Angry Birds is out in the United Kingdom on May 13.
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The story takes place on a bird island, where happy and flightless birds live in peace and harmony.
Rovio Entertainment Ltd., the Finnish company behind “Angry Birds”, decided four years ago to take a gamble: Rather than license its characters to a Hollywood studio in exchange for a percentage of the proceeds, it would finance a $73 million movie with its own cash.
We also really thought the pigs were amusing, especially when they were dancing, just like in the game where they are also the bad guys. Then something happens, and it becomes entertaining again, then annoying again, and the cycle goes on. For example, out of all the territories it released in, The Angry Birds Movie topped the charts as the highest grossing film of the weekend in 37 of them.
Kudos to scriptwriter Jon Vitti, known for his work on The Simpsons and The Office, for developing a very interesting plot from a simple question that may have been posed by the game’s fans.
Ultimately, “The Angry Birds Movie” does a decent job exploring the merits of anger.
Seeking out more assistance from the mythical and egomaniacal Mighty Eagle (voiced by Peter Dinklage), who gets an nearly smile-inducing introduction (even though you’ve probably seen it in the trailer), the group works out what’s going on but are too late to stop piggy leader Leonard (Bill Hader) doing that dastardly business with all those eggs.
Sony and Rovio are betting their efforts will be enough to turn “Angry Birds” into a long-term cultural staple and profit driver, the way the “Despicable Me” and “Lego” films are for Universal Pictures and Warner Bros., respectively.
They find out why the pigs come to the bird’s island and they try to warn other naive birds about their visitors’ bad intentions. The film is supported by Jason Sudeikis as Red, Josh Gad as speedy Chuck, Bill Hader as a pig, Maya Rudolph as Matilda, and Peter Dinklage as the Mighty Eagle.
It’s all nonsense, but there is a charm to the pointlessness of it all.
Rovio bankrolled the $73 million feature film itself. The concept is simple: how did the angry birds get so angry? Everything is hurried. All the jokes are thrown around in record speed, but only a few hit their target. Children will love the side-splitting humour in most of the scenes.
It’s a pretty movie. Sony, which releases the movie Friday, is using every tool at its disposal to make sure the ill-tempered, multicolored flock is everywhere in sight. The success of the movie’s comedy rests entirely in how silly the movie really is. It’s fluff, a thing to keep the kids at bay while their parents are busy taking time off from the realities of family life.
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Other companies participating in the campaign included the Novotel European hotel chain, Home Depot, Nestle, HSBC and Telefonica, a roster that typically wouldn’t be expected to get in line behind a children’s movie, said Ziad Toubassy, Sony Pictures’ vice president of global promotions.
