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May 4, 2015
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Home Movie Review
— Posted by
Mo Baptiste
Aww, Dreamwork, how we love you so … even, if you are the stepchild of animation. You always do good work. However, not great work like your brother and sister, Pixar and Disney. This brings me to your latest feature film, Home. And, I have to say, it is pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. It definitely didn’t push the envelope by no means. But, it gave me something, I’ve been missing for in a long time from an animation which is … we’ll discuss that later.
Let’s talk about the design of the characters. The human heads are too big for my taste, but I can see how it captures the attention of children, so I’ll let that slide. The aliens’ design (Boovs) is simple, but effective. The Boovs’ ability to change color via their emotions are visually appealing to the eye and makes them super kid-friendly. There’s one more alien I’m not going to spoil it for you but when it suppose to look cute it looks so cute but when it suppose to be intimidated it does it well. What works most for me in this movie was Oh. I absolutely fell in love with the character. He can do no wrong in my eyes, even though the movie is based off him doing wrong. But, that’s besides the point. I thought it was clever and funny that he got his name from everybody saying, “Oh”, when they initially see him because he’s that much of a screw up. I also thought, it was clever and funny how the aliens spoke in a third person, literal aspect. Some examples are when, Oh was stuck in a refrigerator and would say, ” Can I come into the out now?”; or, if the music was playing, he would say, “I’m waving the hands in the air, as if I just don’t care,” which was very amusing. If aliens came to earth and tried to learn our language, I feel that’s exactly how they would talk. Plus, half the kids in the audience probably has speech similar to Oh anyway, so I know they didn’t mind. Tip was okay, for the most part. I wanted more, but I get the feeling she was just a catalyst to help highlight Oh. Tip: This doesn’t work. Oh: Don’t worry, I can fix it. Tip: I need to find someone. Oh: It’s okay, Tip. I can find them. Etc, etc., I just wish they would have dove more into her character. But, once again, it’s a movie for kids. Another character I enjoyed was Oh’s best friend/not really best friend/it’s complicated. You have to watch the movie to understand what I mean. The Boov leader was a little annoying at times, but it was definitely bearable. (Baby Spoiler) They lose a full point for recycling a joke from Mega Mind. In Home, they had a Shush stick, basically a stick that knocks people out. In Mega Mind, they had a Forget me stick that basically…you guessed it, is a stick that knock people out. You have a team of well-paid writers. They should not be copying and pasting jokes. Most people probably didn’t pick that up, but I’m a movie fan. I remember lines like it’s no one’s business (Spoiler Finished). The plot was predictable. I knew what was going to happen, when it was going happen. Not to beat a dead horse, but if a movie is for kids, there doesn’t have to be much twists and turns.
Kids would be happy with anything as long as they have a good song to go with the storyline. This brings me to the music. It was suitable. The music was not extraordinary, but it definitely had catchy moments. The accompanying visuals helped bring out my inner kid. It had my foot moving and my head bopping to one side to another. Once again, the music was not excellent, but it would satisfy a kid’s sweet tooth for catchy hooks and bright color schemes to highlight a song or two. For example, take the car scene. All the kids in the theater stood up and started dancing, started waving their hands like they don’t care (yes, pun intended). The music does not do anything special in particular, but it does provide clean fun for children of all ages. Okay, so let’s wrap this up. What worked were the music, bright colors, casting, and predictable plot. For a kid, this is ideal. But, for an adult it can probably drive you nuts, but it will still have you engaged. What did not work were the recycled jokes. DreamWorks Studios, if you don’t want to be the stepbrother of Pixar and Disney, STEP-IT-UP. So referring back to what I have been missing from an animation was … an actual kid’s movie. No adult jokes, No adult themes. Just a straightforward animated children’s film. Just like there are movies that are made for adults. There should be movies just for children. Adults don’t have to enjoy every single one, just because they pay for them. But, it’s only right. Our parents did it for us, right? It’s the circle of life (Lion King joke, get it?).
This post was written by :
![]() who has written 91 posts on The Movie Blog Mo Baptiste strives to change the way movie reviews are written. His goal is to become a staple in the film industry. Since Feb 2015 he's been knocking out movie reviews for The Movie Blog. In his own candor and somewhat unbiased ways he can get you to love and anticipate, or hate and avoid a movie in a few short paragraphs. Born and raised in New York City, his favorite pastime besides screening movies and writing, is reading science and comic books. In his free time he kills monsters and rides dragons with his son. Follow me on twitter @mbcinematics
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