The Angry Birds Movie (Quick Review)

You know, I really enjoy angry protagonists.

There need to be more main characters like Red (Jason Sudeikis)—blunt, cynical, grumpy, not afraid to punch back…or to throw the first punch in some instances.  Red’s similar to the Grinch if, after growing his heart three times, he kept the snarky attitude.  It’s thanks to Red, in addition to some unexpectedly entertaining features, that I enjoyed The Angry Birds Movie a lot more than expected.  The film’s simple, spirited, at times funny, vibrant in animation, and has a few surprisingly sweet moments towards the end.  While I’ve grown away from them in recent years, I was a huge fan of The Angry Birds video games.  I owned the demo, original, Seasons, Space and Star Wars versions (they were all sadly wiped out when my iPhone broke).  It got to the point where my wife bought me Angry Birds Space pajamas, which I still own and wear from time to time.

The film embraces its video game’s nonsensical plot and goes along without ever stopping to try and make sense.  There’s a scene where the pigs—to lure the birds into a false sense of friendship—give them a large slingshot as a gift.  Why do the pigs own a large slingshot with seemingly no practical purpose for themselves?  Because it’s in the games of course!  The Angry Birds Movie is ridiculous and unashamed of it: the plot doesn’t make sense and the film spares no effort to make it.  Instead, there’s a focus on energy and wackiness, which ultimately works in the film’s favor.

I like the film's idea of making the “angry birds” disruptive birds sent to anger management class: it’s a fun way to bring all the recognizable characters together under one roof/wacky therapy session.  The film is far from perfect (as no one expected it to be): a lot of jokes miss their mark, and the writers rely too much on crass, uncreative adult humor—such as replacing swear words with similar sounding bird terms; “we’re angry flocking birds!”  The film’s finale certainly helps make up for these transgressions, giving an epic climax that uses the video game’s core element—destroying pigs and buildings with birds flung from a giant slingshot—and goes all out in spectacular fashion.

For decades, directors have tried and failed to make a successful video game film both critics and audiences enjoy—The Angry Birds Movie will not be converting any doubters, but it’s certainly a step closer towards a universally successful video game adaptation.  Until such day comes, however, The Angry Birds Movie stands as one of the finest video game films made, in addition to one of the few I give a thumbs up in approval.