Wolfwalkers Movie Review
I was lucky enough to get hold of a screener of Wolfwalkers, an Apple TV+ original animated movie from Cartoon Saloon directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. It features, among others, the voice talents of Sean Bean, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Honor Kneafsey and Eva Whittaker.
This Wolfwalkers review may contain mild spoilers, proceed with caution.
Synopsis
A young apprentice hunter journeys to Ireland with her father to help wipe out the last wolf pack. But everything changes when she befriends a free-spirited girl from a mysterious tribe rumored to transform into wolves by night.
Into the forest we go
To expand a little more on the synopsis Robyn (Honor Kneafsey) and her father Goodfellowe (Sean Bean) have moved from England to Ireland in the service of the new Lord Protector of Kilkenny. The Lord Protector (Simon McBurney) is a God fearing man and, having heard Pagan stories about the devilish wolves and the magical Wolfwalkers in the nearby woods, he has employed Goodfellowe to hunt and kill the wolves so the woods can be cleared. Robyn chafes against the strictures of the world she and her father are living in now, wanting more than anything to join him outside the walls on his hunts. But the Lord Protector says no children are allowed outside the city walls. But what kind of adventure would this be if Robyn listened?
She manages to sneak out of the city and into the forest after her father to hunt for wolves.
On that hunt she accidentally wounds her pet falcon, Merlin. When she tries to retrieve his fallen form he’s snatched away by Mebh (Eva Whittaker) a wild girl who runs deep into the forest. Robyn pursues her and finds herself bound up in the story of the Wolfwalkers.
Wolfwalkers Movie Review
I’m just going to come right out and say it, Wolfwalkers is stunning. From the moment I saw the trailer, and heard the evocative Running With The Wolves by AURORA, I had a feeling I was going to love this movie. The trailer had every hair on the back of my neck standing up and tears threatening. The movie ramped all of that up to 11.
There’s a moment early in the film when Robyn is walking through the forest. The dappled light and shadows falling on her face as she moves through the trees made me realise this was something special. The animation is to die for and has made me keen to seek out more work from Cartoon Saloon. Not to mention it’s the most beautiful and uplifting film I have watched in a long time. Something that is sorely needed at the moment.
Highlights
One of my favourite things about Wolfwalkers was the relationships between the main characters, they are well written and genuine. Robin is desperate to follow in her father’s footsteps, trying everything she can to make him see that she’s a capable hunter. With no Mrs Goodfellowe in the picture it’s not really a surprise that Robyn is more interested in hunting than working in the scullery. It also explains why Goodfellowe is so protective of his daughter, having apparently already lost his wife.
The friendship that builds (and is tested) throughout the movie between Robyn and Mebh is obviously the most important. Watching as these two girls from such different, and opposing, backgrounds come to understand each other and love and care for one another was an absolute joy.
There are moments of genuine threat to all of the main characters. Most notably after Robyn has become a Wolfwalker herself and her wolf form is spotted inside the city. I think I held my breath for a good 5 minutes as furious townspeople, armed guards and the vicious Lord Protector were all chasing her.
The last half hour or so also had me literally on the edge of my seat, tears rolling down my cheeks as I waited to see how things would turn out.
“What cannot be tamed…must be destroyed”
As I said previously, this is a very uplifting film but it does touch on some tough subject too.
Being English, and at the behest of the unwelcome Lord Protector (aka Oliver Cromwell), means that Robyn and her father are disliked in the town. Robyn is teased and bullied by other children for her accent and for her desire to be a hunter like her father.
It also has a strong environmental message. The Lord Protector wants the forest cut down to make way for “progress”. When his attempts to rid the woods of the wolf pack are foiled by Robyn and Mebh he decides to wage war, setting fire to the trees and blasting away with a cannon. If I hadn’t already been in tears, the moment when the rains come would have definitely tipped me over the edge.
I loved how the movie communicates the interconnectedness of nature using the “wolfvision” of the Wolfwalkers. In their wolf forms they are able to “see” smells, and hear movements through vibrations in the earth, which allows them to communicate with each other, avoid danger and save their home and themselves.
Wolfwalkers is coming to Apple TV+ and select US theatres from December 11th.
