendell & Wild, but they’re never fully explored. It’s almost as if her storyline is cut short because of situations at the school, in the underworld, and in the corporate business. We only get to know the character through her trauma and not as a young girl trying to process it fully.
There could have been strong emotional moments for her, but the weight of her grief is tossed away through her anger. She does care, but it’s executed poorly throughout the film. It’s as if the story wasn’t there to serve the lead character and her monsters. They wanted to show how monsters manifest in other ways through her grief, and that’s why this didn’t come together as it should have.
Read More: Wendell & Wild Ending Explained
