I did a crash course on the Angry Birds game before going for the movie and learnt that there are a bunch of flightless birds, starting with a basic red one, who have to attack the thieving pigs’ fortresses. The game has been very successful since its launch in 2009.
The next question after the great debate of books versus movies, should be, “Do games make good movies?” Don’t bother about theme park rides. The Angry Birds Movie definitely indicates they don’t.
The film is depressing for its laziness and cynicism. The colours are bright, the birds are twee and toy ready, the jokes are not particularly clever and when nothing works, a pop number swells up in the background obliterating all thought.
Red is a red bird with beetling black brows. He lives with other flightless birds on Bird Island. He has anger issues and in anger management class meets Bomb and Chuck, also misfits. When pigs come a calling, Red is suspicious while the other birds welcome them. Red’s suspicions are confirmed as the dastardly pigs steal the birds’ eggs and it is left to the misfits and Mighty Eagle to save the day.
Jason Sudeikis as Red, Josh Gad as Chuck, Peter Dinklage as the Mighty Eagle and Sean Penn as Terence do what they can with the wafer-thin material. Two jokes — a poster advertising Kevin Bacon as Hamlet and the Jon Hamm one got a smile. Apart from that, the movie seemed interminable. Please let there not be a sequel.
