Welcome back everyone to another brand new throwback review! This time we will be looking at a video-game adaptation, who doesn’t love those right? But seriously most of the time they don’t turn out so well, so when it was announced that Sony would be making a feature about the popular at the time mobile game by Rovio which concerns using a sling shot to launch birds at fortresses ruled by pigs, well I think its safe to say more than a number of eyes were raised. So when the film finally released it was received about as well as one would have expected with the general consensus being that while it was not absolutely terrible, it still wasn’t that great either. So while it was a big hit financially grossing $352 million worldwide on a budget of $75 million it left very little of a pop culture impact, and soon faded away from the memories of the general public. That is until the sequel was announced, and people started to remember that “oh that was a thing”. But for those of you have read my 30 movies I enjoy more than most post from awhile back (if you haven’t I’ll leave a link down below if your curious), you know that I actually enjoyed that movie quite a bit, and now with the sequel now out in theaters (this post was planned to come out earlier but life got in the way) I thought I would take the time to look back, and go into more detail on why I found more enjoyment out of this film than others. So without further ado lets go flying into action!
In Bird Island life is perfect for all of the residents. There are very few problems, there’s everything anyone could ask for, and most importantly everyone is happy! Well almost everyone that is. One of the birds named Red has a bit of an anger issue (actually a bit is an understatement), and is not the most popular guy on the island, living all alone in his house far from the town. After an incident where Red’s anger gets out of control he is sentenced with the highest penalty there is, anger management class! So he reluctantly heads to the classes where he meets his teacher, Matilda, and fellow classmates, Chuck, Bomb, and Terrence. However one day things change when a mysterious ship full of pigs led by their captain, Leonard, docks on the shore (accidentally destroying Red’s house). They seem to come in peace calling themselves explorers, and giving the birds gifts, and other cool inventions. Everyone seems to be enjoying the company of these new visitors, all except Red of course who is more than a little suspicious of the Pigs’s true intentions. So in order to find out the truth Red along with Chuck, and Bomb set out to find the hero of the island, Mighty Eagle, to find out what these pigs are really up to. But can they be able to stop the pigs from enacting their secret plan to capture, and eat all of the eggs, and is it possible for the birds to finally let their anger loose?
We might as well start by discussing the negatives of the film since the more and more I re watched it, it’s flaws became more glaring. First lets talk about the biggest one which is the pacing, specifically in the first two acts. This is where the film drags a lot of the time like it doesn’t really know what to do, and just tries to stretch the film’s already thin premise. To be honest its not until the when the pigs steal the eggs when the movie really starts to get going, and just go all out with the zaniness, and energy, something that was missing those first two thirds. Its in the third act where the film feels the most like the game with all of the chaotic action, and fun visual gags galore and it alone makes the film worth watching. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the rest of the film thanks to a number of good qualities. First being that well it was just really funny most of the time. There were a number of times where I actually found myself laughing out loud at some of the jokes, and a lot of the slapstick gags (Chuck’s super speed being a stand out). I was also surprised at the amount of blatant adult jokes, and “hidden” profanity present in the film because there are quite a lot (Red saying fluck my life, Chuck telling the lady birds to get busy with him tonight, or Mighty Eagle being imagined by Chuck as a male stripper) to the point where I would call this a raunchy comedy for kids because that’s what it indeed feels like at times (which is appropriate given some of the other films the cast has done). Sure not all of the jokes land as there are still a number of butt jokes, lazy pop culture references, and really annoying puns (take a shot every time you hear or see a pig pun) that had me groaning and reminding me why people thought this was a bad idea, but it didn’t annoy me as much other films of its nature like some of the dream works comedies from the mid 2000’s. Also like I said in my 30 movies post I liked how the movie tackles a message that you don’t really see to often, and that is how its okay to let out your emotions like anger, and not keep them stuffed inside especially when something is wrong or somebody wrongs you. Again an important theme that I wish more family films would tackle instead of just saying always be happy no matter what (looking at you Trolls, though I still like that one). Oh and I’ve also been hearing many people mention how the film is an allegory for natives being welcoming to explorers but then ended up being betrayed by them. Whether that was intentional or not it does give the film an interesting undertone, and I could totally see why people would think that. So while the script overall can be a mixed bag at times, and there are serious pacing issues I still found myself mostly entertained by the proceedings and I have to give credit to the filmmakers for doing their best with what seemed like such an obvious cash grab.
