Starring (the voices of): Kiefer Sutherland, Jim Belushi, Eddie Izzard, Janeane Garofalo, Richard Kind, William Shatner
Cert: U
Released: 26th May 2006

Samson (Sutherland) is the resident lion at the New York Zoo. He lives there with his son, Ryan, and is trying to help him 'find his roar' by regaling his adventures of when he lived in the wild. Although Ryan loves his father dearly he can't help but feel overshadowed by his reputation and is finding it increasingly difficult to follow in such large footsteps whilst being raised in captivity.

After a misunderstanding and a falling out, Ryan decides to run away to 'the wild' so he can be just like his father and is inadvertantly hauled away. Samson decides that he must leave the protective confines of his home and cross uncharted territories to face endless threats in an attempt to find Nemo, er, sorry, Ryan.

Of course he cannot do it alone and is joined by his trusty turtle curling team: Benny the squirrel (Belushi), Bridget the giraffe (Garofalo), Larry the snake (Kind) and Nigel the koala (Izzard).

They trek across New York, follow Ryan across the sea to land at an island on the brink of volcanic destruction. Most of the animals there are being rescued but there are also the dancing wildebeest (Shatner) who have been awaiting the arrival of their god so they may commence their ascension up the food chain to become predators. But to do so, they must eat a lion.

Let's get the first thing out of the way - apparently Disney did NOT copy Dreamworks but the other way round. Apparently The Wild has been three years in the making and when Dreamworks found out the format they rushed out their own version.

Do you know what? I don't care. That's semantics in the grand scheme and The Wild is, and will continue to be, compared to Madagascar. The Wild is a poorly scripted, poorly characterised, poorly conceived film (with or without Madagascar) that is made worse by the idea that they've been taking their time over it. Madagascar is far superior on all fronts except one - the animation.

Where Madagascar went for cartoon characters, The Wild has gone for more 'photo real' animation and it's another flaw to their cause. The 'real' look of the animals stretches the disbelief beyond its tensile strength. There's something about watching real animals being thrown off cars and thumped around that makes me feel uncomfortable. And maybe I'm being picky but I'm okay with caricature penguins driving a boat and lemurs breakdancing but a real lion and wildebeest? Sorry, no.

Regardless of the copied format, it cannot be argued that the plot is another Disney regurgitation - father and son at odds; son gets in trouble; father goes looking to result in the boy gets stronger and the father discovers his own flaws. It's Nemo, it's Lion King, it's Toy Story 2. There isn't an original element in this film. Apart from the squirrel fancying the giraffe and the koala getting a kick out of cross-dressing, of course.

And what is it about Disney and their primal hatred of parents? If the kids aren't directly responsible for their parents' demise then they, at least, have a damn good try at killing them off.

The voice characterisations are dull and lifeless; Sutherland may be the voice of tough-nut Jack Bauer but he isn't the voice for a frivolous lion. For those with in-character voices, they're just not given anything meaty to do hoping that humour will be derived from the bizarre situations, pratfalls, slapstick and, simply, that they are talking animals.

The only saving grace for this film lies with Izzard's image resentful koala and Shatner's power-mad, choreographer, zealot of a wildebeest. Izzard does what he does best: an abstract, incongruous and off-beat delivery wrapped in a pent-up, aggressive, cuddly antipodean marsupial. Shatner is almost unrecognisable - a far cry from his Captain Kirk staccato diction - playing the OTT, evil mad-beest intent on evolving.

In the end, The Wild is instantly forgettable and another indictment on what the future might hold for Pixar under the new Mouse rule. The younger kids may find it entertaining but, then, what do they know? They watch Power Rangers.