Angry Birds: Le film

Actually it wasn't as bad as my review's title suggests. My biggest problem is that birds are not well-represented: they're lazy, gullible, or angry. And they're not even real birds, they're fantasy video-game birds. So if you're looking for an entertainment experience closer to avian reality, see, for example, Swift, or possibly Rio (it strikes me that birds are under-represented in anthropomorphic animation and puppetry). But what did I expect from a movie that tries to make a story out of a video-game app? Positive notes: my kids liked it better than I did, and my son, in particular who knows a lot about authentic birds, laughed hilariously at the slap-stick bird-launching from the slingshot at the end. And the idea that a society should listen to people that are stigmatized for emotional/cognitive difference (e.g. "too angry") is an important one.

Following along in similar footsteps as The Lego Movie, The Angry Birds Movie manages to create a fun and thrilling feature length story out of something that didn't have any reason being a film in the first place. While it doesn't have an overly intelligent script with a great moral story, it's beautifully animated, full of action, and some timely humor for all ages.

As with every animated film these days, bringing in world class voice talent is vitally important. People like Jason Sudeikis, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage add some credibility to the film, but unsurprisingly, they are what sold the film to me with its comedic charm. I think that's what this film is at its core, charming. It won't stick with you with grand themes like Zootopia, or catchy songs like Frozen, but it certainly made me laugh, and that's all I was hoping for.

With all of the well-timed adult humor, there was a good amount of unnecessary "potty" humor that felt more like the filmmakers were reaching for laughs. It's that type of desperate humor that overtakes the ridiculous joy out of seeing the birds angrily soar through the air from a slingshot toward pigs. And yes, to a certain extent you have to suspend your disbelief as to why birds simply can't fly in this film, but hey that's canon in the game.

The central story of Red, voiced by Sudeikis, and his overcoming of his anger was very predictable and doesn't offer anything new with storytelling. In fact, his arc is overtly similar to that of Shrek in the 2001 film. But I did enjoy seeing the dynamic of Red, Chuck, and Bomb as they attempt to uncover what it is the pigs are up to. The script tends to veer off at times in the middle act, as the trio travels to find the 'Mighty Eagle', voiced by Dinklage, but it picks up for a pleasantly heartwarming final act.

+Surprisingly charming

+Voice talent

+Great animated action

-Silly humor reaches for laughs

-Unfocused middle act

7.3/10

I absolutely loved this family friendly cartoon because it made me laugh out loud! The animation in this movie is exquisite. It is so detailed that you can clearly see all the feathers on the birds and tiny waves of the ocean. When they show scenes of the town you can see the patch work on the houses and the real looking scenery. Each character is unique because the creative animation matches their personalities.

This movie is about, Red (Jason Sudeikis), a red bird who never fit in and has anger issues. One day, he has to go to an anger management class and meets the birds Bomb, Matilda, Chuck and Terence, and they all become friends.

Then, pigs come to the island on an unexpected visit. They have parties with the birds and they give the birds weird gifts like trampolines and motorcycles and generally cause havoc in the town. A horrible turn of events happens and Red and all of the other birds need to save the day.

My favorite scene is when Red attends anger management class. Matilda, the instructor talks with all the birds about their issues. They participate in many funny exercises such as poetry writing and yoga. This is a funny scene. Red has the wrong attitude and is definitely negative and Matilda the instructor demonstrates some anger issues too.

My favorite character is Terence (Sean Penn), a giant red and black bird who doesn't really talk as much as he grunts. His facial expressions are particularly funny. Terence gets a lot of laughs from the audience and appears to be a crowd favorite.

The Angry Birds Movie is definitely a comedy. Almost every scene, even the sad ones, have funny lines. There is some humor that would make sense to older kids and adults but not little kids. There are some parts that some adults might not feel comfortable with some of the content. For example, when the pigs slap their butts and joke about reproducing.

I rate this movie 5 out of 5 stars because of the humor and recommend it for ages 4 to 18. It is a fun and silly animated movie about angry birds. Who doesn't love angry birds? If you like the game Angry Birds or just want to have a good laugh, then The Angry Birds Movie is the movie for you. It opens in theaters nationwide May 20, 2016 so, go check it out.

Reviewed by Mia A., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic.

Agreeability gets you so far in life, but when the chips are down, it helps to lose your temper sometimes. That's a pretty unexpected moral takeaway for a kids' movie, and it's just one surprise of many in "The Angry Birds Movie," a fast, fizzy and frenetically entertaining extension of the manic gaming franchise that, at its zenith, had children of all ages glued to their smartphone screens. Establishing a basic psychological motivation for the fiery disposition shared by the feathered folk of Bird Island, this irreverent origin story takes an appropriately loose, elastic approach to its larger narrative, with frequent detours to fill in daffier details of its mad, mad, mad, mad story world.

I think that because my expectations were so low going in, I ended up really enjoying this movie. The promotional footage and images with the bright colors and goofy character designs made me think that this movie was being targeted for really little kids, but DON'T BE FOOLED. This is definitely aimed for the 10 and older demographic, as evidenced by all the pee jokes and innuendos. That being said, I was delightfully surprised by the clever humor, beautiful animation, and insanely fun climax. I must say, though, that this movie's greatest achievement is having one of the best voice casts I've ever seen. Jason Sudeikis is a strong center to the film, and his deadpan delivery makes me upset that he is no longer attached to that Fletch reboot. Bill Hader creates a Gregory Peck, George C. Scott-like persona as the villainous Leonard. Peter Dinklage almost steals the show as the a flawed icon of the birds. There's also some great work being done by the likes of Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, Keegan Michael-Key, and, of all people, Sean Penn, and it's fun to hear some great TV actors like Tony Hale, Danielle Brooks, Ike Barinholtz and Tituss Burgess in smaller roles. The highlights, though, are Josh Gad and Danny McBride, who help create two of the most memorable sidekicks in modern film animation. While watching this movie, I kept comparing it to Zootopia. While Zootopia had a much more original premise and all-around creativity, Angry Birds was stronger in terms of humor and all-around enjoyment, which I think comes from the simplicity of the story and characters.