‘SMALLFOOT’
PG 1:36
A clever premise, bold message and larger-thanlife charm help the animated adventure “Smallfoot” rise above the film’s ill-conceived venture into movie musical territory.
The Warner Animation Group movie cunningly turns the lasting legend of Bigfoot on its shaggy head. Directed and co-written by Karey Kirkpatrick (“Over the Hedge”), “Smallfoot” transports audiences high into the Himalayas, where a village of yetis dwells in cheerful isolation. Perky teenager Migo (voice of Channing Tatum) is especially happy with his place in this provincial ice land: He is apprenticing with his father, Dorgle (Danny DeVito), who holds the singular position as gong-ringer.
The gong-ringer’s job is to catapult himself headfirst into the gong daily to wake the giant glowing orange snail that travels through the sky to give light and heat to the world.
You might know it as the sun.
Yeti culture is built on an elaborate set of myths and rules that are literally carved on small stones that form the robe worn by the village leader, the Stonekeeper (Common, who brings nuance to a role that thankfully proves to have unsuspected depth). No one is allowed to question the stones or the Stonekeeper, under threat of banishment.
Migo learns that the hard way when he misjudges a practice run at the gong and hurtles down a mountainside and into the path of a crashing plane. He soon finds himself face to face with a legendary Smallfoot (also known as a human), whose parachute swoops him away. The problem is that, according to the stones, there’s no such thing as a Smallfoot, and when Migo refuses to recant, he is exiled.
The disillusioned protagonist doesn’t stay alone for long, as the members of the secret Smallfoot Evidentiary Society, or SES, seek him out. The group is made up of the town misfits — Gwangi (LeBron James), Kolka (Gina Rodriguez) and Fleem (Ely Henry) — but its leader is none other than the Stonekeeper’s smart and inquisitive daughter, Meechee (Zendaya).
With the help of the SES, Migo plots to venture below the clouds into what the Stonekeeper claims is nothingness and find proof that the Smallfoot is real.
Meanwhile, in a Nepalese town below the clouds, television nature show host Percy Patterson (James Corden) is feeling the pressure of plummeting ratings and viral video competition. To the disgust of his levelheaded producer Brenda (Yara Shahidi), he plots to fake a Bigfoot encounter to regain his fame and fortune — until he encounters the real thing in the towering Migo.
In a nod to the Warner Bros. cartoon canon, “Smallfoot” also boasts plenty of hilarious Looney Tunesesque sight gags, adding welcome zaniness to the film’s often-monochromatic visual palette.
But no amount of wackiness can make the animated musical’s original songs memorable; most of them are such generic children’s movie fodder that they are swept from memory faster than footprints in a blizzard.
The action and humor are appropriate for even tiny tots, but “Smallfoot” is pretty high-concept for an animated feature, even for a time when Pixar, DreamWorks and, to a lesser extent, Warner Animation Group, often produce thought-provoking material.
Although some may find the film’s messages subversive, I actually found the themes about respectfully questioning rules and beliefs, staying curious and seeking knowledge to be a refreshingly rousing change of pace from the usual children’s movie platitudes. It might be a “Smallfoot,” but a movie that values critical thinking is a big step in the right direction.
Starring: Voices of Channing Tatum, Common, Danny DeVito, LeBron James, James Corden, Zendaya and Gina Rodriguez (some action, rude humor, and thematic elements)
— Brandy McDonnell,
The Oklahoman