'Next Gen' Is Worth a Watch

Next Gen has gone under everyone’s radar because it was released through Netflix without much buzz and merchandising surrounding it.  This Chinese-Canadian-American production is not necessarily an overlooked animated masterpiece of some kind, but I feel it’s sufficiently fresh and deserves to become more popular than it currently is.  The fact that John Krasinski is voicing a lovable Baymax analogue in it should be reason enough.  In addition, for what’s essentially a direct-to-video animated movie, it’s more sophisticated and non-derivative than expected.

It’s set in a futuristic city called Grainland, wherein robots are a common and integral part of society, and revolves around a lonely teenage girl named Mai Su (Charlyne Yi).  Mai used to be cheerful child, but when her father left the family, she grew bitter and miserable.  On top of this, her mother, Molly Su (Constance Wu), has been negligent and unmindful of Mai’s feelings because she’s too busy obsessing over the latest Q-bots – something she started turning to as a means of coping with the separation.   Due to this, Mai has learned to detest robots.

One day, while accompanying her mother in the launch event of the latest Q-bot model – the “Gen 6” – Mai bumps into “Project 7723” (John Krasinski), an experimental, heavily-armed combat robot which possesses a highly advanced AI personality.  7723 takes a liking to Mai, and follows her home.  At first she rejects him, but eventually, they become friends.  Soon, the two “hang out; become best buds; take on the world; share a deep, moving journey of discovery together” as they terrorize bullies, cause mischief, and go up against an evil tech CEO (Jason Sudeikis) and stop his secret plot for world domination.

Next Gen reminds me a lot of Big Hero 6 because 7723 is clearly channeling Baymax’s adorableness and naive tendency to take what’s said to him literally.  However, it’s not fair to say that Next Gen is a Big Hero 6 knockoff.  It definitely has a lot original things going for it.

The script, albeit flawed in parts, is generally well-written, in my opinion.  First, though it contains elements that come off as by-the-numbers, the narrative is amply subversive.  Second, it has a message to say, and it says it with thoughtfulness.  The allegorizing is a bit on the nose – especially with regards to the Q-bots as a metaphor for smartphones – but utterly effective.  And third, there are many instances where the dialogue notably displays wittiness and self-awareness.  It even dares to mildly lampoon the tropes that typically arise from the type of movie that it is.

Moreover, a lot of the jokes hit.  One of the running gags I had fun with involves Mai’s dog, Momo (voiced by Michael Peña).  His speech can be understood by the audience via 7723’s ability to translate it, but to Mai, what he’s saying is just meaningless barking.  It’s somewhat of a cliché, but the execution is hilarious nonetheless.

Lastly, it’s very well-animated, and has a decent showcase of action-packed spectacles.  It’s visually striking enough to look good on the big screen, if it had been given a wide release.

To sum it up, Next Gen is a charming animated sci-fi action-adventure film that has a couple of things to offer for audiences of all ages to enjoy as well as think about.