The Angry Birds Movie (2016) Review

Is it strange to say that a movie called Angry Birds actually made me angry?

Angry Birds is yet another film based on the video game, this time on the Smartphone app of the same name. I've never played it, since I don't play Smartphone games. That means unlike Ratchet & Clank, I will have an easier time judging the film by its own merits. I don't care if it stays faithful to the source material or not. What matters is that I had a terrible time watching this movie. Before I go into detail as to why, here is the complete rundown of the story.

The movie is set in an island full of flightless birds. It centers around a red bird named... Red, voiced by Jason Sudeikis, a cynical character who hates life. An incident lands him in an anger management class, where he meets three other birds named Chuck (voiced by Josh Gad), Bomb (Danny McBride), and Terence (Sean Penn). While that is going on, a large group of pigs led by their leader, Leonard (Bill Hader) arrive on the island and win the hearts of the other birds. Our heroes suspect something strange about them and investigate.

I did not have any faith in Angry Birds. The trailers did not appeal to me that much, not having jokes that made me laugh, giving me the impression that it's going to be one of those movies that will mainly entertain children and annoy adults. I wasn't far off.

But first, on with the positives. If there is one thing that I have to give this movie credit for, it's that the film does a good job making each of the main characters as distinguishable as possible, all down to their appearance and other quirks. For example, Red, the face of the Angry Birds franchise, has his trademark large eyebrows; Chuck is small and can run really fast like Sonic the Hedgehog; and Bomb looks like a giant bomb. You could say that the latter character has an explosive personality.

One thing I should also praise is the animation. It's admittedly pretty good. Going back to Chuck, I like the way that he is animated when he runs really fast. I also noticed in this one shot where he is clapping along with everybody else that he is clapping the fastest, which adds to his unique ability. When it comes to the character designs, I like how detailed they are, especially their feathers. Lastly, the world is pretty bright and colorful, making for a very pleasant-looking movie. Unfortunately, that's where the positives end.

I share your pain, man.

What went wrong with Angry Birds? The humor. I know it's subjective, but a lot of it made me groan and cringe like crazy. Not once did I laugh or even chuckle at this movie. The closest thing to making me laugh was the character, Terence, who pretty much shared the same expression as I did while watching it. I like when family films have jokes that appeal to both children and adults. The film does just that, but painfully backfires.

There are some gross-out and butt jokes that would most likely appeal to five-year-old children. I also groaned when there was one moment that had the gall to make a joke about a giant eagle urinating. You heard me right: a giant eagle urinating. We even get to see the liquid itself. When it's not going for juvenile humor, however, there are some pop-cultural references, like this reference to The Shining, which had no place in being there.

It also tries way too hard to make jokes for adults. There were pigs wearing cowboy outfits that had their pants expose their rear ends (a reference to male strippers?), an unpleasant image that will take me a while to forget. I'd hate to repeat something that Chris Stuckmann already said, but there was also a joke where Chuck talks about laying eggs with other females, and it's not very subtle about it, therefore coming off as forced. Just this year, we had Zootopia, which made a joke about bunnies multiplying. What made that one work was that it had a double meaning to it, making it subtle, yet still pretty funny.

Lastly, there are an awful lot of puns, none of them being clever in the slightest. Want to see a film that has every bird and pig pun imaginable? No problem, because Angry Birds has plenty go around. Replace the f-word with "pluck?" Check. Birth control being called "bird control?" Check. A pig called "Kevin Bacon?" Check. That's just the icing on the cake. It is on the same level of annoyance as the food puns from Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, which is not a good sign.

No stunning animation or good character designs can overshadow the unfunny humor which soured the entire experience for me. Even when it got to the bird-launching climax (the one that the games were all about), which was probably the most entertaining part of the movie, I stopped caring because of all the trash that I had to sit through to get there.

I also don't find the characters that interesting. Red, despite his character arc, is just boring and not reaching the levels of being a likable jerk with some dimension. There are hardly any moments that justify his cynicism to make me care. Okay, he got picked on for having large eyebrows, but it's not good enough. I can see some form of camaraderie with Chuck and Bomb, but nothing about it stands out. Terence walks out as the most entertaining character, but not enough to save the movie for me. The main antagonist, Leonard, is just one big joke and a waste of Bill Hader's performance.

This is a film that does nothing but cash in on a popular title without putting much effort into it. There are people out there saying that children will definitely like this. I call nonsense on that one. Children deserve better than this. I'd rather that they watch the Ratchet & Clank movie instead. Yeah, that one's not very good, either, but it's harmless enough.

When I walked out of the theater, I left with a grumpy look on my face. I can't decide what is worse: a movie like Batman v Superman that left me with nothing or a movie like this that left me mad and regretful that I watched it. Whatever the case, Angry Birds can flock off, for it is...

HEAVILY FLAWED

Even though I had no faith in this movie, video game-based films this year gets another strike. Warcraft, please be good! (EDIT: Disregard that, for I did not have faith in this movie)