# The Angry Birds Movie - Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=77258[/img] 
*Title: The Angry Birds Movie* 

*Movie:* :3.5stars:
*Video:* :5stars:
*Audio:* :4.5stars: 
*Extras:* :4stars: 

*HTS Overall Score:*89




[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=77266[/img]*Summary*
My initial thoughts when hearing Sony was making an “Angry Birds” film was that we had come to the end of our creative cycle here. What was next? A “Tetris” movie? A “Gummy Bears” movie? Maybe even a movie about “Pokemon Go”? Oh wait, those are coming out too. Needless to say I was less than enthused as I wondered how in bloody blue blazes they were going to make a movie about brightly colored birds being thrown through slingshots to bust down buildings and wipe out the piggies. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself chuckling throughout the movie and even having a few cheers when the inevitable war against the pigs starts and we get to see some of the birds classic “powers” as they go to rescue their stolen eggs. Is it fantastic storytelling? No. But there is certainly enough brightly colored birds to keep the kids laughing and the enough pop culture references for the older ones. 

Red (Jason Sudeikis) has a bit of an anger problem. He grew up as the picked on and lonely bird of his community, and as a victim of bullying he developed anger as a defense mechanism. Now he’s reviled by the rest of the birds and lives outside of the village by his lonesome. Sentenced to anger management class, Red makes an unwilling friendship with a couple of other birds who have the same problem. Chuck (Josh Gad) is a fast talking, fast movie little guy who just loves to keep running his mouth. Bomb (nicknamed that because he literally explodes when he gets made, played by Danny McBride) is a bit dim, but still a fairly kind hearted soul, and of course Terrence (Sean Penn), a hulking brute of a guy whose only vocal work is through some grunts (but is also one of the more hysterical characters. Just watch the opening scene where Matilda reads his “file”. I actually paused the movie I was laughing so hard). 

While Red and the rest of them are loathing their anger management classes, a new threat has come to the village in the form of a Trojan horse. A ship filled with green pigs lands on Bird Island, seemingly there as ambassadors of friendship. They appear friendly and want to share everything they have, but Red isn’t buying it. Sneaking on board he finds a whole HORDE of little piggies in the hold, but even that doesn’t tip off the top brass on Bird Island. Thus Red is forced to wait until he sees the pigs up to their REAL plan. Stealing all of the unhatched eggs on the island so that the greedy pigs can stuff themselves with tasty tasty eggs. Barely able to warn the rest of the island the birds are too late. The pigs have left the island with their unborn children. However, Red’s anger issues come in handy now, as the only thing that fuels the rest of the birds is one thing, anger. Armed with nothing but slingshots and their rage, the birds follow the pigs across the ocean to their homeland and wage war upon the pig king’s castle to get their kids back. 

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=77274[/img]Angry Birds is not wildly inventive. In fact it sticks very closely to well-worn tropes. Red is the classic outcast with a gift that the others don’t recognize until it’s too late. Then he has to become the leader in an effort to save his people. Simple, effective, and rather charming here. The inclusion of so many talented actors is what makes it actually float though. Sudeikis works as the snarky Red (that’s pretty much Jason Sudeikis playing Jason Sudeikis really), and Josh Gad works as the motor mouthed Chuck. I honestly almost didn’t realize Danny McBride was Bomb until I looked it up on IMDB as he’s a bit more restrained than he usually is (and I would never have guessed they got Sean Penn to play Terrence due to zero dialog on his part). What really makes the cast is Peter Dinklage as Mighty Eagle. The man is legendary for his kooky roles and he completely knocks it out of the park as the egomaniacal moron eagle (the part where Chuck and Red are dreaming what Might Eagle must be like was gut busting). 

The movie is chock full of pop culture references, and references to the game itself, as you have signs that talk about “green eggs and ham” (with green piggies of course), the Birds and the Bees fertility clinic, etc etc etc. In fact I’d say that’s really the highlight of the film, picking out all the tons and tons of little winks and nods in the background of the film. Well, that and the Mighty Eagle meeting. Although I was surprised they let that scene get in there for a PG movie, as it was a bit cruder than I was expecting (although incredibly funny, and I’m not a fan of “fart joke” style humor for stuff like this). 

I like to rate movies based partially upon whether they accomplish what they set out to do. If a movie has big goals but falls short it gets counted against them, but if something is never meant to be high art, or something incredibly in depth and accomplishes those goals with ease, then I’m more likely to be lenient on it. That is really what happened here with “The angry Birds Movie”. It’s simple, it’s cute, and a majority of the humor comes from tongue in cheek pop culture references more than actually witty dialog. But I actually ended up liking the movie quite a bit. It’s harmless fun and there’s more than enough humor for the adults and brightly colored birds for the young ones, so I tend to give the movie a pass. 






