A little bundle of joy falling from the sky or has the story been dragged out kicking and screaming?
Set in a world where Storks really did deliver babies comes a heartfelt tale about family life. The leader of a global delivery company, Hunter (Kelsey Grammer), has moved the storks into a new era, appointing Junior (Andy Samberg) as a potential new boss. Everything soon begins to unravel when the last botched baby delivery must be resolved.
The characters are what make this movie the hit that it is. With exceptional casting, each actor brings their own touch to the character and feels perfect for the role. Key and Peele are classic examples of this as the duo play off each other with such dynamism as the Alpha and Beta wolves. You couldn’t imagine anyone else in that part. Ty Burrel as the Dad is a splendid choice as anyone who has watched Modern Family will be able to appreciate. Finally, Andy Samberg, given his emotionally stilted typecasting makes the potential cuteness overload a self-aware joke that runs throughout as he struggles to cope as a macho, results driven, male stork named Junior. There are plenty of other stand-out performances, Pidgeon Toady being another, but I can’t list them all.
The animation meets the expectation of a triple A title and builds a fun and engaging world. It doesn’t really look outside the box creatively but it holds the world together well. The soundtrac
k supports the film well and even has a few outstanding moments, Pidgeon Toady’s moment of glory as he struts his stuff to The Heavy singing ‘How Do you Like me now’ is highly entertaining!
In terms of audience appeal, it pushes all the right buttons. As we were all babies once or are currently in corporate or self-employed work, there is a wealth of on the money humour and insight. The difficulty of setting time aside in life for family is looked at in a believable and humorous way, as Nate struggles in an incredibly savvy way to attract the attentions of his work from home parents. Some of the jokes may go over the heads of a younger audience, however, they work incredibly well for the twenties and above.
Exiting the cinema I felt like I had remembered my youth in an enjoyable manner. I had a rekindled respect for the joy of bringing new life into this world and been reminded to enjoy the journey of life wherever it may take you. The look at the corporate world, its characters and it’s ethos is another highly entertaining diversion. Storks did not inspire me to question any new aspect of my life but provided a gold tinted look in the mirror with a few good life pointers. I for one am quite pleased to watch something enjoyable once in awhile that can be fairly mindless without sensing your brain cells are dying. I would recommend this as an enjoyable laid back watch regardless of what stage of life you are at.
Author: Joe, Bath store
