Free Birds (2013) Directed by Jimmy Hayward
No proper story development, no proper character development. Are animated movies just being lazy nowadays? It sure seems so!
Is it fair to say that the CG animated movie genre is past its prime? Most genre movies nowadays seem to be simple rehashes of other ones and come across as quick cash grabs. It's as if the studios aren't trying as hard anymore to come up with anything unique or special anymore. As long as the movie sells and they can make some extra bucks on merchandising, the people up top are happy. It are movies like this that are causing the genre to come to a screeching halt, instead of helping it to move forward and keep pushing the envelop, with new techniques and approaches to the genre. There are just too many genre movies like this nowadays, even coming from some of the bigger and more 'revolutionary' animation studios, which is all sad and disappointing to note. The true creativity, drive, passion and love, that always could be found in these genre movie, seems all to be gone by now.
The fact that this is a mostly formulaic genre flick is only part of its problem. It's a way bigger problem for the movie that it just isn't a very well executed one. It doesn't even take the time for things to get set up and introduced properly. In the first few minutes we are introduced to a farm turkey, that thinks differently and looks different from his fellow turkeys, who are all living there with him, but how or why, we simply never get told. A few minutes later he's living in the White House (yeah, I know, don't ask) and a few minutes later again he gets recruited for a secret mission by some other turkey and together they travel back into time. Everything happens so fast and without a logical explanation. It's annoying really, especially when the movie keeps coming up with its own new convenient rules, right till the very end.
Everything about this movie is just too simple. I'm not even necessarily just talking about its story but also all of its characters and jokes, for instance. Of course there is a love interest and another character who is standing in the way of their love. And of course there is a villain who is just evil for the sake of being evil. And of course the two main characters have a falling out at one point. I know this is something basically all animated movies feature but it usually is something that isn't as distracting or becomes all quite as annoying and predictable as is the case in this movie. It's all because most other movies at least make an effort to be remotely creative or original with anything. This one isn't ever trying hard enough though.
It's also disappointing really how this movie is just barely ever becoming anything funny. The comedy, just like the entire movie, is far too simple, lazy and predictable. Even little kids will have to agree that this isn't a very funny movie, with also no real likable and entertaining enough characters in it. It's all far too forgettable, which is perhaps the best thing about this movie; it luckily won't stay in your memory for long.
Worse than "Planes" in my opinion, for what it's worth.
4/10
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