The Angry Birds Movie

Dir: Clay Kaytis, Fergal Reilly

2016

**

It seems that for the last thirty years or so, if anything is even vaguely successful, no matter what it is, if it has made a lot of money, a movie will be made of it. Computer games have been adapted into movies far less successfully than movies have been adapted into games in the past and I'm afraid the Angry Birds have upheld this time-honoured tradition. For those living in a cave for the last seven years, Angry Birds is a computer game available for download on smart-phones and tablets. It involves pulling birds on a giant catapult and firing them into structures. The aim of the game is to kill several green pigs that sit within these structures because said pigs have stolen the bird’s eggs. Why the pigs have stolen the eggs, why the pigs are green and why the birds explode/drop exploding eggs/enlarge/separate themselves into three/reverse is never explained, and nor would anyone expect it to be. It’s a game that is played while waiting, commuting to work or excreting (at home or at work). Colourful and zany games sell better than ones that look dull, it doesn’t take a behavioural scientist to work that one out, it is simple, catchy and very playable. I’ve completed the game several times, each time I do I wipe my score and play again, it’s timeless much like Tetris, but with far more variety. It has sold a lot of merchandise and its fifteen minutes seems to have been extended somewhat, so a film was inevitable. The big question is, how do you make a story out of such a simple but bizarre game? For my money Rovio and Sony didn’t pick their best story, in fact, I think it was most likely their first and only idea. By giving the game a structured story they really do wander into a misguided minefield of what could be seen as quite a sinister look at immigration, racism and social uprising based on mistrust and a lack of faith in leadership. Of course that would be taking it all too seriously, Rovio and Sony have already made that mistake but the overall message isn’t great and is somewhat of an oversight. There are a couple of funny moments that hit the spot but these are few and far between. To be honest, this film gave me a real headache. It’s all a little too much, a little haphazard with far too much going on at one time. They almost get the characters right but the whole idea is as contentious as it gets. It’s too adult for kids and too childish for adults. My favourite character in the film (The Mighty Eagle – played by Peter Dinklage) isn’t even in the game and I think I like him best because he is clearly a copy of Scuttle (The Little Mermaid) and a Jim Henson creation. The voice work is fine (Sean Penn’s ‘input’ did make me chuckle) and the animation is good but seeing the two kids sat in front of me in the cinema, asking their mum if they could play on her phone instead of watching the film said it all. She was playing Candy Crush.