Movie Information
Release Date: March 7, 2014
Director: Rob Minkoff
Writer: Jay Ward, Craig Wright, Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon
Cast: Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Lauri Fraser, Guillaume Aretos, Patrice A. Musick, Ariel Winter, Karan Brar, Joshua Rush, Stephen Tobolowsky, Allison Janney, Dennis Haysbert, Stephen Colbert, Leslie Mann, Zach Callison, Steve Valentine, Leila Birch, Stanley Tucci, Lake Bell, Patrick Warburton
MPAA Rating: PG
Runtime: 92 minutes
By: Dreamworks Animation
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Language: English, Spanish
Country: USA
For such a great movie I can’t believe I vaguely remember this cartoon from The Rocky and Bullwinkle show from my childhood. Though after the credits starting rolling, a few childhood memories were fresh on the brain. Dreamworks Animation did a great job as Peabody and Sherman is not only entertaining for both children and adults, but also educational from the time traveling adventure we embark on. How do you gain the attention from the audience? Give them a great character that’s not only cute, funny, and smart, but also possess hilarious sarcasm. That about sums it up for Mr. Peabody, because as it should he steals the show. Sherman is also great but I feel his actions led to the hiccup during the 2nd act that unfortunately made the film suffer a bit. Going back to the positive we meet Mr. Peabody and all of his great characteristics and talent. To say he’s a genius is an understatement. We’re giving two great montages of how great of a character he is, then another with his great relationship with Sherman. He has the “I always know what’s best for you” persona, but many do and it gives him just the right amount of personality that makes him feel human and relatable (even though he’s a dog). What’s fun about his character is when he means well he sometimes comes across as a tool. Not wanting to engage in the same activities as others dogs like playing fetch or chasing his tail. He wants more out of life than just do be man’s best friend and it shows. These emotions lead him to be a great father and influence to Sherman. Sherman is likeable too for most of the film. He’s your average kid, but still has something special about him that hasn’t quite sprouted out yet. He has the same curiosities as any other kid his age. What moves the plot along are forces Sherman can’t control and the desire to get the approval from others and/or a certain classmate of his. We all can relate to this from having the grade school boy/girlfriend and adhering to peer pressure. Once the story moves on we get beautiful effects through animation and time travel. It’s fresh on the eyes from a perspective of space I’ve never witnessed previously. It just adds to the already fun adventure taking place. The story bounces back in forth through different time lines while also keeping you engaged with what’s going on in the present. So in a way it’s two stories at once and they’re boy engaging. What’s impressive is the time travel (called the way back) and how the characters are reacting on their journey. It’s also educational and adds flavor to past history some may not have known existed. My only problem with the film is the writers made Sherman dip out of character being disobedient purposely. It seemed completely out of wack just to thicken the plot which was completely unnecessary. I started to get annoyed with little Sherman as he was old enough to run towards common sense, but choose not to for whatever reason. Things come back around and the adventure continues throwing times lines from the past and present together in a giant melting pots that only leads to tons of fun, silly dialogue, and mishaps. Mr. Peabody and Sherman isn’t a complete homerun but a close effort. My expectations for this was honestly quite high and I am proud to say they were met. I’m not sure at this point if I would rush to the store first day released on video, but I would be proud to have it in my collection and would definitely recommend it to others. It’s a lot of fun, has heart, and a great number of laughs.