You might be surprised to learn this, but Rovio Entertainment, the developers and publishers of the insanely popular Angry Birds games, aren’t exactly flying high.
In fact, in recent years, revenues have fallen and merchandise sales have dropped alarmingly. The issues run so deep that the Finnish company had to let go over 33 per cent of its workforce in 2015. For Rovio, The Angry Birds Movie was supposed to be the golden egg. Whether the film does well enough financially remains to be seen, but in terms of quality, the family action-adventure comedy animation is a disappointment.
But let’s start with the good. The animation, for one, is excellent. Sony Pictures Imageworks, the visual effects and character animation company, which has worked on the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs films as well as the Smurf films, does a superb job. Admittedly, I’ve played a lot of the many Angry Birds games, and found the animation to be a perfect representation of them. The stars of the film look instantly recognisable, and the world is as colourful and fluid as the games. But while I really liked how the birds looked, I especially loved how amusingly devious the green, scheming pigs appeared. I also enjoyed the action where the birds were soaring through the air, smashing into the villains and their contraptions.
Rovio hired some interesting actors for the film. The talent includes Jason Sudeikis (Red), Bill Hader (Leonard/King Mudbeard), Danny McBride (Bomb), Maya Rudolph (Matilda), Peter Dinklage (Mighty Eagle), Sean Penn (Terrence), Tony Hale (Ross/Mime/Cyrus) and others who are not known for their voice acting, but do a fair job of bringing these feathered characters to life. The standouts are Sudeikis, who really does an amusing job as the red bird with serious anger management problems, and Bill Hader in his villainous evil pig roles.
The stars of the film look instantly recognisable, and the world is as colourful and fluid as the games. But while I really liked how the birds looked, I especially loved how amusingly devious the green, scheming pigs appeared. I also enjoyed the action where the birds were soaring through the air, smashing into the villains and their contraptions.
Unfortunately, Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly are inexperienced on the directorial chair, and it shows. To make matters worse, they had to do with a dull script from Jon Vitti.