Written by Logan J. Fowler and Justin Matchick
Release Date: September 23rd, 2016
Starring: Kelsey Grammar, Andy Samberg, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele
Director(s): Nicholas Stoller (Neighbors, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Douglas Sweetland (The Pixar short Presto)
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: It’s interesting that a full length movie about birds that deliver babies hasn’t been done yet. The topic is ripe for comedy, especially in the genre of animation. Just looking over the crew behind this film, I’m very intrigued. It’s produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (the geniuses behind 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie) and co-director Douglas Sweetland worked animation on some of Pixar’s best films. Should hopefully be a recipe for success. -LJF
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: I had barely ever heard of this movie before today, but I am intrigued by the fact it’s the first animated effort from Neighbors and Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller. – JTM
Rate the Trailer: 3 out 5. The “broken conveyor belt” gag is used here, but just to see babies bunching up on it is pretty funny. We don’t know the actual plot of the film but the animation looks great and the concept hasn’t really been done (outside of the Looney Tunes cartoons) so it could be a fun time. –LJF
Rate the Trailer: 2 out of 5. The voice cast of Andy Samberg and Kelsey Grammer is intriguing, as is the fact Key and Peele will be making appearances as well. But there is just nothing that this trailer offered that showed it would be able to separate itself from the pack. Most of the comedy is cliche or slapstick that fails to elicit any real laughs. I get the strong feeling that the babies seen in the trailer are designed to be the “Minions” of this film. A small, cute, mute group of sidekicks that will likely get all of the scene sealing gags in the film in hopes of them becoming popular enough to warrant their own spin-off. It will very likely not live up to any of those expectations. – JTM
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Rent. I don’t really know that much about it going off the trailer, but I’d be curious to watch Storks just based on the people behind it alone. Plus the voice cast is pretty solid. Why not? -LJF
Theater, Rent, Undecided, No Thanks? No Thanks. There’s just nothing really redeeming about this movie at all for me right now. This is the second release (after The Lego Movie) from the recently revitalized Warner Brothers Animation department and it seems like they are trying to play a game of catch-up with Pixar and Dreamworks that is just not working for them. – JTM
Storks takes flight September 23rd, 2016
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