Ferdinand

Voices of: John Cena, Kate McKinnon, Jeremy Sisto, Bobby Cannavale, Anthony Anderson, Peyton Manning, David Tennant, Gina Rodriguez, Daveed Diggs, Gabriel Iglesias
Directed by: Carlos Saldanha
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Ferdinand (John Cena) is expected to be a fighter in the ring, but the kind bull has no desire for combat.

Review:

Tim: There is a pretty big discrepancy between those in Hollywood who've cracked the code on animated films (Disney, Pixar, sometimes Dreamworks) and those who haven't. Ferdinand is just a mess of a movie. It's not very entertaining, it's completely forgettable, and it's an example of poor animation movie making. It's the kind of movie that feels like it was built exclusively for kids (just wait)- a movie that doesn't challenge itself to be more than mindless entertainment. The best animated movies appeal to all demographics, but are especially powerful to children. Ferdinand took the "Look, a talking bull!" approach. This should have been so much better.

The most memorable aspect of the film is Ferdinand. It was a great idea to have John Cena voice him. That pairing was really strong. I tend to like the idea of the character as well- a pacifist bull in Spain. Contradictions are interesting and I found his character worth exploring. Unfortunately, the movie around him is a mess. We have a fairly dark introduction to Ferdinand, then he escapes, finds himself adopted by a girl and lives a peaceful life while he grows up. Then, through a series of convenient events, he finds himself back in his original home and slated to fight a bullfighter. There's an escape, a chase, a bullfight, and with every passing minute I lost more and more focus on the film. The story isn't engaging in the least.

The film also has way too many characters. The effect of this is that outside Ferdinand, most of them are underdeveloped. It kind of felt like additional characters were added to sell more toys. The result is that the main story keeps getting put aside for these little subplots that don't really further the story. They aren't especially funny or entertaining. It simply doesn't work. For example, did we really need the three Spanish horses? We already have Ferdinand, his adopted family and that dog, the goat, the multiple bulls he is reconnected with, three hedgehogs, and I'm certainly forgetting others. The script really needed to excise some of these less effective characters so we could spend more time with the effective ones. For example, while the goat was annoying (just like Kate McKinnon), we could have used more time with her. The same can be said for the other bulls. Bobby Cannavale, Anthony Anderson, David Tennant, and Peyton Manning(!) actually did a good job voicing those characters. A bit more time with them wouldn't have hurt.

I really didn't find the film funny at all. There are a few lighthearted moments that aren't bad, but the movie surprisingly missed the mark. It went for the easy gags (a bull in a china shop!) rather than truly delivering something hilarious. The movie felt like a subpar effort from beginning to end.

My son is three and he wasn't overly interested in this movie. I know he's a bit young for it, but he's a good gauge for me and an additional data point. Ferdinand is a forgettable animated movie. The silver lining is that in this case, I want to forget it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 4.5



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