Hello, this is Sam (the other person on this account), and this is my first review since the only other thing I've posted is the Horror Movie entry. Enjoy!
What's the story?
Based on the popular characters from the segment "Peabody's Improbable History" from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, Mr. Peabody and Sherman is the story of a genius dog (voiced by Ty Burrell from Modern Family) who adopts a quirky orphan (voiced by relative new-comer Max Charles) , and they travel through time in the machine the dog invented, the WABAC. However, after Sherman is persuaded to use the WABAC without permission by his classmate (other Modern Family cast member Ariel Winter) and breaks the rules of time travel, they must come together to save the world.
Review (spoilers... Obviously)
Ok, for the most part, this is a pretty solid kid's movie. The child actors are pretty good, Ty Burrell is amazing as always, there is some nice and colorful animation, some jokes work well, and they stay pretty loyal to the orginal material. But that last one is kind of a problem for me since I really am not a fan of the original. Sure, the time travel thig was kind of cute, but the puns and Sherman's innocence always got me really annoyed. And this film centers around an aspect that really bothered me: Sherman having a Dog-Dad is bad/weird. Except for the whole "saving the world" thing, the tension throughout most of the movie is whether or not Mr, Peabody can remain a father. The kids at school make fun of Sherman for it, he's ashamed of it, a social worker deems the whole situation awful.... BUT THAT MAKES NO SENSE. (Warning: incoming rant)
First of all, why would the kids make fun of Sherman for havingl a dog as a dad? They see his dad walking around and driving a scooter and talking eloquently, so they should be impressed and amazed and (yes) almost jealous of him. How cool is that?! And second, not only is this an intelligent dog, this is A SUPER GENIUS, MUSICIAN, DOCTOR, INVENTOR, AND OLYMPIAN dog. Even if having a dog as a parent is "weird" in this cartoon world, there is nothing that signals that mr. Peabody is unfit to be a parent. Ok, yeah Sherman "bit" a girl in school but 1. She was being a bitch and 2. Kids in the real world who don't have "dog dads" do that too.
Phew, but other my own little problems with it , it's a nice , fun kids film. I wouldn't say there is much in there for adults except for one moment that was just perfect. So, it's the end of the movie, and the city is destroyed, a bunch of historical figures are scattered there, and they're going to take Mr. Peabody to jail when suddenly... George Washington says he grants them a presidential pardon, then Abraham Lincoln says he does so too... And then, BILL CLINTON LOOKS AT THE CAMERA AND SAYS, "I've done worse."
One of the best moments in Kids Movie Hisotry right there, folks. Thanks ;)
