Khumba

Was very pleasantly surprised by Triggerfish Animation Studio's debut feature 'Zambezia'. It wasn't a great film, inexperience did show and it was rough around the edges. With that being said, it was colourful and entertaining, and also liked that it was made with effort and good intentions and that it had a heart of gold and tried to attract a wider audience.

Actually do feel similarly about Triggerfish's second film 'Khumba', except while 'Zambezia' was decent to pretty good, some elements like the music and voice cast very good, 'Khumba' ranged from average to decent while also having good elements. 'Zambezia' was also the better film to me because of having more consistent pacing and better characters and story. Very little in 'Khumba' is awful, it does have some very good elements even, it's just unexceptional. It is better than 'Zambezia' in the sense that it doesn't try too hard and does less rather than being too busy.

This, with that being said, also presented a problem. As well as being a more derivative plot, being strongly indebted to 'Madagascar' and especially 'The Lion King' as said before and not doing enough to give its own identity, the pacing isn't as smooth here with a middle act that drags rather. And while it was a good thing in a way to leave things uncomplicated 'Khumba' actually makes the mistake of making things too simple. The script is weaker, the humour has its fun amusing moments but lacks the wit and quirkiness of that of 'Zambezia' and too much of the dialogue is trite.

Lack of refinement and low budget still shows in some of the animation, if not quite as much inexperience, a lot of the character designs looking rather stiff still as well as blocky. Not all the characters, generally far more stereotypical, are successfully done (likewise with some of the voice acting), the worst of the stereotypes are overdone and very hammy. The biggest offenders being the hammiest, overly-camp ostrich in animation in Richard E. Grant's Bradley and wannabe-sassy but actually annoyingly abrasive in Loretta Devine's Mama V.

However, the character designs apart, the animation in 'Khumba' is not bad at all. Again, it's surprisingly good. The scenery is beautifully realised and the colours capture the excitement and colour of the safari world to dazzling effect. Most of the voice acting is fine. Liam Neeson's subtly menacing Phango, the always entertaining Steve Buscemi's Skalk (the film's funniest character), stoic Laurence Fishburne's Seko and affecting (but underused) Anika Noni Rose's Lungisa are the standouts. Phango and Skalk are 'Khumba's' strongest characters in a film where there are perhaps too many (this wasn't as much an issue in 'Zambezia'), though the protagonist is likable enough and isn't made too perfect.

'Khumba', like 'Zambezia' was clearly made with good intentions, with some poignantly delivered values and messaging that makes its point but doesn't patronise. It clearly knows what it wants to be and who to aim at, and is not too juvenile or sugary sweet for adults and also not too dark or overly sophisticated for children. Again, 'Khumba's' to appeal to its target audience, to all ages, to all the family and to a wider audience is most admirable, though 'Zambezia' did it better due to a stronger story.

Best of all is the music score. Beautiful, evocative in its Isicathamiya-influence, atmospheric and energetic, it's simply wonderful and the only uniformly and consistently exceptional asset of 'Khumba'.

Overall, colourful and watchable enough, but also a little bland and doesn't quite make it. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I just finished watching Khumba and i found it very interesting, enjoyful and funny to watch. This is by no means only a child movie, even adults will enjoy them. I liked it :) To begin with? The animation is wonderful(at one moment i thought, is this animation), the story is moving, the characters are well written and lovable. Even the "side villain dog" is lovable and funny in a way. You may find out the story a little stereotypical but the journey it will take you through is enjoyable and you are not bored at all. OK the Ostrich is sometimes a bit over. Thats all. There are other characters like tiger, buffalo, rabbit, eagle, Gazelles, hedgehogs apart from zebras that you will surely enjoy.

I even enjoyed it more than "Frozen" which is creating a hype nowadays. Just go ahead don't listen to negative criticism and give it a watch.

This is my first review ever here and English not my first language so please ignore any errors.

I give it 7.5 out of 10.

Review: It's not exactly the Lion King, but it's a fun movie with laughs along the way. The storyline was average for a kiddie movie and the whole half striped zebra thing was original but not that great. The thing that saved the movie was the different characters, who were quite funny and definitely great for the kids. The director tried to mix up the humour with adult and kiddie jokes but the animation wasn't that great. It won't go down as a classic but the journey of Khumba does have a hidden moral to the story which is sweat and enjoyable for the whole family. Average!

Round-Up: Some of the voices throughout the movie are very recognisable and they were a great choice for some of the animals. From Liam Neeson, Laurence Fishbourne and Steve Buscemi, they were a great addition to the cast, but it movie lacked proper humour like the Lego Movie or The Incredibles. I appreciate the attention to detail of some of the scenes, but the animals looked very basic, along with some of the backdrops but that's just me being picky. Anyway, it's great fun if your watching it with the family, but for an adult, the jokes weren't that great. 

Budget: $20million Worldwide Gross: $11.6million

I recommend this movie to people who are into there animated movies about a half striped zebra looking for magic water so he can get stripes to cover the rest of his body. 4/10

Khumba is a young zebra born to a watering hole enclosed by a thorn bush fence in the south African desert. His back half has no stripes and his strange appearance is blamed for the drought. His mother tells him about the magic water hole where zebras first received their stripes. It's tale intended to show the equality of all but Khumba sees it as a way to complete his stripes.

The animation is Ice Age level. The voice work has some big names but lacks the pop. The story has a good message but it does meander. The characters have potential but they don't get maximized. There is some humor but it isn't big enough. There is life in the setting but the animation isn't epic enough. It's always good to see animation from other cultures although this one is following the Hollywood model. It's a good effort if not any great works.

Perhaps not 10, but yet more than 7. Somebody else here wanted to rate it 10, but gave it a 7 because at the beginning of the movie the word "ass" was used in front of his younger children. My god, really? Yes, it not nice when you would have a movie with people cursing from the beginning to the end. No for children. But this? Really?

If my children, when they were wrong, heard such a word, I explained it to them. Letting them have their own conclusions, finally. But, by the way, ass is a part of the body. They should learn where that belongs, isn't it?

When there is shooting and killing, or raping, or abusing people, physically or mentally, wouldn't that be MORE a movie to disapprove for children to watch?