“The Angry Birds Movie” Review

What if I told you that the film of the summer isn’t what you expected?

Forget Batman fighting Superman or the Avengers fighting each other. No, this

year’s summer blockbuster is, believe it or not, based on a video game.

Movie adaptations of video games have had an unsuccessful history because they

often don’t follow the source material or are just horrible. Now, you can throw that

claim aside because Rovio’s avian demolition team has broken that trend.

Ever since its launch in December of 2009, Angry Birds has become a smash-hit,

and this weekend, The Angry Birds Movie was released to rave reviews. It took the top

spot in the box office and is expected to gross over $43 million on opening weekend.

The movie takes place on Bird Island, an island populated by colorful, flightless

birds who are carefree and oblivious to the outside world. But of course, there’s always

someone who doesn’t fit in, as Red (voiced by Jason Sudeikis) is the local curmudgeon

who gets angry often. After an incident at a birthday party, Red is sentenced to an anger

management class to calm him down. The teacher is Matilda (Maya Rudolph), a peace-

loving white bird who was once angry herself. There are three other students in the

class; Chuck (Josh Gad), a speedy yellow bird, Bomb (Danny McBride), a black bird who

literally explodes, and finally Terence (Sean Penn), an enormous maroon bird who only

speaks in low-pitched grunts.

One day, the class is interrupted when a huge boat arrives carrying green pigs. A

crowd gathers around the boat (which has crashed into Red’s house) and is greeted by

Leonard (Bill Hader), who says the pigs come in peace and want to be friends. The birds

and pigs get along well, but Red thinks something’s up despite no one listening to him.

He goes with Chuck and Bomb to the cave of the Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage), who is

worshipped in the village. Unfortunately, Mighty appears to be lazy and hasn’t flown in

years, and Red is concerned why he won’t help. Later that night, while all the birds are at

a party, the pigs plant TNT around the island and reveal their true colors as they steal

the birds’ eggs. After the village is ransacked, Red gives a speech to the residents saying

they need to go to the pigs’ island to rescue the eggs and that he needs “some angry

flockin’ birds.”

The birds arrive at Piggy Island and use a slingshot to try to launch them at the

castle. Red, Chuck, and Bomb make it inside, and with the help of Mighty Eagle, they

save the eggs and destroy the pigs’ village. Mighty then reveals he was pretending to be

lazy so the birds can have faith in themselves. Mighty is hailed as a hero, Red’s house is

rebuilt in the village, and the newly-born birds sing a song of praise to Red.

The movie also features the voices of Keegan-Michael Key, Kate McKinnon, Tony

Hale, and Hannibal Buress, among others, and even Blake Shelton, Charli XCX, and

Smosh get in on the act. The soundtrack features original songs by Shelton, Charli XCX,

Steve Aoki, and Matoma, and even a cover by Demi Lovato of Gloria Gaynor’s classic “I

Will Survive”.

The Angry Birds Movie is definitely one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. I’ve

been a fan of the franchise since 2011, and I was drawn in by the colorful characters;

there’s a good chance you’ll see your favorite character in the movie, even characters

from spin-offs of the game. It’s a fast-paced storyline that’s heartwarming and a blast

for all ages…even if you’ve never played the game.