Review of Storks (2016) by Abb J — 29 Jan 2017

"With a generic plot that's confusing and predictable cartoon gags, "Storks" fails to deliver a good kiddie movie".

Movie Review: Storks.

Date Viewed: September 24 2016.

Directed By Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Five-Year Engagement,.

Neighbors and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising) and Doug Sweetland.

Written By Nicholas Stoller.

Featuring the voices of Andy Samberg, Katie Crown, Kelsey Grammer, Jennifer Aniston, Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key, Anton Starkman, Ty Burrell, Stephen Kramer Glickman and Danny Trejo.

With a generic plot that's confusing and predictable cartoon gags, "Storks" fails to deliver a good kiddie movie. It is the second film from Warner Animation Group, Warner Bros.' animated division which gave us the brilliant "LEGO Movie" which is one of my all-time favorite films. "Storks" in no shape reform doesn't have the same level of creativity or sharp humor like "The LEGO Movie" had and a fine voice cast led by Andy Samberg, Kelsey Grammer and Jennifer Aniston gets wasted in this harmless but not lively enough animated feature.

"Storks" is a new spin on the old tale of storks delivering babies to their biological parents. In this weirdly alternative universe, all the storks in the world no longer deliver babies as they now convert to just postal deliveries. The storks work for a postal service above the sky called Cornerstore. Our main character is a top delivery stork named Junior (voiced by Samberg), he's determined to take over the position of CEO from his boss, Hunter (voiced by Grammer). Hunter allows Junior to become CEO of Cornerstore if does one simple task, fire Tulip (voiced by Katie Crown) from the company, she's a human teenager who 18 years ago was the only baby left to deliver before the baby production shut down.

Junior wants the CEO position so badly but he struggles to fire Tulip because she's kind and hardworking. The reason she's being let go is that she always comes up with new ideas to promote for Cornerstore but none of those ideas ever flew. Instead of firing Tulip, Junior decides to transfer her to the mail room but that immediately backfires when she finds a boy's letter where it says that he wants a little brother. She sends the letter into the baby-making machine where a little baby girl is born. This miraculous dilemma is a huge situation for Junior because if his boss or any of the workers find out about this, he will be fired.

The young boy who requested a little brother is named Nate Gardner (voiced by Anton Starkman), an only child who has real-estate agent parents who are constantly busy all the time. Nate's mom and dad, Henry Gardner (voiced by Ty Burrell) and Sarah Gardner (voiced by Jennifer Aniston) didn't want to have another kid at first but now they really do because they believe that Cornerstore will actually deliver their new baby brother despite the fact that storks don't deliver babies anymore. Oh yeah, sorry to tell you Nate but um.... you're getting a baby sister.

Meanwhile, Junior and Tulip attempt to deliver the baby by borrowing or should I say stealing a flying machine and they bump into trouble in the form of a wolf pack led by Alpha and Beta (both voiced by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele). Despite the wolves finding the baby to be very cute and adorable, Junior and Tulip eventually escape from the Wolf Pack and they later encounter a giant stork named Jasper (voiced by Danny Trejo), he was supposed to deliver Tulip to her real family but the Cornerstore storks didn't let him because the Baby-Delivering business was finished.

Why did the storks end their baby-making ways? The movie never explains it. Another question? Did Nate and his parents have to build a giant delivery signal to the storks? I know you want your new brother or should I sister so badly but this is certainly not the way to go. "Storks" was written and directed by Nicholas Stoller who is usually known for his raunchy comedies (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Five-Year Engagement, Sex Tape and the two "Neighbors" films).

I like the fact that he's now shifting gears to the animated feature genre but he has to come up with a better story and funnier gags next time. There were times when I laughed and it is harmless fun for the kiddies but in a year where we had "Zootopia", "Finding Dory", "The Secret Life of Pets", "Kubo and the Two Strings" (which I didn't see yet) and the R-rated "Sausage Party", "Storks" is too broad and too cutesy for my taste.