[yasr_overall_rating]
Storks have moved on from delivering babies to packages. But when an order for a baby appears, the best delivery stork must scramble to fix the error by delivering the baby.
The animated cartoon “Storks” began slowly leaving me to wonder if the film would be able to grab my attention. The pace picked up several minutes into the cartoon, and so did the laughs. The movie tried too hard in the beginning to force annoy characters into comic characters, which carried through the movie. The humor was simply too forced in several of the characters, but momentum allowed many of the characters to provide genuine humor before long. The two elected stars of the movie were diminished by the adorable soon-to-be siblings Nate and Baby Girl. This imaginative tale entwines with an old wives tale hopes to highlight just because a tradition is old does not mean it is outdated.
Eighteen years ago the best baby-delivering stork turned rogue when the baby he fell-in-love with his newest delivery. He wanted to keep the doe-eyed baby instead of delivering her to humans. This incident led the birds to switch out of the baby business and into the package delivery business. Assisted by other birds, the storks joined the e-business world thriving on the new packages which do not cry or bite. Junior, the best package deliverer, is told he will be promoted to boss as soon as he fires Tulip, the baby who was never delivered. Tulip, spent her formative years in the Stork compound building her own wings to be able to fly away eventually. Unable to fire Tulip, but determined to be boss, Junior exiles Tulip to the baby letter request room where she accidentally summons a baby.
Junior and Tulip journey to deliver the pink-haired baby whose laugh is infectious enough to win over their hearts, as well as a clan of resourceful wolves, determined to raise the captivating baby themselves. Meanwhile, Nate, the letter sender who requested the sibling, works hard along with his parents help to prepare their home for the stork delivery. This side story develops into a lesson as the parents see the benefits of interacting with their children more than their electronics. The motley crew of Junior, Tulip, and baby stumble through many hilarious obstacles in their path before several showdowns ensue. Followed around by several adversaries the misfits try to work together to accomplish their mission as they find a sense of family together. Fighting the stork boss, the stork who wanted to keep Tulip, and a mob of wolves, Tulip and Junior finally make their delivery, but not before creating a delightful mess a million times bigger than their first mess.
An attempt at an in-office nemesis goes wrong with a green pigeon who fails to hit his target goal of comicality. This character could have easily been replaced with a more engaging bird or just removed all together. The plot was more enjoyable than the actual characters as too much of their interactions seemed forced instead of natural, except for the baby and her soon-to-be sibling. The humor is mostly geared towards children with enough older jokes to encourage parents to keep watching. Some areas of the cartoon could have stood a little more tweaking before the release, but the good outweighs the bad. Children will be thoroughly entertained as birds slam into glass, airplanes fall from the sky, a house is turned into an amusement park, and wolves turn into a submarine. Grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy the show.
In theaters Friday, September 23rd
