Michael's Movie Grade:C+
Review: DreamWorks has proven with the Kung Fu Panda trilogy (yes I know there are more coming and I am excited), that they can make an idea that seems bad on paper actually work. While this movie is not on the same level as Kung Fu Panda the filmmakers takes a seemingly terrible idea and makes a movie that is quite enjoyable.
While so many animated features today go out of their way to make their fantasy worlds seem as real as possible and for us to accept them as such, Boss Baby simply embraces the fact that it is a cartoon by simply having fun with how absurd it all is, and having a field day with their imaginations. This is the film's biggest asset. This is especially shown through Tim's various fantasies and daydreams. Taking a page out of Maurice Noble's design work for the Ralph Philips cartoons of the 1950's all of those working in DreamWorks art department create a vivid, but very stylized look to these daydreams, that is honestly a joy to look at. Also great to see is the fantastic design of Baby Corp., which is so imaginative that it creates a great sense of fun here. The idea of babies and puppies being created by companies rather than well you know is a great one that just helps add to the fun.
The characters are quite likable. While they might not be the best fleshed out characters in animation, they are not just the one joke characters that you might think they are from the previews.
On the downside for a comedy this film has very few laugh out loud moments. This isn't to say that the humor is bad, but I giggled and smiled more than I actually laughed out loud. There are some laugh out loud moments ("Your parents are Lennon and McCartney"), but there are just much fewer than there should be for a movie like this. Also while the film is full of imagination, it is not lacking in Clichés. There are many moments where you know just what is going to happen and I think many people will see the ending coming.
So this isn't Kung Fu Panda by any means it is a fun movie, and definitely worth a watch.
-Michael J. Ruhland
