It’s always exciting when a brand-new animation studio enters the market! So when the newly-founded Locksmith Animation announced their first film, Ron’s Gone Wrong, I was legitimately excited to check it out! What did I think of it? Read on to find out!
Also, there will be spoilers!
In a world very similar to ours, the tech company, Bubble, has released a new technological gadget on the market. The B-bot is a personal robot, cell phone, Internet browser, social media platform, etc. all rolled into one, and marketed as your “new best friend”.
As it turns out, children and young teens all around the world desperately want one! They use the B-bots to befriend one another, connect virtually with one another, play games with one another, become famous on the Internet, etc.
In the town of Nonsuch, pretty much all the kids own a B-bot except for Barney, voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer. It’s his birthday and he sincerely hopes that his father, voiced by Ed Helms, will buy him a B-bot as a birthday gift. Barney doesn’t really have any friends at school and often feels left out, so having a B-bot would mean the world to him.
His father and grandmother, voiced by Olivia Colman, pick up on the hint and purchase a B-bot (via sketchy means) for him. But the B-bot, Ron, voiced by Zach Galifianakis, seems to be experiencing technical difficulties. Barney has to decide if he wants to get Ron fixed or keep him the faulty way he is.
Wow, just wow, I haven’t loved an animated film like this in FOREVER, especially one that was from a new studio or one that wasn’t from a major studio! It reminded me a lot of how I felt after watching The LEGO Movie for the first time!
I absolutely loved the story they were telling and the parallels they made highlighting the dangers of technology, social media, screen addiction, “15 mins of fame”, etc. I thought the voice acting was great by all especially by Zach Galifianakis and Jack Dylan Grazer! I even thought Jack gave a better vocal performance in this film than he did in Luca!
I loved seeing at least three Hijabis in this film! As a Muslim, it’s really cool to see Muslim characters, even if only in the background! I also loved how they made Barney’s dad someone who works from home, reminding us all of how COVID has changed our lives almost permanently.
My only real gripes with the movie are a few plot choices. For example, I felt the film should have ended at the hospital scene. I felt Barney should have had a bonding moment with his father and realize the true connections he has in his life, i.e. his family and the few friends he made along the way. Instead, the film’s climax involves rescuing Ron from Bubble and Ron’s code eventually being shared with the rest of the world.
I also thought that the Bubble COO/CEO, voiced by Rob Delaney, would be more villainous. There’s a scene where he doesn’t let on that he knows Barney and Ron have run away into the forest. I thought he was keeping this information private so that he can go to the forest to cause them harm personally. Instead, he doesn’t do anything.
Maybe he just meant for Barney and Ron to die in the forest? If that’s the case, then yeah, that would be villainous, but it seems more of a wasted opportunity than anything else. He doesn’t even get any comeuppance at the end of the film other than being demoted and his secret actions kept hidden from the world. But I guess that’s how companies operate in the real world.
My last gripe isn’t with the movie itself, but with the MPAA. I’m a staunch supporter and defender of the MPAA and even when most people are perplexed by their ratings, I tend to always defend them and see where they’re coming from. But I have no idea why the heck this film is rated PG, lol! Is it because of a scene where a B-bot monstrosity “poops” out a human? I dunno, but this is the most G-rated film quality film I’ve seen in a long time!
Summing up, I really had a blast with this film and all my criticisms were minor, at most. I know there is another animated film out called The Mitchells vs. the Machines which tackles similar themes and has pretty much overshadowed this film. I haven’t seen that film yet and maybe it is indeed a better film, but I really hope that Ron’s Gone Wrong doesn’t get forgotten or ignored!
Count me in as a fan of Locksmith Animation and I can’t wait to see what next they have in store for us!
The Animation Commendation 
I just realized one reason my family has handled Covid so well is that Dad has been working from home for over a decade before it even began. We already had a system to make it work.
Oh, that’s so awesome!
Just saw it. Really enjoyed it.
It’s so good!! My fave film of 2021 so far!