Oct 22, 2021

"Ron was Wrong" Review Roundup: Disney's sci-fi comedy is okay

Ron's Gone Wrong has taken a roundabout path to the big screen. It is the maiden release from the U.K.'s Locksmith Animation, whose first two production partnerships with Hollywood studios collapsed. The film survived the turmoil and is being released today by Disney's 20th Century Studios, following pandemic-related delays.

Things are now looking up: Ron's Gone Wrong has opened to mostly warm reviews. The cg family comedy is set in a near-future world where children are accompanied by robotic buddies. Misfit Barney (Jack Dylan Grazer) is the last to get one of these B-bots, but his robot Ron (Zach Galifianakis) turns out to be defective. Confusion and chaos ensue.

The film is directed by Jean-Philippe Vine (story artist, Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur; director, Shaun the Sheep tv series) and Locksmith co-founder Sarah Smith, with Octavio E. Rodriguez (story artist, Coco, Incredibles 2, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) co-directing. The script is by Smith and Peter Baynham. Lara Breay and studio co-founder Julie Lockhart produce, and Smith, Baynham, and Elisabeth Murdoch executive-produce. The animation is by DNEG, with which Locksmith has a production partnership.

At the time of writing, Ron's Gone Wrong holds an 80% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Here's what the critics are saying:

Aparita Bhandari of The Globe and Mail finds the film both fun and timely:

Awarding the film three stars out of four, Pat Padua of The Washington Post notes his surprise at the film's intense critique of tech:

Angie Han agreed, in her review for The Hollywood Reporter, that the film's satire resonates:

The Associated Press's Mark Kennedy is less impressed, arguing that the film is both derivative and muddled in its message:

Michael Ordoña is also unenthused in Los Angeles Times, finding problems in the central relationship: