Variety reports on “The Wild Life” (“Robinson Crusoe 3D”)

For nearly three centuries, audiences have marveled at the “strange surprizing adventures” of Robinson Crusoe, “who lived eight and twenty years, all alone in an un-inhabited island on the coast of America.” Well, not entirely alone. Crusoe shared his oasis with birds and beasts aplenty, and thanks to the magic of computer animation, the critters finally get a chance to tell their side of the story in “The Wild Life,” which plays like a watered-down version of Aardman’s “The Pirates! Band of Misfits.” Already released in Germany and rolling out across Europe in advance of Lionsgate’s Sept. 9 Stateside release, this tame, kid-friendly marooned cartoon should do well for nWave, the stereo-savvy Belgian animation studio behind “A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures” and “Thunder and the House of Magic,” whose dynamic use of 3D somewhat compensates for otherwise flat storytelling.