Review of The Peanuts Movie (2015) by Paul B — 10 Jan 2016

The Peanuts Movie is the 5th feature length animated version of the Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts but this time using 3D computer animation technology. This time around this tells the story of Charlie Brown and his infatuation with a new pupil at his school, a mysterious red headed girl.

It's been 35 years since the last Charlie Brown movie (Snoopy Come Home, 1972) and 50 years since A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) and I only had a vague recollection of seeing the Peanuts movies, mostly either at Christmas or during the early mornings of school holidays but the image of Snoopy laying asleep on top of his kennel was always a prominent and memorable one. As I sat watching this film, I was asking myself, "Who exactly is this film aimed at?" The animation is flawless and the story is very nice and sweet, however wasn't anything to keep adults entertained and the angst ridden exploits of Charlie Brown probably went over the heads of youngsters who probably weren't aware of most of the reference. And speaking of Charlie Brown, I don't remember him being so damn depressing, with every pit fall I wanted to give him a good slap and for a film that was only 90 minutes long, there were a lot of slaps to be dealt out.

It's obvious that a lot of care and attention went into making the movie and it's a love letter to it's creator unfortunately not enough attention went into the script.