{"id":8847,"date":"2018-02-19T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2018-02-19T12:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=8847"},"modified":"2018-06-28T13:32:07","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T17:32:07","slug":"paddington-peter-rabbit-and-woody-woodpecker-the-state-of-family-films-in-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/paddington-peter-rabbit-and-woody-woodpecker-the-state-of-family-films-in-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Paddington, Peter Rabbit, and Woody Woodpecker: The State of Family Films in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first handful of family films released in 2018 reflect a turbulent genre full of oddities and extremities, whimsy and disturbance. These movies \u2014 Paddington 2<\/i>, Peter Rabbit,<\/i> and the straight-to-DVD Woody Woodpecker \u2014 <\/i>got varying critical responses and have different audiences. Paddington 2<\/i> is a British movie based on a British property made predominantly for British people; Peter Rabbit<\/i> is an American movie based on a British property aimed at Brits and Americans; and Woody Woodpecker <\/i>\u2026 well, it\u2019s an American film based on an American cartoon made in Canada with Brazilians in mind. You follow? <\/span><\/p>\n

The results vary. Sometimes severely. But they have much in common. They\u2019re all old characters \u2014 Peter Rabbit debuted in 1902, Woody Woodpecker in 1940, Paddington in 1958 \u2014\u00a0and the movies all have the same idea: to bring a beloved anthropomorphic animal creation of yesteryear to today\u2019s young audiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

All three movies favor heavy slapstick, silly juvenile gags, high-stakes action, and the occasional gross-out gag (sometimes more than occasional). Paddington 2<\/i> follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, tracking its titular marmalade-loving, blue-jacket-wearing talking bear as he tries to find the perfect gift for his treasured Aunt Lucy in Peru. But when Paddington crosses paths with the dastardly actor Phoenix Buchanan (a delighted and delightful Hugh Grant), Paddington is framed for robbery and sent to jail. The Brown family (Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Samuel Joslin, Madeline Harris) must devise a plan to free the bear. <\/span><\/p>\n

The plots for Peter Rabbit<\/i> and Woody Woodpecker<\/i>, meanwhile, are remarkably similar to each other. Both center around cocky, arrogant outdoor creatures forced to deal with unwanted new human neighbors \u2014 Thomas McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson) in Peter Rabbit<\/i> and Lance Walters (Timothy Omundson) in Woody Woodpecker<\/i> \u2014 who wish to sell their inherited land to local investors. But the creatures put up a fight, and both Peter Rabbit<\/i> and Woody Woodpecker<\/i> involve turf wars between humans and animals. Spoiler alert: the animals win the humans over with the help of a beautiful local \u2014 Rose Byrne in Peter Rabbit<\/i> and Jordana Largy in Woody Woodpecker.<\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

All three movies own up to their cartoonish sensibilities and are full of goofy antics for the kids, knowing winks and meta jokes for the adults. Where these movies differ, not only in quality but in execution, is in how much they respect their respective source materials. Paddington 2<\/i> loves Michael Bond\u2019s creation, and that big-hearted appreciation bleeds into every single frame. Director Paul King\u2019s adaptations capture a timeless pop-up book quality, one that invites you into the warm splendor found in the author\u2019s creation. It\u2019s at once a joyous celebration of cinematic creativity and a rich, wondrous tribute to Bond\u2019s books that\u2019ll keep them adored for years to come. <\/span><\/p>\n

Woody Woodpecker<\/i> is, well, similar to the original cartoons, in that they both feature the same screechy, high-pitched laughing bird, but there\u2019s a general laziness to its execution that\u2019s intolerable. As a direct-to-DVD movie meant mainly to appeal to Brazilian audiences with American filmmaking sensibilities, it\u2019s an inherently odd movie, yet its formulaic plotting and unimaginative story make it frustratingly dull and savagely generic. Director Alex Zamm is the same low-rent auteur behind such certified classics as Chairman of the Board<\/i>, Tooth Fairy 2 <\/i>with Larry the Cable Guy, and last year\u2019s unsuspecting Netflix hit A Christmas Prince<\/i>. And his credibility shows. Woody Woodpecker<\/i> is such a cheap, insufferably unassuming movie that it could honestly have been the general script outline for any cartoon character turned live action. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s so padded out, so barely held together as a film, that it literally includes an original animated Woody Woodpecker<\/i> short after the credits to stretch it out past the 90-minute mark. But it inadvertently goes to show you all the ways Zamm got it wrong here. From the listless character interactions (it\u2019s unclear \u2014even after an hour-and-a-half \u2014 if the humans can understand what Woody is saying), to the exceptionally poor special effects, it is roughly as charming as a woodpecker pecking at your noggin for 90 minutes. <\/span><\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Peter Rabbit<\/i>, which is a strange concoction indeed. Director Will Gluck doesn\u2019t even try to make a traditional, respectful retelling of Beatrix Potter\u2019s refined character, opting instead for an irreverent sort of \u201ceverything but the kitchen sink\u201d approach. The film itself plays a lot like a PG-version of Neighbors<\/i>, including the presence of Rose Byrne. But throughout its odd existence, there is a great deal of inspiration and a clearly beating heart. The movie won\u2019t win the unabashed love of Potter fans everywhere, but it might inspire some new fans all the same. It\u2019s as sweet as it is off-putting, a family film with no clear intentions but a sincere aim to please. Does it work? Yes and no. It\u2019s a middling studio effort that works where it shouldn\u2019t and doesn\u2019t work where it should. Does that technically make it a success? Honestly, I\u2019m not even sure. <\/span><\/p>\n

With that broad scope of recent family pictures, however, audiences can see what family entertainment is like today. For every near-classic, you get a true stinker. And along the way, you get something that doesn\u2019t fit neatly into any one box. All three films take their beloved characters and run with them, providing three unique examples of what becomes of popular literary and cartoon characters inside the moviemaking system.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Will Ashton<\/a> pecks wood in Pittsburgh.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Support us by following us on Twitter<\/a> or liking us on Facebook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first handful of family films released in 2018 reflect a turbulent genre full of oddities and extremities, whimsy and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":525,"featured_media":8848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1381,1400],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","category-on-the-marquee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/525"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}