As said in my review for 2016's 'Quackerz', love animation (films like 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Pinocchio', 'The Lion King', 'Bambi', 'Sleeping Beauty', 'Snow White', 'Aladdin', 'The Little Mermaid, the 'Toy Story' trilogy, 'Inside Out' 'The Secret of NIMH' 'Watership Down', 'The Prince of Egypt', 'The Iron Giant' and many of Studio Ghibli films are among my favourites), always have, always will.
'SeeFood' is a long way from being down there as among the worst animated films ever but it is a mess of a film, that has some pleasing (if not perfect) visuals and sporadic appeal and amusement but is let down massively by major tonal and target audience issues and a dreadfully executed story that doesn't work on any level. What an unfortunate waste of a great setting.
There are good things with 'SeeFood'. A good deal of the animation is beautiful, full of vivid and bright colours and backgrounds and landscapes that are inventively and vibrantly done and makes one really immersed and warmly invited. The opening is a good example.
The heroes are appealing enough and there are a few amusing moments particularly with the chickens (delightful characters and steal the show).
However, the stiff character designs are far less convincing as are some abruptly ending transitions. The music has an unintentional eerie creepiness that really does not fit, even the images are darker. The voice actors at least fit their characters but there's not much energy or soul here, nobody sounds like they're living their roles and are merely reading them.
Dialogue often sounds awkward and the pace is erratic, mostly it's pretty pedestrian but the abrupt nature of the scene endings makes some of the pace jumpy too.
Where 'SeeFood' really falls down heavily on is the story, the execution of which is a complete disaster and one of the messiest of any animated film personally seen. It never knows what tone it wants to be, having some comic and light-hearted, frothy moments (where things are much more successful and actually has heart) and then switches quickly to a darker tone that constantly jars and done in a way that are unpleasant and disturbing. The abusive father and the sea creatures leave a bad taste in the mouth and feels completely at odds, especially the former.
Objected too to how bullying is treated as humour, for those bullied and emotionally scarred by it that's offensive and the wrong message to give out at how wrong it is and what it does to people. Even though familiar, the basic story on paper was a decent one and if done right could have really resonated emotionally and thrilled. Sadly this was wasted by a continually disconnected structure, a complete lack of logic and coherence, bizarre tonal shifts and being constantly interrupted by thinly sketched character that vary in relevance and increasingly irrelevant situations left incomplete in some cases. The well intended environmental message is also lost amidst the increasing murkiness and feels almost random.
In summation, a few good things (like the animation and the sporadic amusing moment) are not enough to save a disastrously executed story that swaps a light-touch, humour and emotional resonance for a disturbingly dark tone in abrupt shifts, choppy erratic pacing and cohesion-lacking murkiness. 3/10 Bethany Cox
