1 out of 5 stars (one of the worst of the year)
The Angry Birds Movie is what happens when a studio takes an outdated property, finds some half-decent actors, and inserts unnecessary adult humor into a premise devoid of any cinematic potential. The film is loud, overlong, and dull, with voice actors who alternate between trying way too hard and not trying at all. That’s not to say that young kids won’t enjoy it: the film is extremely colorful and the characters are always moving around, but the dialogue is immature and overly childish. Again, I understand this is a movie targeted at young children, but in a post–Inside Out landscape, animated films like this are insulting to children’s intelligence as well as their parents’ tolerance. In short, The Angry Birds Movie is the worst animated film I’ve seen this year, its single star gained out of the 5 honest laughs in its 97-minute runtime.
It concerns Red (Voiced by a wholly unlikable Jason Sudeikis), an angry bird on an island where every other inhabitant is a happy one. While people like you and me might see the glass as half-full, Red doesn’t see any water in the glass at all. His latest angry outburst lands him in anger management class with some other angry birds: Bomb (Voiced by Danny McBride), who literally explodes when he gets angry, and Chuck (voiced by an extremely irritating Josh Gad), who possesses a pathological need for lawbreaking. This class is taught by the eternally perky Matilda (voiced by an energetic Maya Rudolph), the only character I liked in the film. This is Red’s worst nightmare, but for us, it’s only the beginning.
The feathers really hit the fan when green pigs, led by Leonard (Voiced by a boring Bill Hader) arrive unexpectedly. While the rest of the island is taken by these mysterious invaders, Red senses something is amiss and, after some investigation, discovers the pigs are imperialists who will take the island resources and leave it for dead. This causes him, Chuck, and Bomb to set out on a quest for the legendary Mighty Eagle (Voiced by a paycheck-seeking Peter Dinklage) to help save their home.
This film annoyed me. Some critics have praised the animation for its detail on the bird feathers. I don’t think the birds were much to look at, but some of the backgrounds were relatively pretty (in some cases they were more involving than the events transpiring with the characters). However, the pig characters were ugly to me and seemed creepy when they moved around (which they do a great deal). As well, I found the main characters to be unoriginal, unlikable, and somewhat grating. I was never invested in these characters or cared about their adventure. I honestly considered walking out at a couple of points (something I never do). However, I thought it might improve in the end or have a message about the danger of imperialism. Unfortunately, what I got for my hard-earned-time was an anticlimactic 20 minutes of angry birds being flown at a pig castle via convenient slingshot (as in the mobile app, as far as I know).
The Angry Birds Movie is loud, obnoxious, and irritating to no end. Fans of the app may enjoy it, but for everyone else, I would suggest seeing Zootopia again.
Rated PG for Rude Humor and Action
Read my review for Zootopia Here
Read my review for Inside Out Here