Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Animated Antic Sometimes a movie has a plot that is so ridiculous that you think it's honestly a joke. A movie with a premise so insane and absurd that the trailer for it seems like a fake one that you would find on the internet. "Free Birds" is one of them. Ever since I saw the first trailer for this movie back when I saw "Monsters University", I legitimately thought it was a joke. I couldn't believe that a movie with a plot as ridiculous as this could ever be made, but here we are. A movie about two turkeys that time travel to stop the first Thanksgiving, and it's just as bad as you could've imagined. Here's why this movie doesn't work.A turkey named Reggie (Owen Wilson) has recently been pardoned by the President of the United States and has been enjoying a life of luxury at Camp David. For a while now, he's been doing nothing but eating pizza from Chuck E. Cheese's (the only pizza company this movie could afford) and binge watching on a Mexican soap opera. He is then kidnapped by another turkey named Reggie (Woody Harrelson) who tells him that the "Great Turkey" told him to find him and bring him to a time machine to stop turkeys from being put on the Thanksgiving menu. To do this, they must go in an egg shaped time machine and traveling back to 1621 to stop the Pilgrims led by Myles Standish (Colm Meaney) from setting up the first Thanksgiving feast. Once they arrive in the past, they run into a group of native turkeys led by Chief Broadbeak (Keith David), his daughter Jenny (Amy Pohler) and his son Ranger (Jimmy Hayward). Despite the natives reluctance to fight back, Reggie and Jake decide to stay with the turkeys in hopes that they can convince the others to help stop the first Thanksgiving. There's more plot I could discuss, but that would get into spoiler territory.After the film was over, I was shocked to find out that the director of this movie also directed "Horton Hears A Who!" at Blue Sky. Though where that film had some good writing from Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio who would later join Illumination, this film has some really bad writing. Just from the brief plot synopsis, you could already tell how bad the story is. It honestly feels like a really unfunny joke being stretched out into an hour and half long movie. Not only that, the ending for this movie (which I won't spoil) is absolutely terrible. It's honestly one of the worst endings you could have come up with for a movie like this, and given this movie's plot, that's not saying a lot. The animation is also not very good which is a shame because it's coming from a pretty good studio. The animation studio Reel FX made this movie and are notable for successfully taking certain Looney Tunes characters like Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner and turning them into computer animated characters. I don't know why but something about the animation here just seemed off to me. It felt a little unpolished and looked like it was made for a direct to DVD release and not a movie made for theaters and I found it pretty unforgivable. As for the characters, I found some of them likable but the others annoying and forgettable. I did like the characters of Reggie and Jenny and the likable chemistry the two had together, but I found Jake incredible annoying and tiresome and the other characters just forgettable. In fact, I mostly forgot about them by the time the film ended.Though honestly, forgetting about "Free Birds" is probably for the best. The plot was so stupid, the animation was pretty mediocre and while some of the characters were likable, the others were annoying or forgettable. There are other Thanksgiving movies out there, and in my opinion I think this is the right turkey to skip.

Tyson Hunsaker Free Birds isn't a movie to be taken too seriously and if you're watching it with your kids, probably best to not pay attention to its narrative or plot. The story goes from strange to completely bizarre and the pacing is noticeably bad. Despite its strong opening, this movie suffers from a script that had to have been so rushed it barely made the release. It also suffers from unlikable characters and "what the.." moments. To say it's a bad movie would accurately describe my feelings toward this holiday themed train wreck.All this being said, to say it doesn't have good sides would be a great disservice. First of all, this film is for kids and chances are, your 5-12 year old will probably sit through it and enjoy themselves. For the rest of us, there are a few intelligent and, quite honestly, funny jokes that make this a potential guilty pleasure. Animation itself is quite strong in most places. In fact, it's quite impressive animation considering it's competition (with better stories) compete well in the effects department. Color is vivid and the image is clear and sharp which makes any animation easier to watch.Unfortunately, the few intelligent jokes and references doesn't save this film. Although it serves its purpose of entertaining the kids for a few hours while the parents nap from the Thanksgiving dinner, it doesn't forgive the incredibly poor story and painful experience it is of sitting through this film. Better to find a different holiday animation flick.

neighborlee-74314 It's too bad that some reviewing this splendidly made and acted movie, seem to either have no sense of humor, or void of it only , when its about animal rights issues or so it seems. Movie reviewing is about objectivity, and if none can be given, none should be offered. Thats only fair to the medium.It shouldn't matter, whatever the presumed 'goal' is in a movie, if its done with humor and accuracy and style, regardless, it should be judged solely on that, leaving politics out of it,- but since that was brought up, as someone whose diet resembles this movie on some grounds, was delighted to see such a topic presented in such high class with clever reference to historical data.ONe can only hope as a species, we advance as we learn about our surroundings, comically and otherwise , as the protagonists in this movie do. Without creating spoilers, the irony is stark in this one . Some say this was void of any plot, not that it needed to be deep given the storyline which doesn't need to be necessarily deep to convey meaning in this case, but simple or not, the writing is clever and the use of acting voices to convey parallels to other movies was very clever and well done. Some of the deepest irony in this was the dialogue about one choice over another, and when you hear it, you'll smile and realize the movie has more depth and candidness than you might have been expecting, and given a history many of us never know or may learn of, the character swap couldn't have been more acute and appropriate . Near the end, you will fully realize this ( likely before), and it will make you smile and given some of us a sense of justice next to sadness . This PG movie does not insist on that, because while it does have historical reference as noted earlier, it does it in a lighthearted as possible way for the entire family. Laughter matters even discussing important topics, and this does not disappoint.Birds become the twice removed ( think history) through clever use of anthropomorphism , making a point yet retaining smiles from the audience as well as humility.The movie has hilarious in context, and I didn't have to push myself, to laugh, so the comments about it not being funny, are absurd and made up facts at their worst. I"m not kidding, I laughed right off, not even a minute or two into the movie, so those saying otherwise must have judged the movie on other fronts, because it was funny and tons of people have already said as much. Different views notwithstanding most would find this hilarious in conjunction with more serious topics this movie explored.The stereotypes were rampant in this, which made it all the more funny, with yes, clear underlying tones of indicators as to why our food supply ideas and beliefs should be re-thought out. I'ts not a 'heavy hit' tone, but it's clearly there and appropriate. We grow as a specie as we evaluate our past and learn and elevate ourselves as a result; there is nothing ever wrong with appropriate introspection.THe movie is so funny though even through the stark imagery and notes to history, that after while that dissipates and you just laugh out loud even though hidden beneath the surface that kids likely will not get and prob. best, is a tempest in a teapot of a story that needs to be told; it was done in style, lightly enough for mostly a children's story but with enough historical reference to give adults pause of the history they are part of.I want to reiterate, that the movie made its points , clearly and efficiently, without hitting the subject too hard because laughter is good for all of us and sometimes it makes history easier to grasp and more desirable as well.Easily a 10, a must see for the entire family, noting the PG rating of course.

Don Atello This film isn't a classic. However, it's a totally reasonable popcorn flick. Other than some unnecessary stereotyping of American Indians, it's actually quite fun. Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson play off each other beautifully, creating some good laughs. There's also a good cameo from George Takei as a sassy time machine. Things get a little off-beat at times - there's a scene with a flame thrower and another with a sacred time knob. These scenes will either make you laugh or roll your eyes. The movie could have done with a little trimming to pick up the pace, but it's otherwise a solid movie. Definitely worth watching. I would recommend this for younger kids, or those looking for some light-hearted entertainment. While not as good as your average Pixar or Miyazaki, it's no trash either.