Jungle
The Angry Birds Movie

Angry Birds first launched in late 2009 and quickly took mobile gaming by storm and created a massive franchise based around these cute but angry birds. Six years and well over 10 games later and the birds are taking their anger to the big screens with The Angry Birds Movie. Unfortunately, their moment in the spotlight has long since passed, and audiences are left with little more than flat jokes and bad puns.

 

Flightless bird Red (Jason Sudeikis) has anger issues and a habit of yelling at people for the smallest of reasons. As a result, he’s secluded himself on the outskirts of Bird Island away from the rest of the town. His fits of rage eventually catch up to him, however, as one particular incident at a kid’s birthday party leads to him being ordered to take anger management classes. While there he meets Chuck (Josh Gad), a yellow bird who has a habit of going way too fast in everything he does, Bomb (Danny McBride), a round black bird who actually explodes whenever he becomes surprised, and Terence (Sean Penn), a terrifyingly giant red bird with a permanent scowl. Their anger management sessions are quickly interrupted however, when a mysterious ship carrying a bunch of pigs arrives on their island claiming to be friendly. While all the birds take them at their word, Red is more distrusting and curious to learn about their true intentions.

 

The Angry Birds Movie falls into this weird position where it’s too mature for kids but also too childish for adults. I can’t imagine parents will enjoy seeing their kids imitate the film using such phrases as “pluck my life.” In addition, nobody, kid or adult, should be subjected to a 60-second scene of an eagle pissing into a lake. The entire film is this weird balance of crude humor, unfunny puns, and plenty of angry birds.

 

I can’t help but also think that The Angry Birds Movie is sending the wrong message. One would think that the main lesson here would be to learn how to control your anger, but instead the film tries to make you think anger is just something to laugh about. It’s kind of disturbing to see Red explode into a tirade and then expect to laugh. The story is simply bizarre. Then again, this is a film based entirely around a mobile game that has you slingshotting birds at pigs. There wasn’t much of a story to begin with.

 

The Angry Birds Movie completely misses its mark. It’s a film that’s years late as its popularity has no doubt dwindled since it was first released on the app store. While it boasts a robust cast and decent visuals, the story and humor lack any substance whatsoever. It’s not great for kids, adults, or frankly anyone for that matter.

Matt Rodriguez
Review by Matt Rodriguez
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