When it comes to video-game adaptations there is a case to be made that many of them (if not all of them) would be perfect for animation since the possibilities are endless, and the feeling of the games could be captured better. I’d say this film is fine example of that with some really beautiful visuals on display. First there’s the character designs which update the designs of the birds from the game, so instead of being balls with bird, and pig faces, and features on them, and they are given bodies with hands, and legs to move around more. I think they do a great job of staying faithful to the source material, capturing that cartoony aesthetic that made it so appealing, while also making them work for a feature length movie, and being memorable in their own right with some nice smooth, and detailed textures. Then the movements of those characters walk a fine line of being cartoonishly over the top during the big action setpiece in the third act, and slapstick moments, and more natural, and grounded during the more quieter scenes. That does bring me to the fact that while cartoony its not one of the animated comedies like Hotel Transylvania or Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs that is insanely over the top in terms of its animations which is quite refreshing (although it works well for those films admittedly). The backgrounds are nice, and colorful to look at with a lot of nice details here, and there to admire. There is a nice contrast between the more simplistic, and nature filled locale of Bird Island, and the big industrialized land of Piggy Island which does somewhat reinforce that whole natives vs. explorers metaphor I mentioned before. But probably one of the more underrated aspects of this feature is the soundtrack. Yes there are a number of record spins of popular songs that play but the actual musical score for the film is actually really good, taking some of the music from the games and making it fit in with the setting, and mood of the film very well. There’s also one original song for the film titled “Friends” which is sung by Blake Shelton that is pretty catchy, and a surprisingly really fun rendition of “I Will Survive” by Demi Lovato that plays during the credits.
As mentioned before the cast is chock full of well known faces known for their comedic chops, and they all do a pretty good job with what they’re given here. Jason Sudeikis plays our protagonist, Red, here and he proved to be a good match for the role delivering the character’s delightfully sarcastic wit perfectly while also not sounding too much like a typical celebrity voice which is something animated comedies tend to suffer from. I also thought Red himself was a relatable main character who has a lot of anger issues thanks to being alone, and made fun of for most of his life. He ain’t perfect though as he suffers from a case of unlikable animated protagonist syndrome at times. There are parts where he gets angry for no reason (the opening credits montage show this), and he does act like a jerk to many people. Luckily unlike most other characters of this nature he actually improves as the film goes along, some of anger us not unfounded, and he does come to care about the well being of others. His interactions with the fast talking speed demon, Chuck, and the naive yet (literally) explosive Bomb are a lot of fun with the latter two voiced very well by Josh Gad, and Danny McBride respectively, and they made for an entertaining trio. Weirdly enough the funniest character in the movie is actually Terrence who’s voiced by Sean Penn even though he doesn’t even say one word throughout the entire film (one of funniest moments in the film is when Matilda looks into his past). Equally entertaining is Maya Rudolph as Matilda whom Terrence has feelings for, and is a calm, and relaxed individual whose patience gets tested by Red’s behavior. Game of Thrones alum, Peter Dinklage, voices Mighty Eagle himself and he is pretty entertaining if a little underutilized as a washed up old hero who isn’t really what Red was expecting him to be. As for the pigs well the only one who really gets any attention King Leonard “Mudbeard” voiced by Bill Hader who is far from a stranger when it comes to voice acting. One of the things I like about him is how you could recognize his voice but you can’t really tell it is him if that makes any sense and he is having a lot of fun playing this over the top baddie who just wants to eat the eggs for lunch with his kingdom. As for the rest of the cast there are fun little side characters here and there, as well as some cameos from other birds from the games that fans will recognize. Overall the voice cast is able to imbue their characters with their proven comedic sensibilities in a mostly successful manner.
For a film that easily could have been bird poop, it manages to mostly soar well enough. Overall, The Angry Bird Movie is a flawed but fun ride that is able to make up for some lazy jokes, thin story, and inconsistent pacing with some legitimately funny stuff, a fun cast of characters, strong voice work, great animation, and a good message that is not seem too often in animated movies. In some ways it does remind me of one of those mid-2000’s Shrek wannabe movies, but I would consider it one of the better ones that’s for sure. Again I don’t think its nearly as bad as some make it out to be, and it is one of the better video game adaptations that’s for sure. So with the sequel out hopefully it will be able to improve upon this one’s problems (Spoilers it does, and look forward to that review soon).
Rating: B-
Leave your thoughts down below in the comments, and see you guys later!
Also if you want here’s the link to the 30 movies I enjoy more than most post I did awhile back: https://reviewtime.video.blog/2019/04/22/30-movies-i-enjoy-more-than-most/
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