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Plot Summary: Several reformed yet misunderstood criminal animals attempt to become good, with some disastrous results along the way.

Director: Pierre Perifel

Writers: Etan Cohen, Yoni Brenner

Runtime: 1 hour 40 mins

• Sam Rockwell as Wolf (voice)
• Marc Maron as Snake (voice)
• Awkwafina as Tarantula (voice)
• Craig Robinson as Shark (voice)
• Anthony Ramos as Piranha (voice)
• Richard Ayoade as Professor Marmalade (voice)
• Zazie Beetz as Diane Foxington AKA The Crimsaw Paw (voice)
• Alex Borstein as Police Chief Misty Luggins (voice)

Review by: Small Couch Reviews

What I liked:

1) Animation – I am a Pixar guy, but I have to admit DreamWorks did a fantastic job here. I truly appreciate the art direction they went with. The detail in the fur/skin of the animals looked better than in modern video games but then they kept the eyes for each character white with a simple black dot in the middle. It actually worked out to make it visually pleasing while at the same time reminding you it’s meant to be basically a cartoon (unlike the Lion King remake).

2)Voice acting – Everyone was fine as a voice actor in this film, but Awkwafina and Zazie Beetz were the real standouts. Voice acting isn’t as easy as reading words on a page. You actually have to bring a character you (usually) can’t see to live while standing in a room so I appreciate good voice acting when I see it. So for these two, who haven’t had a ton of experience in the medium to be as good as they were was a welcome surprise, and I look forward to seeing them have more opportunities.

3) Comedy – I was expecting to laugh based on the trailers and how this movie was marketed, but this was funnier than I thought. Both children and adults (including me) in my screening were laughing for a lot of the film. And, these were moments when you are meant to laugh meaning the jokes landed. Again I have to praise the voice actors for their delivery of each line.

4) Action- This goes in hand with the animation. When the movie is picking up the pace and heists are going down there is a lot happening on screen, all of which is visually satisfying. None of the action feels stale or boring and even for a kids’ movie I was left thinking “wow” at some moments.

5) Music – to keep it short, this movie soundtrack will be streaming in my home for at least the next few weeks.

What I didn’t like:

The movie had way too many slow moments, especially for a children’s movie. There were multiple times when the action stopped for a conversation between characters, and these were drawn-out conversations. The issue with this is these moments don’t really seem to be catered to anyone because children certainly wouldn’t care for (or really understand) these more serious moments in the movie; likewise, adults simply wouldn’t care because the moments don’t have enough depth to them to make you as emotionally invested as the movie seems to want you to be. They just felt out of place.

Other than that, my other criticism is that the story was simple and predictable. Yes, it is a children’s movie so I’m not expecting twists or story depth like “Gone Girl,” but if you know the summary of the movie, then you pretty much know the movie. There isn’t really anything extra here- it’s about the characters trying to be good, and once you know that you can see every story beat coming.