Flightless birds lead a mostly happy existence, except for Red (Jason Sudeikis), who just can't get past the daily annoyances of life. His temperament leads him to anger management class, where he meets fellow misfits Chuck (Josh Gad) and Bomb. Red becomes even more agitated when his feathered brethren welcome green pigs to their island paradise. As the swine begin to get under his skin, Red joins forces with Chuck and Bomb to investigate the real reason behind their mysterious arrival.
The idea that an Angry Birds movie exists is pretty flabbergasting. Mainly, because the Angry Birds app itself isn't really known for having a large amount of story involved. So when the film was released in 2016, it had its time in theatres, before being released in physical form, and still, it was another two years before feeling any need to watch this film. That feeling came around--not just because The Angry Birds Movie 2 is coming out soon--but because the trailer for the sequel actually made he chuckle out loud in the theatre.
The Angry Birds Movie is effectively an origin story to the game that we all know. Coming out around nine years after the app was released, this film may not have been released during peak Angry Birds popularity, but definitely during a time when anyone who owned a smartphone was aware of the franchise. One could certainly look at the time it took to release the film and say that time was spent ensuring the story was perfect and the rendering of the animation was nothing but top-notch.
To an extent all of that is true. This is by no means a film that you have to think hard about and analyse after you leave the theatre. It is a simple animated film (supposedly aimed at children), but what it does well is to try and develop its plot and characters well. The film actually spends the first two out of three acts building up this story, and setting up this world of birds that do not fly and are largely very positive and all-trusting.
Where things are more complicated, is in its choices of themes and humour. There is the odd one-liner here and there, but the majority of the humour is in repeated jokes and puns. The concept of the humour is interwoven into the type of society that the birds live in, which helps make it feel a little less forced, but it does mean many of the humorous moments are forecast well in advance. There is also the issue of the use of adult humour. While mature humour is encouraged in children's movies (let the adults enjoy something in these films we are often forced to watch) but the humour needs to be more verbal than visual, because visual mature gags are jokes that the children can see and ask questions about. A quick bit of dialogue can easily go over the children's heads, but watching a character compulsively pelvic thrust while they take about repopulating the bird population, pointing out a bird that they wouldn't trust around children, and replacing expletives with similar-sounding words that are also bird puns? It may lead to a few awkward questions. Sex and paedophilia are really odd choices in humour (and there is an incredibly long, drawn-out pee joke).
Outside of the humour, the themes are hit and miss. There are good messages about the dangers of hero-worship, and how not everyone needs to conform to societal expectations. On the other hand, this film also encourages racism and proposes that the solution of anger and violence is justified.
The animated style and world of The Angry Birds Movie does mean you don't have to worry about product placement for once (ignoring that the entire movie is an ad for the mobile app), but what you will find is that the whole film is also an ad for the movie soundtrack. There are at least four song and dance numbers in the first act of the film, with a lot of popular songs that are used quite well to add to the humour or emotion of the film. The soundtrack includes songs by Demi Lovato, Rick Astley, Imagine Dragons, and Limp Bizkit.
The character design and animation style are actually really good. They have the main characteristic traits from the game but are designed in a way that allows for more natural movement (outside of the slingshot). Movements are smooth, feathers are rendered well, and the colours are vivid enough to capture the children's attention time and time again.
The main elements of the game are only brought in in the final act, which is where everything seems to fall apart. Where the first two acts gradually developed the quirky cast of characters into something enjoyable and watchable, the final act throws everything at the wall, in a literal sense. It moves from a story focus to action, introducing a convoluted mess of high-velocity scenes and quick edits that make it almost impossible to follow. There is a well-done scene that rips off the Quicksilver scene in X-Men: Days of Future Past which was curious, but otherwise, the high-octane mess really threw away everything that had been built up and just went for as many explosions as possible. It'll entertain the children for sure, but it won't be because of the plot.
Overall, The Angry Birds Movie came together much better than expected. They spent the time to develop characters, building on their traits and creating a world that places them as the outcasts and underdogs to support. The game mechanics aren't really introduced until the climax of the film, and while it is a mess to follow, it definitely does a good job at incorporating aspects from the app. The humour was a little too mature for the children at times, but I have to say that a lot more effort was spent on the story and the animation style, and it really works to the benefit of the film. I actually enjoyed myself.
