In between gags ‘Smallfoot’ tells kids to think for themselves
If Smallfoot feels like a lecture on “Fake News,” then you’d be right. Warner Bros animation’s new film stars Channing Tatum as the voice of Mego, a Yeti in a village of Abominables, governed by folklore and fear of the unknown.
Migo’s dad, Dorgle (Danny DeVito), has the responsibility of starting each day for the village by summoning the giant, orange snail that travels across the sky by slingshotting himself through the air and hitting a gong with his head. Then the sun rises. Mego trains to take over some day, but comes face to face with a human – a smallfoot.
But they don’t exist.
Well, according to the stones and the seemingly benevolent Stonekeeper (Common), who wears the rules as a massive cloak made of individually carved rocks. Mego meets up with a conspiracy theory group who have gathered several human items, everyday things like toilet paper, a ski pole or a jacket, but labeling them a “The Scroll of Invisible Wisdom,” a horn and a pelt.
Mego’s interaction with a greedy and selfish wildlife reporter named Percy (James Corden) sets to drive the change in the Yeti culture.
The film is a clear rip off of The Lego Movie with Mego playing a snowy, sasquatch version of Chris Pratt’s Emmet.
The Stonekeeper’s daughter, Meechee (Zendaya), the strong willed young female Yeti and the band of crazies steal the show: Gwangi, a giant, purple version (voiced by Lebron James); Gina Rodriguez’s voiced Kolka and Ely Henry’s Fleem.
The message of Smallfoot takes on tradition as primitive and outdated.
Hey kids, you’ve been lied to your whole life and your parents concocted a ton of stories and myths to protect you.
At one point the Stonekeeper’s reaction to the human is to deny, deny, deny. He refutes the scientific evidence that’s right in front of him.
It’s kind of silly and laughable. The filmmakers attempt to get us to think that this is how people in the real world REALLY act and form their beliefs….arrogant and condescending.
The journey is fun with some good intended messaging.
Smallfoot receives 2 stars out of 5 stars