In the animated comedy, “Free Birds”, a pair of turkeys named Reggie and Jake (voiced by Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson) travel back in time to the first Thanksgiving in 1621 so they can get their kind off the menu. When I first heard this concept, I thought it was unique, clever and had a lot of potential. The film’s director, Jimmy Hayward (“Horton Hears a Who!”, “Jonah Hex”), told me that’s exactly what attracted him to the project.
However, the execution of “Free Birds” offers mixed results. The film has strengths and weaknesses in almost every category. It’s sort of like a real Thanksgiving meal: some of the food is delicious, other dishes you absolutely won’t touch. And there are always stories shared at the table that are too confusing and end up going nowhere. And comments made, maybe even with good intentions, that lead to trouble.
Where Chuck E. Cheese’s pizza fits into the equation I’m still not sure. In fact, there’s a lot of product placement in “Free Birds”, particularly involving the kid’s party playhouse scenes. At least it isn’t quite as bad as the 7-Eleven dominated “Escape From Planet Earth” from earlier this year.
Wilson is known for voicing the animated character Lightning McQueen in Pixar’s “Cars” movies, but that’s not a distraction here. He, Harrelson, Amy Poehler, who plays Reggie’s love interest, Jenny, and George Takei as the time machine S.T.E.V.E., lead a nice voice cast. This is REEL FX Animation Studios’ first theatrical feature. The animation work on the turkeys and other animals is outstanding, but the look of the humans falls a little short. This is a common problem shared with most animated studios. On the positive side, there’s a scene from space looking down upon Earth that rivals the best stuff in “Gravity” – (OK, I may be pulling your [turkey] leg a bit).
“Free Birds” is a time travel/space time continuum movie. For little
ones, seeing not one, two or three (like in bowling), but four Reggies in the same scene may be a bit confusing. But Hayward and the filmmakers intentionally go
over-the-top with the sci-fi for laughs. The script is stuffed with corny one-liners, such as the exchange: “How do we address them? With Cranberry Sauce” and “Those are some angry birds”. Some of the puns and pop culture references work, others come out stone cold. A few emotional moments help the movie rise above the generic level of the genre.
“Free Birds” is rated PG for mild action/violence and is appropriate for kids 8 and up. It’s not as exciting, entertaining or funny as “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” and “Despicable Me 2”, but it’s not a complete turkey either.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Free Birds” gets a C+. A worthy first effort for REEL FX. And their second course, “Book of Life”, is already in the works and due out this October.