Plot: It's Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang living their lives the way we love them. The actual story of the film is simply about Charlie Brown trying to get The Little Red-haired Girl to notice him. Simple as that.
Now I've looked forward to this movie for a while, but at the same time, I was a little nervous at what they were going to do with making a film about something as timeless as Peanuts. Which is more than I can say to practically everyone I've ever talked about this movie to while the film wasn't out yet. It seemed like everyone would either declare that it was going to be bad without so much as a thought or just express that they are really scared about how it was going to turn out. And it's totally understandable as to why they do that. The Peanuts comic is full of characters that so many of us have come to love and have a certain spot in our heart. So it only makes sense that we would be afraid about this movie turning into a complete cash in like the Smurfs or Garfield movies. I myself expressed that I would have started this review by saying that Blue Sky made my "hit list" if The Peanuts Movie turned out to be another complete victim of turning something timeless into another cheap cash in. I mean why the dickens wouldn't I? Peanuts has been a big chunk of my childhood from the comics, to the specials, to having a stuffed Snoopy that has been my favorite toy since the second grade. So as far as I am concerned, if this movie turned out bad, I practically would've had the right over-express my displeasure however I would see fit.
But thankfully, that didn't become the case. Because this turned out to be a good, smart, caring representation of the comics. Is it perfect? No, but for what they had to give us, this film, is a great way to show a movie of a famous comic strip in a way that's happily nostalgic for adults, and very enjoyable for kids. The animation was done in an extremely smart way by combining 3D animation with the 2D animation of the specials and other movies. At times it goes a little over the top, even to the point of the slapstick being a little too much whether it's with Snoopy or Charlie Brown or whoever else. But even with that said, when the slapstick is still enjoyable. Snoopy especially is fun to watch. From the voice, to the movement, to the facial expressions, he was as funny as we expected him to be in this film.
The rest of the gang were delivered very faithfully too. They delivered the misery of Charlie Brown and how nothing goes right for him, but still keeps on trying. They have Lucy as a self-absorbed brat, Linus with his blanket, Schroeder with his piano and love for Beethoven, the list goes on and on. And the makers of the film put their darnest into putting just about anything that we love about the comic strip/specials into an hour and a half movie. Sometimes in really small ways like Linus briefly mentioning the Great Pumpkin or Snoopy's family making a brief cameo, or references that come up frequently like Frieda with her naturally, curly hair or Peppermint Patty sleeping in class or calling Charlie Brown, Chuck. And they picked the right moments to deliver whatever references so many of us treasure, that truly made this a fun, accurate representation of the wonderful world of Peanuts from Charles Schultz.
If there's one real problem with the movie that is thankfully a nitpick in the long run, it would be the pop music in this movie. Granted, there are really only about two ish songs in there not counting the end credits, but when they play - especially at that school dance scene, they definitely are out of place. And it's things like this where I completely understand what people who were super scared about this movie were coming from. Because like I said, this could've been another Garfield or Smurfs movie where they take something timeless and modernize it and put a lot of product placement. And seeing as how Peanuts may as well be more timeless than Garfield and Smurfs put together, it is unpleasant when we hear these pop songs from some artist that we likely never heard of and probably will never hear from again. But I think it comes close enough to give it a pass because the songs, while modernized can be a little fun, and honestly, if two or three pop songs is as bad as it gets, then we can all agree that they're really just nitpicks and Schultz can still rest peacefully in his grave.
The last thing I want to talk about is the ending. I wont dare give away what it is, but let's just say it's something that I wonder if Charles Schultz would be okay with it. Would he like this ending, or would he see it as a betrayal to the spirit of his work? I think at the end of the day, it's really up to you to answer that for yourself. You can either say it's a betrayal, or consider to be satisfied that we get this kind of ending in a Peanuts anything for once.
And that's my review for The Peanuts Movie. Even if the animation and slapstick can be much at times and there are a couple of pop songs in attempt to modernize it, it still is a fun, entertaining movie that stays faithful to the work of Charles Schultz from beginning to end. It's no Lego Movie or Inside Out, but for what we have, it's a great time with some of our most treasured characters from our childhood.
Rating: 80%
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