Free Birds - D

​Quick Hit: An incredibly dull movie that I was really hoping to enjoy.

​I’ll be completely honest here – I’m pretty easy on animated films. That’s because I do try to take into mind the fact that sometimes simplistic storylines can be the best. I’m not saying you can’t have a complicated plot in an animated film. Take for instance: How to Train Your Dragon or Big Hero 6. The plots aren’t necessarily the heaviest thing, but there are enough plotlines going that it isn’t just Good people versus Bad. Sometimes a complicated plot can sink a movie with a decent premise. I think that’s what happened to today’s Thanksgiving film: Free Birds.

Free Birds follows Reggie (Owen Wilson) – a turkey that has always been different and a bit more self-aware than other turkeys. Eventually, the President pardons him, and he starts living a glorious life in at Camp David. That is until Jake (Woody Harrelson) shows up with a time machine that brings him back to the past in order to prevent the first Thanksgiving from becoming a turkey dinner.

Ok, so it hooked me at time travel – I’m pretty easy that way. However, the beginning with Reggie was completely unnecessary – only serving to attempt to set the mood of who Reggie is (as a turkey of course). I dismissed that and allowed the movie to continue.

I really shouldn’t have – it just got more confusing… and I’m an adult.

Eventually there is a turkey tribe (because of course, Native Americans – haha) that Jake and Reggie must befriend and convince to (and I’m not joking here) attack (!!!) the colonists who are led by some randomly evil dude who just really hates turkeys (or really wants to eat them? Motivations are a bit unclear). Of course, there’s also a love story – with the chief’s daughter (played by Amy Poehler in a complete waste of her comedic abilities) and Reggie. The love story goes over as well as an overcooked thanksgiving casserole with no gravy - bitter and rough no matter how much you chew on it.

If the plot would have been less complicated, or the characters would have been likeable, or if the script itself wouldn’t have relied on an overly cooked (haha, turkey puns) set of plots that feel like it was ripped out of Avatar or Pocahontas, or (fill in the blank here). There is just no originality - even in the animation style.

The voice acting was good overall, and at times it keeps things from being a complete waste of time, but not enough to tell someone to watch this.

Happy Thanksgiving ya’ll. Don’t watch this film. It’s only a “D”.

Check out more on this movie at IMDB.