movie review
The Emoji Movie
Starring: T. J. Miller, James Corden, Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Steven Wright, Jennifer Coolidge, Christina Aguilera, Sofía Vergara, Sean Hayes, and Patrick Stewart
Directed by: Tony Leondis
Tagline: An adventure beyond words.
Starring: T. J. Miller, James Corden, Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Steven Wright, Jennifer Coolidge, Christina Aguilera, Sofía Vergara, Sean Hayes, and Patrick Stewart
Directed by: Tony Leondis
Tagline: An adventure beyond words.
Every once in a while you come across a film that is so devoid of merit that it feels like it exists just so you can recommend it to someone you hate. That’s what The Emoji Movie is like.
Try as hard as you can to think of something positive to say about this cinematic mess and you’ll still draw a blank.
The story is downright nonsensical. An emoji named Gene (voiced by T. J. Miller), who lives in a smartphone that belongs to a teenager (Jake T. Austin), has one purpose in life: to make the “meh” face whenever he is called upon to make an appearance onscreen in a text or email. But while other emojis have no trouble maintaining their respective expressions, Gene can’t commit to his assigned emotion. When his multi-expressional tendencies show up onscreen and cause havoc in Textopolis, Gene is deemed a malfunction. After the ruthless emoji leader Smiler (Maya Rudolph) orders his deletion, Gene sets out on a journey to become normal, teaming up with the ignored Hi-5 emoji (James Corden) and seeking the help of codebreaker Jailbreak (Anna Faris) who herself wants to escape into the cloud where she can be free.
Or something.
It’s all utter nonsense. Don’t waste your time thinking about the story. The filmmakers clearly didn’t, so why should you?
The script is terrible. There is no humour on offer here; all lame attempts at comedy fall completely flat. There is also no excitement, no suspense. You’d think the writers would at least take the smartphone setting as an opportunity to deliver some commentary or insight into the world’s technology obsession, but no, that would have required effort, when effort is something that was clearly not expended on this film. This derivative mess is so devoid of originality, intelligence, and wit that it makes (the awful) The Angry Birds Movie look like a masterpiece in comparison.
The animation is unremarkable. The character design is underwhelming.
The voice acting is lifeless. T. J. Miller’s part could have been played by just about anyone else in Hollywood and it wouldn’t have made the slightest difference. James Corden’s delivery and character are both grating. The script is so dull that not even human sunshine Anna Faris can make it work. And if Sir Patrick Stewart – who voices the poop emoji in this film – hasn’t fired his agent already, then he needs to do so, stat.
Better animated movies deliver the same lessons more effectively. Young viewers are smarter than this film gives them credit for, and their parents should not have to suffer through mind-numbing dullness just because Sony wants kids to consume more of its digital hogwash.
So the next time you want to exact revenge on someone for an unforgivable slight, just make them watch The Emoji Movie and rob them of one and a half hours of their life. That’ll teach ‘em.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Try as hard as you can to think of something positive to say about this cinematic mess and you’ll still draw a blank.
The story is downright nonsensical. An emoji named Gene (voiced by T. J. Miller), who lives in a smartphone that belongs to a teenager (Jake T. Austin), has one purpose in life: to make the “meh” face whenever he is called upon to make an appearance onscreen in a text or email. But while other emojis have no trouble maintaining their respective expressions, Gene can’t commit to his assigned emotion. When his multi-expressional tendencies show up onscreen and cause havoc in Textopolis, Gene is deemed a malfunction. After the ruthless emoji leader Smiler (Maya Rudolph) orders his deletion, Gene sets out on a journey to become normal, teaming up with the ignored Hi-5 emoji (James Corden) and seeking the help of codebreaker Jailbreak (Anna Faris) who herself wants to escape into the cloud where she can be free.
Or something.
It’s all utter nonsense. Don’t waste your time thinking about the story. The filmmakers clearly didn’t, so why should you?
The script is terrible. There is no humour on offer here; all lame attempts at comedy fall completely flat. There is also no excitement, no suspense. You’d think the writers would at least take the smartphone setting as an opportunity to deliver some commentary or insight into the world’s technology obsession, but no, that would have required effort, when effort is something that was clearly not expended on this film. This derivative mess is so devoid of originality, intelligence, and wit that it makes (the awful) The Angry Birds Movie look like a masterpiece in comparison.
The animation is unremarkable. The character design is underwhelming.
The voice acting is lifeless. T. J. Miller’s part could have been played by just about anyone else in Hollywood and it wouldn’t have made the slightest difference. James Corden’s delivery and character are both grating. The script is so dull that not even human sunshine Anna Faris can make it work. And if Sir Patrick Stewart – who voices the poop emoji in this film – hasn’t fired his agent already, then he needs to do so, stat.
Better animated movies deliver the same lessons more effectively. Young viewers are smarter than this film gives them credit for, and their parents should not have to suffer through mind-numbing dullness just because Sony wants kids to consume more of its digital hogwash.
So the next time you want to exact revenge on someone for an unforgivable slight, just make them watch The Emoji Movie and rob them of one and a half hours of their life. That’ll teach ‘em.
Rating: 1 out of 5
- Sameen Amer
The Express Tribune Blogs - 10th August, 2017 *
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