A heartwarming movie about triumph of dreams over adversity…which just so happens to be set in a world of anthropomorphic animals.

I’ll admit that description could equally apply to Zootopia and if this movie had one failing it’s that it is to similar to that movie. I guess it was just bad timing because now comparisons will forever be drawn between the two of them. Being completely honest though bare bones, sure they’re similar but this movie is a lot better. I mean this movie has a goat bleating out Kiss from a Rose by Seal so it wins by default.

This movie has a pretty strong voice cast, which includes Matthew McConaughey who plays Buster Moon, a surprisingly optimistic Koala who proposes a singing competition to save his beloved theatre from being repossessed by the bank. Reese Witherspoon who plays Rosita, a pig and a mother of 25 children, who gave up her musical dreams to start a family and now yearns to pursue them again. Seth Macfarlane who brings his usual dulcet tones to Mike, a small white mouse with a big ego, fortunately he might just have the chops to make it in this dog eat…mouse world. Scarlett Johansson (I didn’t even know she could sing) who stars as Ash a porcupine and punk rocker who wants to make it on her own after splitting with her ex. Tori Kelly who plays Meena a teenage elephant who struggles with stage fright and her love of sharing her beautiful voice and rounding off the cast is Taron Egerton as Johnny a Gorilla who loves to sing but his dreams don’t exactly go along with his dad’s who wants him to join his criminal enterprises.

I knew I’d like this movie. I remember getting excited seeing the first trailer because It was silly and happy and that’s something everyone needs in their life from time to time. I’m more than willing to admit that at 22 years old I’m probably a bit too old for films like this; and it was certainly no coincidence that apart from myself and my fiancée the rest of the movie goers were either children or adults accompanying children it doesn’t change the fact that this movie is worth seeing.

Now the story isn’t exactly original, there’s no twist or plot element that on its own makes this a compelling narrative, it’s good just because it introduces a cast of likeable characters that you root for and has them up against a deadline to succeed. It’s good because it plays on the emotionally sappy part of us that like singing and happy endings, and I don’t think it should be faulted for it.

Why wasn’t the Koala (Buster Moon) australian though? I know that borders on stereotyping but the animal is native to australia, and while the little drop bear dropped right into my heart and Matthew McConaughey played him incredibly well It just confused me why he wasn’t from the good ol’ land of OZ. It’s not like Australians can’t sing, I mean give Hugh Jackman a call for god’s sake, if Les Mis taught us anything it’s that the once and future Wolverine can certainly belt out a song when required. But the effect it had on the plot was minimal so I’ll let it go. I also really hope I’m not the only person that It bothered.

The key elements of the story without giving away too much is that Buster Moon is on the verge of losing his prized theatre when he comes up with an idea…a singing competition. He gets hundreds of applicants after his assistant makes a typo and puts out flyers that say the grand prize is $100,000, not the $1,000 that he actually has left. He narrows the list of potential winners down two just the key group, each of whom have to get past some personal obstacle to compete and follow their dreams.

Now, I hate to keep beating a dead horse…I promised myself I wouldn’t keep making animal puns, but I really did like this movie, it was a nice little watch, that was well-paced and played out just how you expect. No need to get bogged down in any details, just listen to the reportedly 85 songs that the movie throws out like a jukebox that just won’t quit and enjoy yourself.

I have to admit I love movies that tug at the heartstrings, that play on the part of you that likes a happy ending, the way things seemed when you were a kid. This movie shovels those happy endings on you in spades, because not only does every character get a happy ending by the time that the curtain closes but they do it with a phenomenal closing number.

Video courtesy of: Universal Pictures UK

[imdb id=tt3470600]

 

Thomas Neil
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