Ron’s Gone Wrong

There’s a new robot in town and he’s awkward, confused, scrappy, single-minded and, er, naked.

Automated ally: R0NB1NT5CAT5CO and Barney

Ron was meant to be amazing. Designed to be a child’s best friend, he is one of a line of online-connected mobile robots that can double as a companion, social secretary, Steadicam, movie projector – even as a skateboard. Due to an aggressive marketing campaign, the B-bots – which don’t come cheap – have become the must-have accessory of every schoolchild worth their social standing. Barney Pudowski is a little different. Unable to develop a single friendship, he invests his spare time in studying rocks and chess and dreads school recess when nobody will talk to him. Furthermore, his father (Ed Helms), a small-time inventor of inane novelty items, cannot afford to buy his son a B-bot. This separates Barney from the herd, when, one day, his father acquires a ‘damaged’ B-bot off the back of a lorry. Like Barney, R0NB1NT5CAT5CO – or Ron for short – is different from the others and can only access five per cent of his data…

Locksmith Animation is different from the others. Unlike Pixar, DreamWorks and Disney, the fledgling studio is based in London (Regent’s Park) and this is their first film. And it’s a beaut. With the visual standard that one now expects from high-end computer animation, Ron’s Gone Wrong is canny, witty, relevant, heart-breaking and very, very funny. While conceding that smart devices and virtual popularity are not necessarily great, it mines the comic potential of its theme with pizzazz. There are few things in life that will delight small children more than a malfunctioning robot, while the digs at commercial self-interest are scalpel-sharp. The true villain of the piece is corporate boss Andrew Morris (Rob Delaney) who muses, “how can you have fun off-line? It’s against nature.” Of course, his real goal is to monitor (and spy on) the kids who buy his product so that he can sell them stuff. But it’s the kids who have the best lines, because they speak like real kids. Savannah (Kylie Cantrall), who always has her eye on her online social status, mutters “you’ve ruined my aesthetic!” or, to Barney: “you’re such an actual freak, Barney, it’s almost cool.” She’s a scream.

The cinema is littered with loveable robots (Short Circuit, WALL-E, Big Hero 6, Bumblebee), but Ron is the Norman Wisdom of the automaton. And, judging by the squeals of glee from the children at the screening I attended, he is a keeper.

JAMES CAMERON-WILSON

Voices of  Zach Galifianakis, Jack Dylan Grazer, Ed Helms, Justice Smith, Rob Delaney, Kylie Cantrall, Ricardo Hurtado, Olivia Colman.

Dir Sarah Smith and Jean-Philippe Vine, Pro Julie Lockhart and Lara Breay, Screenplay Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith, Ph David Peers and Hayley White, Pro Des Nathan Crowley and Aurélien Predal, Ed David Burrows, Music Henry Jackman.

TSG Entertainment/Locksmith Animation/DNEG-Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures UK.

107 mins. UK/USA/Canada. 2021. Rel: 15 October 2021. Cert. PG.