Ron's Gone Wrong
Year: 2021
Director: Jean Phillipe-Vine & Sarah Smith
Starring: Jack Dylan Grazer & Zach Galifanakis
Runtime: 106 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 21/10/21
Director: Jean Phillipe-Vine & Sarah Smith
Starring: Jack Dylan Grazer & Zach Galifanakis
Runtime: 106 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 21/10/21
If one thing has become apparent in this last year whenever I have watched new kids’ films it’s that I’m very clearly incredibly out of touch with how young people communicate and what they find fun. But then I watch a film like Ron’s Gone Wrong and I find it difficult to determine whether I am actually out of touch, or whether the children portrayed in this film are in any way representative of real people because it all seems so fake and manufactured.
Barney (Jack Dylan Grazer) wants for his birthday is a B.Bot to help him fit in at school and make new friends. The B.Bot is a new robotic buddy designed to help match kids together based on their personal tastes and grow a friendship network, as well as do all kinds of cool things like access their social media accounts, participate in robot battles, and ride around on them like go-karts.
But when Barney’s B.Bot, Ron (Zach Galifanakis), can’t complete its setup, Barney is left with a malfunctioning robot that is just as socially awkward as he is. Barney must teach Ron how to be a good friend, and in the process change his peers’ views on what friendship really is.
Barney (Jack Dylan Grazer) wants for his birthday is a B.Bot to help him fit in at school and make new friends. The B.Bot is a new robotic buddy designed to help match kids together based on their personal tastes and grow a friendship network, as well as do all kinds of cool things like access their social media accounts, participate in robot battles, and ride around on them like go-karts.
But when Barney’s B.Bot, Ron (Zach Galifanakis), can’t complete its setup, Barney is left with a malfunctioning robot that is just as socially awkward as he is. Barney must teach Ron how to be a good friend, and in the process change his peers’ views on what friendship really is.
The story at the centre of Ron’s Gone Wrong is generally quite good. This is mostly because the characters of Barney & Ron work so well together, and the lessons they both learn about friendship are presented in fairly nuanced ways. I love the way that once Ron had learned enough about Barney’s lessons about friendship that he started to call Barney out on his own toxic traits, allowing Barney to reflect on why he probably couldn’t maintain any friendships.
But Barney’s classmates are all pretty terrible people and I simply refuse to believe that kids act this way. I have siblings around the same age as Barney and his peers and the way I have seen them interact with people is nothing like the way it’s portrayed in this film. Every single kid wants to be internet famous and has millions of followers on social media in Ron’s Gone Wrong…I have a feeling that most kids in real life aren’t like that. Ron’s Gone Wrong leans quite heavily into the effects of cyber bullying and peer pressure, but these kids are actually awful people; it’s not even kids misunderstanding when they’re being mean or realising the effect they’re having on someone else’s life…they’re just downright horrible people and aware of that but are then surprised when it comes back to bite them. We’re also supposed to like them all towards the end of the film and I simply couldn’t, the fact that Barney forgives most of them to have them be his new BFF’s just screams to me that Barney values being popular more than being happy, that’s not a good message to be giving children.
There’s also one thing that really concerned me about Ron’s Gone Wrong, and if I have this wrong I would love to be corrected but I have a feeling that there was a paedophilia joke in the film and I am really not ok with that. At one point in the film Ron goes around town handing out pictures of Barney to the townspeople in an attempt to make him new friends, but when Ron gives Barney back a picture of him as a baby there’s white goo all over it. Ron explains that the man he gave it to got very excited before getting the goo on it and giving it back to him. Like that’s really not ok to be in a kid’s film, or any film that handles the situation as a joke. I clearly wasn’t the only person who read that ‘joke’ the way I have because a number of parents let out an audible gasp, I’m genuinely surprised nobody walked out. I just hope I misunderstood what was happening, and not that the team behind this film think that kind of stuff is ok.
But Barney’s classmates are all pretty terrible people and I simply refuse to believe that kids act this way. I have siblings around the same age as Barney and his peers and the way I have seen them interact with people is nothing like the way it’s portrayed in this film. Every single kid wants to be internet famous and has millions of followers on social media in Ron’s Gone Wrong…I have a feeling that most kids in real life aren’t like that. Ron’s Gone Wrong leans quite heavily into the effects of cyber bullying and peer pressure, but these kids are actually awful people; it’s not even kids misunderstanding when they’re being mean or realising the effect they’re having on someone else’s life…they’re just downright horrible people and aware of that but are then surprised when it comes back to bite them. We’re also supposed to like them all towards the end of the film and I simply couldn’t, the fact that Barney forgives most of them to have them be his new BFF’s just screams to me that Barney values being popular more than being happy, that’s not a good message to be giving children.
There’s also one thing that really concerned me about Ron’s Gone Wrong, and if I have this wrong I would love to be corrected but I have a feeling that there was a paedophilia joke in the film and I am really not ok with that. At one point in the film Ron goes around town handing out pictures of Barney to the townspeople in an attempt to make him new friends, but when Ron gives Barney back a picture of him as a baby there’s white goo all over it. Ron explains that the man he gave it to got very excited before getting the goo on it and giving it back to him. Like that’s really not ok to be in a kid’s film, or any film that handles the situation as a joke. I clearly wasn’t the only person who read that ‘joke’ the way I have because a number of parents let out an audible gasp, I’m genuinely surprised nobody walked out. I just hope I misunderstood what was happening, and not that the team behind this film think that kind of stuff is ok.
Ron’s Gone Wrong is a mixed bag in terms of the animation quality. In some areas, such as environment detail and character design the quality is exceedingly good. In fact, there’s one scene where Ron and Barney are in the woods after it’s been raining, and I had a hard time working out whether some areas of the background such as the mud on the floor and trees were real or animated because of how lifelike they appeared. But moving objects have a habit of being a bit stiff, not being as fluid as the likes of other recent animated films.
I’m not sure I’ve made up my mind fully on how I feel about Ron’s Gone Wrong. There’re bits I genuinely love and a lot that I like. But the supporting cast of Barney’s classmates are exceptionally horrible, and this potential paedophile joke rubs me up the wrong way.
On the whole, Ron’s Gone Wrong is likely a film that kids below the age of twelve are going to enjoy, but I am concerned about the kinds of messages it’s sending out to them.
I’m not sure I’ve made up my mind fully on how I feel about Ron’s Gone Wrong. There’re bits I genuinely love and a lot that I like. But the supporting cast of Barney’s classmates are exceptionally horrible, and this potential paedophile joke rubs me up the wrong way.
On the whole, Ron’s Gone Wrong is likely a film that kids below the age of twelve are going to enjoy, but I am concerned about the kinds of messages it’s sending out to them.