Local filmmakers unfazed by foiled expectations
Nut Job 2 didn’t open to expectations, but that won’t stop local filmmakers Cal Brunker and Bob Barlen
KITCHENER — The conversation, as proposed a few days before opening weekend, was supposed to take a different turn.
“The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature” was supposed to open to wide acclaim.
And my interview with Kitchener filmmakers Cal Brunker, who wrote and directed, and Bob Barlen, who wrote and produced, would be a celebratory schmoozefest where they clapped each other on the back in their humble, self-deprecating way.
This, certainly, was the trajectory of their first big screen animated foray in 2013.
“Escape From Planet Earth,” a spirited indie flick about a stranded blue alien who learns the value of family, wasn’t expected to upend the status quo when it debuted one cold February weekend on a budget of 25 bucks (actually $40 million, but still pretty small).
When it unexpectedly bonked Bruce Willis’s latest “Die Hard” sequel out of contention and landed at No. 1 in North America, it was like winning the lottery.
It was also vindication for a couple of 30-something Grand River Collegiate grads who formed a fast friendship when Brunker mentored Barlen during Grade 9 orientation.
The extroverted captain of the school’s volleyball team (Brunker) and the introverted student president (Barlen) found they shared not only an offbeat sense of humour but a love for the “genuine, unsarcastic films” they grew up with: “Back to the Future,” “The Goonies,” “The Iron Giant.”
After studying animation at Toronto’s Sheridan College (Brunker) and filmmaking at Ryerson University (Barlen), they found that — like Batman and Robin, Carson and McMahon, SpongeBob and Patrick — they had the right combination of talent and ambition to become genuine contenders: fearless, bold, determined.
It was with this attitude — bolstered by the success of Planet Earth — that they embraced creative duties on the sequel to the 2014 squirrels-on-the-loose animated flick “The Nut Job.” It made sense, in theory. The original film — directed by fellow Canadian Peter Lepeniotis — was a surprise hit that boasted the biggest opening weekend ever for an indie animated feature film.
And despite snooty reviews that garnered a mere 11 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, the sequel appeared on track to repeat this feat, with an impressive B+ CinemaScore that was a half-grade higher than its predecessor and a good indication that audiences, if not critics, would like it even more ($9 million US).
Alas, history was not to repeat itself, and “The Nut Job 2” — which pits a gang of glutinous wildlife against a rapacious mayor who wants to pave paradise and put up an
amusement park — opened in North America last weekend below expectations.
Below expectations? It was the worst all-time opening for a film in 4,000 theatres or more.
Not a complete shock, perhaps, given that the kid flick market has been saturated in recent weeks by big-money contenders like “Despicable Me 3,” “Cars 3,” “Captain Underpants” and “The Emoji Movie.”
But for an upstart Canada-South Korea indie flick that fulfils its kid-first mandate with style, ingenuity and an intriguing dose of anarchy, it was a disappointment.
“There’s no sugar-coating it,”’ notes Brunker, the more outspoken of the duo. “The Rotten Tomatoes score is a bummer.
“And it would have been nice to have a bigger opening weekend, but I think that’s not a reflection of the film.
“A movie like this is aimed at a younger audience. It’s not a (Hayao) Miyazaki film. It’s a fun family adventure.”
It does, however, point to the challenges facing any indie flick competing in the ultracompetitive blockbuster environment.
“We’re not Sony or Disney or Universal,” notes Brunker without resentment. “But we’re going toe to toe with them at the box office. They’re our direct competition.”
Not only are they up against corporate behemoths with $200-million budgets, they have to contend with middle-aged critics on the prowl for Oscar gold who regard kid flicks as something they might scrape off their shoe.
“If you want to see a relentless piece of slapstick bedlam that features a rolling ferris wheel on fire and an actual mole playing whack-a-mole, then this is the movie for you!” wrote trade mag Variety sarcastically.
The implication: no one wants to see that.
The reality: everyone (under eight) wants to see that.
Brunker laughs. “I read that review and I was like ‘That’s great! I DO want to see a movie with a rolling ferris wheel on fire. Mission accomplished!’”
“As an animated entertainment,” continued Variety, “‘The Nut Job 2’ lacks several key factors: memorable characters, a fun story, jokes that will appeal to adults as well as little kids. But one thing it does not lack is visual momentum.”
Brunker, unperturbed by the gripes, seizes on the last part: “It’s one of the nicest things anybody had said,” he crows. “We really wanted to push the big visual set pieces!”
To be fair, any film that features a squirrel riding on the back of a pug to avoid a crazed child with a slingshot, and a battalion of kung fu mice inhabiting a rubber demolition suit, moving arms and legs as one, isn’t just inventive, it’s surreal.
“I watched it with my four-year-old nephew,” notes Barlen. “He was so caught up in it he had a lollypop and couldn’t even eat it.”
In tribute to the dynamic duo, I took my own kids, age 7 and 9, and they loved everything about it: the rolling ferris wheel, the vomiting dog, the kvetching wildlife, the homicidal mayor, Jackie Chan’s defiant “weapon of mouse destruction.” But then, I was a motivated parent. “It was clear from the trailers that ‘The Nut Job 2’ was aimed at very young children,” reports cartoonbrew.com.
“And the problem with aiming a film strictly at six-year-olds is that they can’t drive themselves to the movie theatre.”
It’s the reason most animated films — like “Finding Dory” and “Zootopia” — include moments of nostalgia, kitsch and genuine poignancy.
If you want a hit, you have to hook the parents, as well.
Brunker and Barlen, who pride themselves on the purity of their creation, make no apologies.
“I think at the core, everyone agrees: this movie was better than the first one, you won’t be bored and kids will like it,” insists the former while the latter echoes his sentiments in the background.
“Great — that’s the movie we set out to make!”
Working with A-list voice actors like Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph, Katherine Heigl and martial arts legend Chan — for whose participation the duo flew to China — was icing on the cake.
“I think the story of the box office will be a worldwide story,” notes Brunker, predicting that the film’s intense visual effects will make it an easier sell in foreign markets.
“That will be the way to evaluate it in six months time.” If not? No regrets. “I think whenever you put a movie into the world you’re hoping for them to cancel school all the next week, because every child in the nation needs to go see it,” laughs Brunker, already vetting future projects with Barlen.
“And you hope they’ll give you all the Oscars. You hope for the world.” He sighs. “You just have to bounce back. “Just to have the gift of getting to make movies for a living. It’s pretty easy to keep going.”
“Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature” is in theatres now.