*Rating:* 

Rated PG for rude humor and action





*Video* :5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=77282[/img]Wow, just wow. I’m actually in awe at the animation for “The Angry Birds Movie”. This is one of those movies where we’re drinking in all of the digital animation straight from the proverbial tap. There is just so much magnificent detail that I couldn’t help but having my tongue lolling out of the mouth and panting in glee. Just watch the individual fluffy feather’s on Red’s neck, or the fibers branching out from the crossing guard’s sign. One of the biggest tests in digital animation is how water looks in motion, and I have to say that this even beats “The Croods” for the best animated water to date. Just watch Bomb and Chuck splashing around in the lake of wisdom. The water flows and shimmers in slow motion, dancing across their feathers in pure digital bliss. Colors are bright and vibrantly varied, showing off every major primary under the sun. Red and Terrence are both uniquely shaded to their various tones of red. Chuck is brilliantly yellow and the little piggies look incredible and sickeningly green. Black levels remain deep and inky, with no digital artifacting that I could see, and I REALLY looked for banding and the like.







*Audio* :4.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=77290[/img]Not to be outdone, the 7.1 DTS-HD MA track is simply magnificent to behold. Sadly the Dolby Atmos track that is on the 4K disc isn’t available on the 3D or the 2D Blu-ray, but the lossless audio track is still almost 100% perfect. In fact, had I not a/b’d the Dolby Atmos track I would have given this one a perfect score. The only reason I didn’t was because the Atmos track just sounds a LITTLE better, and with the ability to have Atmos on Blu-ray this one gets knocked down to a 4.5 (although it’s one of the best 4.5’s I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. Dialog is crisp and perfectly intelligible at all times, and the mix starts out just a bit front heavy, only to explode out into a wildly immersive experience once the pig’s plans are laid out for all the world to see. LFE is tight and powerful, never overly bloated or pounding constantly, but coming and going when it is called for. The pig’s distraction party pulses with energy from the electronic dance beats, and the bird’s assault on the fortress is bone crushing as the differing birds unleash their video game powers. 







*Extras* :4stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=77298[/img]
• Bonus Scene: Chuck's Rescue
• Symphony Mode
• Making Music! With Composer Heitor Pereira
• Blake Shelton Music Video Friends
• Photo Gallery
• All-New Short - The Early Hatchling Gets the Worm (Blu-ray exclusive)
• 3 More Hatchlings Shorts (Blu-ray exclusive)
• Deleted Scenes (Blu-ray exclusive)
• Crafty Birds - How to Build Your Own Piggy Tower (Blu-ray exclusive)
• Dance Along Birds and Pigs (Blu-ray exclusive)
• Creating the Real World of Angry Birds (Blu-ray exclusive)
• Meet The Birds (Blu-ray exclusive)
• Meet The Pigs (Blu-ray exclusive)
• Meet The Hatchlings (Blu-ray exclusive)







*Overall:* :4.5stars:

I wasn’t expecting much from a movie based on an Android game meant to just pass time while you’re sitting at the dr.’s office, but I actually had a surprisingly good time with this fluffy bit of animated entertainment. I won’t say that it is up there with Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks, but “The Angry Birds Movie” is a cute little movie that is the perfect amount of fun and stupidity for the whole family. Much of the humor tends to come from pop culture references (at least the adult humor), and the characters are true to their video game counterparts, making fans of the game easily recognize the similarities. Audio and video scores are the real winners here, though, and the supply of very hefty extras make the package very attractive. For those of you who just want to watch the movie the Blu-ray is more than enough, but for those who want the most bang for their buck, then you might check out the 4K edition being that it includes the Blu-ray, the 3D Blu-ray AND the 4K UltraHD disc as well. Basically the whole tamale. Recommended for a fun watch



*Additional Information:*

Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride
Directed by: Clay Kaytis, Fergal Reilly
Written by: John Cohen, Mikael Hed
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 7.1, French, Spanish, English, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese DD 5.1
Studio: Sony
Rated: PG
Runtime: 97 Minutes 
Blu-ray Release Date: August 16th, 2016



*Buy The Angry Birds Movie On 4K UltraHD Blu-ray at Amazon*
*Buy The Angry Birds Movie On Blu-ray at Amazon*



*Recommendation: Recommended for a fun Watch​*







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## tripplej (Oct 23, 2011)

Thanks for the review. My son wanted to watch this in the theater but I was kind of skeptical so we didn't watch it. Now, after reading the review, I will rent this one.


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