4K Digital Review: Ron's Gone Wrong

 

Easily the most underrated film of the year, Ron's Gone Wrong is heartfelt, charming and delivers an important message of what is friendship in today's world of social media. Today, the word friend and friendship have entirely different meanings and many times we all have confused the two especially in this day and age of social media. In terms of social media, a "friend" can be someone who likes or shares your posts. You can add them as a friend, but is this "friendship"? Can a real friendship exist simply because of similar interests and opinions in a social media setting or does there have to be something organic? Ron's Gone Wrong looks at these questions.

The Bubble Bot is "your best friend out of the box" and created by tech giant Bubble. The Bubble Bot or B*Bot scans your social media profiles and uses that information to find other's with similar likes and interests. It's an instant hit and every kid has one except for Barney (Jack Dylan Grazer) who not only doesn't have a B*Bot but he also doesn't have any friends in real life either. His father (Ed Helms) gets him a B*Bot but it's dented. Barney is still beyond happy with his B*Bot but quickly discovers that his B*Bot (Zach Galifianakis) that he names Ron is malfunctioning. 

The film makes us look at a world that is supposedly getting closer connected than ever before because of technology but in reality is becoming more and more distant. Barney and Ron are more connected than one might think.  Both are broken in different ways but as they both go through various experiences they learn about one another together. A real friendship is formed and brought together in a thoughtful and meaningful way.

Video

Disney brings a stunning 4K presentation home. Take a look at the fine details of the human faces and hair, the plastic robot shells, the environments such as the woods and the school. Colors are deep and vibrant. Even the white on Ron is luminous and look at the light reflections off of him. The colors of the school are rich and bold and the various B*Bots are all brightly colorful. Just an outstanding video presentation from Disney.  

Audio

The 5.1 audio mix is superb on this digital release. The dialogue is clear and well positioned front and center, the soundtrack and sound effects are crystal clear and well defined creating a sense of full immersion. 

Extras

• Designing the World of "Ron's Gone Wrong"
• A Boy and His B*Bot: When Jack Met Zach – Zach Galifianakis and Jack Dylan Grazer, the voices behind Ron and Barney, sit down to chat about a fun assortment of topics. From social media to skateboarding, the two actors from two very different generations tell us all about when Jack met Zach.
• Making Ron Right – Join cast and crew behind the scenes as they reveal the skill, dedication and friendship it took to bring this film to life. From writing the script to the voice-over booth, Locksmith’s artisans detail how they made Ron right.
• “Sunshine” Music Video – Song from the motion picture Ron’s Gone Wrong, performed by Liam Payne.
• Theatrical Trailer

Summary

A hugely underrated movie full of heart and humor with top tier video, fantastic audio and some fun extras. Highly recommended! 

“RON’S GONE WRONG” TRAILER AND CAST ANNOUNCEMENT

 

BURBANK, Calif. (June 8, 2021) – 20th Century Studios’ “Ron’s Gone Wrong,” the first theatrical release from the U.K.-based CG animation studio Locksmith Animation, will open in theaters worldwide October 22, 2021. The animated comedy adventure, which stars Zach Galifianakis, Jack Dylan Grazer, Olivia Colman, Ed Helms and Justice Smith, is a touching and hilarious look at the budding friendship between a middle-school boy and his faulty robot.

 

In honor of Best Friend’s Day, the first trailer for “Ron’s Gone Wrong” is now available.

 

20th Century Studios and Locksmith Animation’s “Ron’s Gone Wrong” is the story of Barney, a socially awkward middle-schooler and Ron, his new walking, talking, digitally-connected device, which is supposed to be his “Best Friend Out of the Box.” Ron’s hilarious malfunctions, set against the backdrop of the social media age, launch them into an action-packed journey in which boy and robot come to terms with the wonderful messiness of true friendship. “Ron’s Gone Wrong” features the voices of Zach Galifianakis (“A Wrinkle in Time”), Jack Dylan Grazer (“Shazam!”), Olivia Colman (“The Crown”), Ed Helms (“The Office”), Justice Smith (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”), Rob Delaney (“Deadpool 2“),  Kylie Cantrall (“Gabby Duran and the Unsittables”), Ricardo Hurtado (“The Goldbergs”), Marcus Scribner (“Black-ish”), Thomas Barbusca (“Chad”).

 

The film is directed by Pixar veteran Jean-Philippe Vine (story artist on “Cars 3” and “The Good Dinosaur”) and Locksmith co-founder Sarah Smith (“Arthur Christmas”)  with Octavio Rodriguez (story artist on “Coco” and “The Incredibles 2”) co-directing. The script is written by Peter Baynham (“Arthur Christmas,” “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm”) & Smith. Julie Lockhart (“Shaun the Sheep Movie,” “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”), also a co-founder of Locksmith, and Lara Breay produce, with Locksmith chairman Elisabeth Murdoch, Smith and Baynham serving as executive producers.

 

About Locksmith Animation:

Locksmith Animation, a premier producer of CG animated movies for global audiences based in London, will see its debut film “Ron’s Gone Wrong” released by the Walt Disney Company on October 22, 2021. LSA is producing the holiday feature film “That Christmas,” based on writer/director Richard Curtis’ (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Love Actually”) series of Christmas children’s books and is in development on a musical/comedy film at Warner Bros. Pictures. www.locksmithanimation.com