The Angry Birds Movie

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

So I never played the game before. I should have done that before I saw it, but the movie actually gave me a pretty good run through on how to play the game as well as tips on how to get far in the game and how to use all the birds in the game, so that's cool. They did a better job at it than the movies Battleship and Doom.

Loved all the voice talent in the movie lead by Jason Sudeikis who plays the Red bird, with a hot temper whose force into anger management were he forms relationships with other angry birds, Chuck, played by Josh Gad, Bomb, played by Danny McBride, and Terrance who was played brilliantly by Sean Penn. They are the only one's who can help Red when he realizes the friendly Pigs that invaded their Island are up to something.

I loved the animation and the design of the characters. It's very funny and entertaining.

I've never played or cared about Angry Birds before, but I still decided to try this movie. And I'm quite glad I did, for it is a lot better than I expected. It is silly and hilarious but it still has a decent plot, moral, and some emotion. The animation is very lively and colorful.

The main character is a grumpy bird called Red whom I'm sure many people would find relatable. Life just doesn't treat him well and so he acts rather angry, leading others to believe he's a terrible bird when all he wants is some peace. The other characters besides Red are likable too and all have their own unique personalities.

Most of the gags in the movie didn't make me laugh out loud, but that's okay because there was still plenty of comedy to enjoy and most of it made me laugh on the inside. There were many adult jokes but most of them weren't blatant enough to be much of a worry if there's a young kid watching. The gross-out humor was distasteful of course but there wasn't as much of it as I thought there'd be; I expected more fart jokes but thankfully there weren't. The puke joke was unappealing but luckily it was only a few seconds; the pee joke is what really bothered me because it was really awkward and lasted way too long.

There are some heart-warming moments and character revelations throughout the movie, particularly near the end, but I shan't be specific to avoid spoilers. The movie mostly focuses on making viewers laugh but there are still other reasons to watch it, such as a nice moral about having faith in yourself and trusting yourself to do the right thing. Anyone who knows Angry Birds could have predicted the plot, and the moral's been done before, but it's still an enjoyable watch.

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.

This is a movie that I was ACTUALLY looking forward to see. I've been a fan of the game from it's inception and I've played it a lot ever since. I would never call myself a die hard fan, but I enjoy the games enough to watch any animations that come out of this product. Saying that, the angry birds toons were wonderfully made, that one Star Wars short they did was beautifully animated, so for this movie, I was at the very least expecting great animation with striking visuals. That is EXACTLY what I got, and that alone would put this movie on a 6 out of 10.

Animation wise this movie is BEAUTIFUL, probably the best animated movie in the sense that the visuals have been the most interesting I've seen so far this year. Surpassing Kung Fu Panda 3 and Zootopia, I find this movie so colourful and pleasant to watch, I could watch this movie on mute and STILL enjoy it to it's fullest

In story it is very weak. Mighty eagle in particular felt very cliché, do they do play around with his cliché character a bit, but not enough to be very funny. Also very predictable storyline, you can pretty much guess what's going to happen by just watching the trailers.

However, what elevates this from a 6 to 7 for me is the character of RED, whom I found surprisingly relatable. Keep in mind, I was just expecting this movie to make me laugh and entertain me a bit, but I found myself really identifying with RED's cynicism and arc. Being a grump because of how people treat him and have treated him in the past but still desiring to hang out like a normal bird with everyone else, even though he's unable to open up to start a relationship with anyone. So I was very pleased with his resolution.

Overall, if you like the game, watch the movie. Worst case scenario, you'll enjoy it but never want to watch it again