Smallfoot Review: An okay animated adventure for kids to enjoy
Looking up into the animated sky, is it Disney? No, is it DreamWorks? No, it’s Warner Bros! Warner Bros. is going through its second animated outing of 2018, after releasing Teen Titans Go: To the Movies not too long ago. Teen Titans didn’t impress me much, so I was interested to see if their new film, created by the same people who make the newer Looney Tunes content, would impress me. The film surprising did, but only by a little bit.
Right from the get-go, audiences will be able to tell that this is definitely similar to Looney Tunes in style. The slapstick and jokes feel almost straight out of a Wile E. Coyote sketch and it feels kind of refreshing to see. The film does have some humorous moments for both parents and kids, but it feels like it drags for the most part.
Smallfoot also actually contains original songs sung by the cast which came as a complete surprise to me. In reality, it shouldn’t have considering the film’s main cast has singers like Common and Zendaya, but it was a really nice surprise to hear Channing Tatum even join in and actually do a great job. The songs also work well with the cast as they match the songs to the genre the artist is generally associated with. It adds up to having nice songs, but it can really affect the pacing and tone of the scenes they’re attached to.
The story also thinks that it makes a big impact and has big ideas, but it ultimately doesn’t make much of dent. The whole aspect of why the yetis are on the mountain is interesting, but it doesn’t go anywhere unique and basically relies on familiar story beats to get by. It really makes the film drag and this makes Smallfoot feel disappointing and bland.
The characters, though, are actually interesting and given fun personalities thanks to the great casting. Everyone has solid chemistry and I actually loved the unique character design and setting. The snowy landscape still came off as colorful and offered some fun animation.
Smallfoot was a pretty okay one-off, so long as it stays as a one-off. It didn’t really do anything special to deserve more spotlight and its leave to leave Smallfoot saying that it’s okay. It’s definitely not terrible, but the most accurate thing to say about it is that it’s passable.
Mooreviews 