La ferme en folie

To the lady who wrote the first review, get over it! This is a movie, one with talking animals, and you are worried about the udderly silliest things. So what? Did you want to see the big male organs on the male cows? I think that is why there is an udder on all the cows, to avoid this uncomfortable situation. Or maybe it was just something silly to do, at any rate if you had to have a heart to heart with your kids about male and female animals, I am sorry for them. They need parents who can relax a bit.

The film is OK. My two boys liked it and I did too. It is not a classic, but a good film. Overall a barnyard remake of Lion King with a lot of the same plot elements. Kevin James character is great and there is a lot of good humor for much of the film.

BARNYARD

For severe lack of options currently in theaters, I found myself seeing a movie I thought you wouldn't have been able to pay me to see... BARNYARD. I couldn't have had less interest in seeing this movie, however a friend of mine swore that when they took the kids they were babysitting, they laughed so hard they snorted. So I figured, why not.

I can honestly say the film is enjoyable, and I'll get to the reasons why later on in this write up. But their are some glaringly bad qualities to these movies that need to be mentioned. The animation is simply not up to par for what other studios are offering right now. It all feels non-dimensional and simple. Character designs lack creativity and the execution could have been much better. Also, the voice work does little to improve the material (with the exception of David Koechner as the villainous Coyote). To be honest, people like Courtney Cox have never been worse or less engaging.

I would describe the plot here, however it's easier to say watch THE LION KING. Except here, the film tries to mix the most dramatic elements of THE LION KING with slapstick/crude humor that doesn't mix. THE LION KING's humor had some class to it which allowed the drama to feel real. However, when BARNYARD attempts to be dramatic it just feels awkward because two seconds before you watched a mouse crap pellets onto the head of a pig. Not only are main plots stolen from THE LION KING, but the villains are painfully reminiscent of the Hyenas in that better film.

Nonetheless, BARNYARD has some genuinely funny moments. While other family CGI films seem to excel at balancing wonderful storytelling with intelligent humor and social commentary (Pixar for example), this film simply goes for the laugh at all costs. This takes away virtually all artistic merit for the film. But then again, it's not as if BARNYARD was ever aiming for artistic merit. BARNYARD was gunning for mindless humor that would appeal to kids and adults, and it succeeds to great extents in some sequences. In particular, there is a scene in which the farmer witnesses the other life his animals lead and they hilariously try to convince him it was all a hallucination.

While this works well for kids, I couldn't help but want a more engrossing plot. The plot is too familiar and the animation does nothing to enhance it with a visual flair. Though the film kept me laughing, anytime I wasn't laughing at some stupid joke I found myself anxious for it all to be over. In general, BARNYARD is good for a hearty laugh, but not as a full movie.

... C ...

This film is about a group of party loving animals on a farm. The leader, Otis, have to lead the group to party and to fight the evil coyotes that threaten to kill all the kens on the farm.

Let me start off by pointing out the only single good thing about this film. The background colours are all soft colours, which means that the animation is generally pleasant to look at.

Then the bad things about the movie. First, the cows in the movie are all gender confused. It took me a while to realise that the "cows" are in fact "cows" but oxen. The story is simply non existent. The filmmakers simply get a group of speaking animals to dance. That's all the story there is. The supposedly touching subplot of Ben the dying to make Otis (or is it a she?) realise that he has to grow up is laughable and poorly built up. the character development is poor, and I do not care for any of the characters.

The worst of all, is that the film shows a group of cows stealing a car for joy riding. They keep drinking, and then when they got chased by the police, they speed up and say they cannot stop the car. After all the delinquency, there is no mention whatsoever that these behaviour are in fact wrong. They all got away with it. What kind of message are we sending to the kids? Are we telling them these behaviours are OK and justifiable? Most of the animations have a great plot and some moral teachings. Look at Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Over The Hedge. However, this film does not have any. Barnyard fails to engage the viewers. It is so bad that you have to see it to believe it.

My husband and I have watched this movie with all five of our grand kids - which means we've seen it over 20 times. I am not exaggerating. The grand kids love it, quote it, and ask to see it every time they are at our house. We adults love it too. I do not understand the negative reviews. This is a great story.

Barnyard is another in the entertaining animated films that attempt to please all audiences. There's much good humor in this film and many sight gags as well as the usual shenanigans. The film is well put together technically, but there are some things about the film that just don't hit the spot. I didn't have any sympathy for the lead character Otis. Perhaps it was just the mood I was in, but the characters just didn't come through and I didn't feel much of an emotional response through most of the film. I think it was a little too teen for me. If you want some good teen-ish laughs, this is for you. Otherwise go with Cars or Over the Hedge.