The Angry Birds Movie (2016)

The Angry Birds Movie was made, thanks to the millions of people who play the Angry Birds app on whatever computer apparatus they have at their disposal. It’s pretty much harmless fun. If you didn’t know and I suspect there are very few of you out there, the gist of the game is that green pigs have stolen all the bird eggs, and it’s up to you to launch your birds at the pigs’ constructions,to knock them down, so you can rescue the eggs. Various birds have various abilities.

The movie starts on an island, where only birds live. Red (Jason Sudekis) is an orphan who lives on his own, working as a clown for kids’ parties. When a job goes badly, the hosts lay into him and he loses his temper. He is sentenced to anger management classes, where he meets Chuck (Josh Gad), the yellow bird, Bomb (Danny McBride), the exploding one, and Terence (Sean Penn), the big red bird. Their coach Matilda (Maya Rudolph) tries to reel them in, but Red is having none of it.

While in a session, a boat appears on the horizon, bearing a pig, Leonard (Bill Hader), who wants to be their friends. Red is having none if it, because his ship drops anchor, literally on Red’s house. Red is incensed, and Leonard shows no sign of apologizing, which leads Red and Chuck to go look at the boat, when all the birds are at a big party. Red discovers something nefarious is going on, but no one believes him.

Long story short, the pigs (there are many more than Leonard indicated) are diverting the birds attention so that his underlings can steal all the birds’ eggs. Leonard and his cohorts get away before the the birds realize what’s happened. Nobody seems to know what to do, but now they put their trust in Red to find a solution.

This is a kids’ movie, so you know what the outcome will be. Much like the game levels themselves, everything is simplistically designed, and nothing is really dwelled on for long. As an adult, I found my mind and eyes wandering, and discovered there were more than a few sight gags sprinkled into the background, and some puns and jokes were in the dialogue, as well. For example, one of the pigs is named Jon Hamm. There are some signs describing artwork and plaques placed throughout the scenery, even a semi-obscure Andre the Giant reference. I chuckled at most, but groaned at more.

I can’t say this is a film you must see, but if you have little kids, they will be entertained, and you will not be bored. Josh Gad, as Chuck, has enough of a motor mouth, and I expect he was chosen due to his character Olaf from Frozen.

Leave a Reply