Next Gen is the latest animated original film streaming on Netflix. A co-production from Canadian and Chinese (Baozou) studios, that bring us a familiar yet charming story about a young girl named Mai (Charlyne Yi) who accidentally befriends a robot named 7723 (John Krasinski). “77” has been developed in secret by a conglomerate named Cue who produce robots that aid humanity in every aspect. Their CEO, Justin Pin (Jason Sudeikis) has this Steve Jobs aura to him yet you are very quick to notice some sinister motives. Incredibly charismatic and with a legion of fans, Justin Pin believes he is ushering society into a new age where man and robot coexist for a better tomorrow. Or at least that’s what he wants you to think…
In a society that has been completely entrenched by these “Q-Bots”, everyone seems to be on the edge of their seats when a newer version of bots is released. Think of the hysteria generated when a new iPhone is launched, except that these Q-Bots perform all your mundane chores and entertain the hell out of you. Everyone seems to be obsessed with these commercial robots except for our protagonist Mai, who can’t bear the sight of these droids and clearly expresses her disdain for this drone society. Mai laments a world where human interaction has devolved into people talking to their Q-Bots as they ignore all that’s around them. Sound familiar at all?
From this point on in the film the narrative quickly flows from girl meets robot, girl befriends robot, girl uses robot for her own spiteful use. As Mai portrays a rebellious attitude and forces 77 to do her petty bidding, its difficult to relate to her character. Her angst relegates her humanity and it is 77 that shows any sign of compassion. As 77 begins to question why they are just beating up school-yard bullies and destroying everything in sight, it wonders why they just can’t play baseball. Mai quickly dismisses these motives and believes she must use 77 and his arsenal of capabilities to bring her own sense of justice to the world.
After this slog portion of the film, it essentially kicks to a higher gear as Justin Pin and his trusty transformer from hell Ares try to hunt down 77 and bring it back to the lab. The following action scenes between 77 and Ares are some of the most satisfying in the film. A Dragon Ball Z brawl is the only way to describe it. Not to mention that Justin Pin’s true form is revealed and his plan to use his army of Q-Bots to annihilate humanity. They literally start blowing up like Samsung phones and kill people. Hope you bought the warranty…
On a technical aspect, the animation is beautiful and stylistically very vivid. Clearly this film can stand up against anything Sony or Pixar pump out, and that’s where most of the complements originate. The story line is a familiar one as it grabs influences from The Iron Giant and Disney’s Big Hero 6. Although slightly more comedic and with a heavy dose of 80’s pop culture nostalgia, Next Gen clearly stands out as a break through for an animated film produced for a streaming service and its target audience will adore it. With a great cast and fun story, Next Gen will surely have the kids glued to the screen, as if they weren’t already…
3 out of 5
