"Storks" is one of those movies that looked pretty bad from what the trailers advertised. The film looked like a very stupid comedy made by Warner Animation Group, the studio that took the world by storm with "The Lego Movie". It also didn't help with the writer of the film was Nicholas Stoller, a writer I wasn't very fond of (he wrote the new Muppet movies which I really don't like). But, much to my surprise, I did like this film. Was it great? No, it wasn't a movie I'd watch over and over again, but for the most part, it was fine. Not a bad kids movie as the advertisements made it out to be, but certainly not great. It has problems that hold it from being a complete piece, but it was a fun movie to watch.
We all know that babies are delivered by Storks, delivered through the clouds from a mountaintop, but unknown to us humans, the storks are getting annoyed delivering the babies as they are problematic and get the storks into some serious danger. So, they decide to quit and move into the online store business forming a sort of Amazon clone called Cornerstone.com. And so, eighteen years later, a stork named Junior (Andy Samberg) is about to be promoted to the boss by the CEO of the company Hunter (Kelsey Grammar) after being the top deliverer of packages for the company. But before he can become boss, he has to fire the only human employee of the company, an eighteen-year-old named Tulip (Katie Crown) who is, in fact, one of the reasons that the storks quit baby delivering eighteen years ago. Unable to fire her though, Junior moves her to the mail room in the old baby factory with really nothing to do. However, after an optimistic young boy named Nate Gardner sends a letter to Storks asking for a baby brother, which accidentally creates a baby, Junior (who accidentally broke his wing) and Tulip decide to quickly deliver the baby without the company knowing so Junior can become boss.
"Storks" seems really silly from the way I wrote the plot, and yeah, it basically is. But, it's silly in a good way. It's fun and funny at times which is usually high praise for a goofy kids movie. Its animation is great. It's colorful, fast, and sometimes, it can be pretty to look at. The characters of the movie are also fun. I particularly like the character of Tulip. She's goofy and silly and has a pretty funny scene with her playing other people out of boredom with nothing to do in the mailroom. Junior is funny at times. Although he wasn't great, I had some respect for him in a way. The wolves (Key and Peele) are also pretty hilarious too. Wanting to make the baby part of the pack, they actually would do anything to get it back, even taking on the forms of different kinds of objects like boats, submarines, even a bridge. My biggest problem with the film is I think it would have been better off as a Cartoon Network miniseries rather than a movie based on the way it was edited. The film would randomly cut to black and then start again oddly as it was edited like a miniseries made into a movie. It took me out of the experience for a while, but I was able to get back into the goofy nature of the movie.
So, would I see "Storks" again? Probably not, but I will admit that I did like the movie for what it is. A silly, but fun animated comedy. With good characters, some bright animation and a fun story, I thought it was a pretty good kids film. Not great by any means, but fine. While it is not a must watch, I think it's worth one watch if you have the time.
