Review of Annie (2014) by Thomas D — 21 Feb 2015

This new version of "Annie" has all the technological flash of 2014 and a soundtrack straight out of the 90's. The little actress that plays Annie is fun, and likable. The entire cast manages to have moments of charm. The movie as a whole never manages to be charming though. That's because any time charm is built up it is savagely beaten over the head by the auto tune and drum machines of the songs.

None of the songs are endearing or recognizable to anyone that has seen "Annie" before, and to anyone that hasn't seen it before they're probably wondering how Bel-Biv-Devo and En Vogue inspired a musical in 2015. For the younger generation that never heard music from the 90's they used auto tune on every song. "Tomorrow" ,the signature song of Annie until Jay-Z's ghetto anthem made in 1999, sounds terrible. If Quevenzhane Wallis can't sing they should have dubbed her voice instead of using auto tune. I mean it's not like anybody in this movie looked like they were singing anyway. The lip syncing was laughable. The choreography for every song was people walking and looking at the camera. If there was a group around, the main characters sang and the others broke out into random white people dances. There were no big musical numbers until the end, and that was a big let down too.

This "Annie" was an outdated update that has no character. It ultimately fails because the people making it were too busy making it look modern and flashy. They forgot that music and choreography are what people see musicals for.