Ferdinand Review
Earlier this year I posted about the five movies I was looking forward to for the second half of the year. I put Ferdinand on the list even though I knew Pixar's Coco would probably be better and Ferdinand was coming out the same day as Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Pitting it against a movie that big seemed like a death sentence, but I was still looking forward to this movie because I was such a fan of the book. In fact, the 1936 Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson book has been a known gift for friends’ babies. But would a full-length movie do justice to the short children's story?
Ferdinand tells the story of a bull that is being raised to fight, but all he wants to do is smell flowers. After an incident involving a bumble bee, Ferdinand (John Cena) gets mistaken for a dangerous animal and is torn from a family who loves him and is forced to fight the matador in Spain.
The important thing to remember here is that this is a kids’ movie. And because of that, there is a lot of juvenile humor. Don't mistake that as a bad thing. I like a good fart joke or dance battle as much as the next guy, but I can see that in any generic kids’ movie. Ferdinand is at its best when it does things that ring true to the character, like how Ferdinand reacts when someone might get hurt, or his concern when he finds himself around fine china. There are moments when you can see the writers trying to stretch the story and when the movie strains itself or adds too much (much of the middle section) the story suffers.
Ferdinand tells the story of a bull that is being raised to fight, but all he wants to do is smell flowers. After an incident involving a bumble bee, Ferdinand (John Cena) gets mistaken for a dangerous animal and is torn from a family who loves him and is forced to fight the matador in Spain.
The important thing to remember here is that this is a kids’ movie. And because of that, there is a lot of juvenile humor. Don't mistake that as a bad thing. I like a good fart joke or dance battle as much as the next guy, but I can see that in any generic kids’ movie. Ferdinand is at its best when it does things that ring true to the character, like how Ferdinand reacts when someone might get hurt, or his concern when he finds himself around fine china. There are moments when you can see the writers trying to stretch the story and when the movie strains itself or adds too much (much of the middle section) the story suffers.
One thing the movie gets right is the voice acting. It would have been nice to get a Spanish voice actor in the title role, but I liked John Cena here. Here is a guy who made a wrestling career out of always being the good guy, never giving up, and always being who you are despite the boos from half the audience. He speaks perfectly to who the character is. Many of the other secondary voice actors are Latino/a, including Gina Rodriguez and Gabriel Iglesias. Peyton Manning as the bull who always gets an upset stomach before a big moment was a bit of a weird casting choice, but since he had a long face like a steer I think it probably made sense.
Likewise, there probably could have been a little more Spanish music in the soundtrack than one Juanes song and the Macarena. But since I was tapping my toe to the Nick Jonas song that played over the growing up montage should probably shut up.
When it comes to kids movies there is a lot of garbage out there. The Penguins of Madagascar always jumps out in my mind when I think of bad kids’ movies. Ferdinand is better than that, a lot better. The thing is, Pixar is also out there and they have set the bar higher. Ferdinand is not that good, mostly due to the injection of too much story to increase the run-time. But with good animation, fun voice actors, and a heartfelt message about being true to yourself, there is enough in Ferdinand for everyone to enjoy. B-/C+
Likewise, there probably could have been a little more Spanish music in the soundtrack than one Juanes song and the Macarena. But since I was tapping my toe to the Nick Jonas song that played over the growing up montage should probably shut up.
When it comes to kids movies there is a lot of garbage out there. The Penguins of Madagascar always jumps out in my mind when I think of bad kids’ movies. Ferdinand is better than that, a lot better. The thing is, Pixar is also out there and they have set the bar higher. Ferdinand is not that good, mostly due to the injection of too much story to increase the run-time. But with good animation, fun voice actors, and a heartfelt message about being true to yourself, there is enough in Ferdinand for everyone to enjoy. B-/C+
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