“This wild land must be civilized”, exclaimed Oliver Cromwell (Simon McBurney) the Lord Protector, who led the “holy mission” of the British Empire to “advance” the lives of Irish people. The sentence above often came from the mouths of the colonizers and the SJW in the capital who felt that all villagers were stupid. A form of human arrogance, who consider themselves better and nobler. At Wolfwalkers, humans flock to kill wolves, assuming that all wild animals are dangerous, so they must be destroyed. Even so, humans are real wild animals. Best Movie Site
Will Collins’ manuscript (Song of the Sea) takes several historical elements, in particular about the eradication of wolves in Ireland during Cromwell’s leadership, then injects fantasy elements into it. The protagonist is named Robyn Goodfellowe (Honor Kneafsey), daughter of Bill Goodfellowe (Sean Bean), who is tasked with hunting wolves. Robyn was initially obsessed with following in his father’s footsteps, until he met a wolfwalker in the middle of the forest, who had been considered a legend.
Wolfwalker’s name is Mebh Óg MacTíre (Eva Whittaker). Not only the leader of the pack, Mebh is also capable of turning into a wolf while sleeping, as well as healing wounds. The two grew closer, and for Robyn, Mebh’s friendship made him learn to see things from a different perspective. He began to realize that contrary to what he had thought, wolves were not a threat. In fact, the real threat is humans, who destroy the environment and take the homes of other living beings (both animals and fellow humans).
Wolfwalkers does talk about perspective. Not only in terms of environmentalism, but also related to the father-son relationship. Robyn wanted freedom, but his father forbade him, told him to stay at home, then work in the kitchen as Cromwell ordered. “It’s for your own good”. That sentence often came out of his father’s mouth. But later, when Mebh’s anger ignites and intends to attack humans, Robyn says the same sentence. Movie Review
Once in the “victim” position, Robyn knows, how wrong it is to take the “goodness of others” on behalf of yourself. But after becoming a “doer”, he realized that the mistake was based on caring rather than personal ego. It’s just that the way to express that caring isn’t right. From here, Wolfwalkers invites the audience to be wiser in dealing with problems.
Produced by Cartoon Saloon which has produced titles such as The Secret of Kells (2009), Song of the Sea (2014), and The Breadwinner (2017), Wolfwalkers can be sure to have stunning visuals. Moreover, the co-founder who previously worked on the first two Cartoon Saloon films, Tomm Moore, is back in the directing chair, this time with Ross Stewart.
In keeping with the theme of the story, the visuals are like a living version (and with more modern strokes) of paintings in wood carvings from the past. The nuance is amplified through the folk music line made by Bruno Coulais and the music group Kíla. Even if each of his stories touches the realm of fantasy, the two directors always manage to create a series of scenes full of magic. There are two of my favorite sequences. First, the montage of Robyn and Mebh running with wolves through the forest, while a new version of Aurora’s Running with the Wolves is played. Second, the moment near the end when all the characters come together in a circle. So beautiful that it touches the taste, it also covers up the fact that the whole story is formulaic. Top Movie