Angry Birds

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.

Having never played the app/game, it was going to be interesting to see whether 'The Angry Birds Movie' was going to make something interesting out of it and how it was going to be succeed.

'The Angry Birds Movie' is not perfect, but this reviewer was really surprised at how much she enjoyed it. There are better animated films out there and there were better released this year (i.e. 'Zootropolis' aka 'Zootopia' in some places), but also far worse on both counts. From the two animated films seen recently at the cinema, 'The Angry Birds Movie' is the superior film of the two. The other was 'Ratchet & Clank', which is not as bad as critics made out (personal opinion of course) and could have been much worse considering video game adaptations' dubious track record, but also had too many flaws to be considered a good film.

Getting the flaws out of the way, the story in 'The Angry Birds Movie' is somewhat flimsy and has a tendency to be thin on the ground with a couple of unnecessary parts and parts that don't really go anywhere. It does occasionally feel rushed too, and while the film entertains hugely a vast majority of the time there are a couple of gags that misfire. This is especially true with the quite tasteless, awkwardly placed and too overlong urination gag, that was also really quite out of place.

However, the animation in 'The Angry Birds Movie' is great. The colours are sumptuous and brightly vibrant, the characters are well-modelled and never look stiff or ugly and there are some very colourful and meticulously detailed backgrounds. There are also some very imaginative visuals in the action sequences. The music never makes the mistake of being stylistically jarring or over-bearing, and has a lot of infectious personality and energetic verve.

While not hilarious as such and unashamedly but endearingly silly, the script has some very funny moments, is tonally balanced with very little that's inappropriate or distasteful, is solidly balanced without being disjointed or muddled and there are some clever and witty lines. The action sequences are beautifully animated and thrilling, the message is a great one, gives the film a surprisingly emotional core without being over-sentimental or preachy and the climax is quite the knockout and the highlight of the film.

'The Angry Birds Movie's colourful characters carry the film beautifully, with a protagonist that is easy to relate to and Mighty Eagle despite being a marmite character is great fun. The villains do pose a reasonable threat though are not particularly interesting. The voice acting, including actors who you wouldn't expect to work as well as they did in voice acting, is excellent, with the best contribution coming from Peter Dinklage.

All in all, surprisingly very entertaining and much better than it had a right to see considering what it was based on. 7/10 Bethany Cox

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

This film tells the story of an outcast bird in the bird community, because of his anger problems and because of his thick eyebrows. He saves the day when he recognises that pig visitors may have sinister intentions then they declare.

Yes I enjoyed played Angry Birds before, but when they announced an Angry Birds movie I thought it was rather silly. I thought there would be inadequate plot to fill up the screen time. Hence, I was pleasantly surprised when I watched the trailer. It actually made me want to watch the film! The film has a simple plot, that is basically given away in the trailer. Well, you might just be able to figure it out even not having watched the trailer. Nevertheless, it is a funny film with lots of laughs. I find the urination scene a bit tasteless and far too lengthy, but each to their taste. The ending is quite touching. I enjoyed watching it overall.

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.