Here’s one for Team Jacob, I guess. “Go, boy. Get the corpse! Get the corpse! Good wolf.”
I don’t know how many of you out there dream of being wolves, but here’s a picture for those who do. And in a town curiously dog-free, maybe wolf aspirations aren’t such a bad thing … despite the objections of the town magistrate, law enforcement, citizens, and the entire sheep population. Oh yeah, that. Well, I’m sure if you could just get the wolves to turn vegetarian, docile, and sub-lethal, regular folks might not have such a problem with them.
The town is Kilkenny Roush. The year is 1650. And the citizens haven’t had a whole lot of luck clearing the nearby forest because … wolves! (Have you tried one of them forest Roombas? They’ve done wonders eliminating wildfires in California.) Given the year, nobody considered an environmental impact report, nor wolf habitats, nor worried about PETA. All they had to content with is wolves … and the humans who turn into wolves after dark.
What?!
You, you heard right.
So there’s this “skillful” hunter fellow, Bill Goodfellowe, to be exact (voice of Sean Bean), who has been recruited –on reputation, I guess; I sure never saw any hunting skills in the guy- to rid the wolf population. Bill is a single parent and has a daughter, Robyn (Honor Kneafsey), a ten-year-old falconer. A ten-year-old falconer who doesn’t listen to a single word her father says. My guess? Years ago, Bill laid down the law, “NO FALCONS!” Which is why Robyn has a pet falcon. Insisting she can “help” with the hunt, Robyn decides to venture outside the protected city walls.
In the “I told you so, not that you listened, but I told you so” moment of the film, Robyn ignores the third “GO HOME!” order of the day, ends up shooting her own falcon with a crossbow, and gets captured by the wolves themselves. In Trumpland, this is known as “winning.” That’s ok, because the wolf that taunts the caged Robyn is actually Mebh Óg MacTíre (pronounced “Lisa”), a WolfWalker – a human who goes into a coma and releases a corporeal wolf spirit … which 
means it will probably take a lot longer for Mebh to eat her.
Somewhere around this point, we stop rooting for the people and start rooting for the wolves, which is a nifty change of POV. And then we introduce the bad guy, Oliver Cromwell, an answer to several historical trivia questions. In this film, he’s the answer to Governor Ratcliffe from Pocahontas.
I’ve been spoiled by American animation; this Irish shillelagh is never going to turn me on. But I liked WolfWalkers well enough; the little girl without boundaries trying to save the wolves and her father at the same time is a noble cause and one that will appeal to your young ‘un. There’s also the empowerment angle … even if the little girl should have listened to her increasingly emasculated father, your own little girl might find power in Robyn’s batmanning. The cinematography isn’t going to win any awards in this generation, but there are many, many worse films to attract your children.
This werewolf is outside the city wall
Standing only a mere three foot tall
She’s a preteen human lupine
And if you really want to see her shine
Just give her a basketball
Rated PG, 103 Minutes
Director: Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
Writer: Will Collins
Genre: Our continued human fascination with werewolves
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Animal rights activists
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Hunters
