STORKS Review
by: Nikhil Amarnath
At first glance, Storks is a typical market-driven animated movie – a feel-good story that has predictable plot-driving problems that are established near the beginning of the movie and resolve formulaically as the movie draws to a close. It revolves around a stork looking to become boss of the company he works for (voiced by Andy Samberg), and an orphan girl who is seeking her parents out (voiced by Katie Crown) whose delivery to her parents had failed when Jasper (voiced by Danny Trejo), a delivery stork, had grown too attached to her.
But the execution of the plot is where the movie begins its unique plunge into a kind of comedy that feels influenced by the presence of comedy heavyweights like Andy Samberg and the duo of Key and Peele (voicing the leaders of the Wolfpack). The movie constantly breaks into punchline delivery moments that these three have thrived on throughout their careers, and pushes the movie out of the general cliché of the animation genre – instead, perhaps, into the barely explored space that exists between kids’ animation and adult sketch comedy. Some of it didn’t land too well, and some of the jokes will fly well over the heads of the target audience – poor kids in the crowd looked terribly confused when the audience burst out into laughter and shocked awe when Samberg dropped a one-liner on gentrification out of nowhere (twice in the same scene).
Yet, that’s the kind of comedy that the movie thrives at; constantly jumping out of narrative flow just to fit in more one-liners that hit hard, and often going into random sequences that occasionally make the movie feel more like an episode of SNL than a feature film. It’s what will divide critics and audiences alike; you’ll either exit with a stomach aching of guilty laughter from silly humour, ranging from Key and Peele’s ridiculous slapstick comedy in their Wolfpack, scriptwriter Nicholas Stoller’s shock-filled parody elements that lash out at you throughout the film, Samberg’s ever-familiar one-lined quips, and even some rather weird and quirky humour from the overtly Californian pigeon Toady (voiced by Stephen Kramer Glickman); or you’d grimace, weep that comedy is dead, and continue to grumble about how humour of the Samberg/Key and Peele style is a disgrace to comedians worldwide.
Your kids, however, will most likely enjoy this movie, and walk away with warm feelings in their hearts from the generic (yet powerful) performances by Ty Burrell and Jennifer Aniston, who play busy parents who have a change of heart and learn to enjoy their fleeting time with their kid (played by Nate Gardner, whose lines are as strong and as well delivered as Samberg’s punchlines). As a fan of Samberg, and Key and Peele, it was a great time well-spent.
8.5/10
