I have to admit, this movie wasn’t initially on my list to go see. But some of the others I’m waiting for are taking their time to make it to my local theaters (gotta love those limited releases!), and I had a night free, so I went. Very glad I did.
When I first saw a trailer for this movie, I thought it was a little weird. Today’s kids, and even kids from 10-15 years ago, won’t even know who these characters are. Even I only vaguely remember them from re-runs of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show when I was very young. I didn’t think it would be easy for this movie to find an audience, and perhaps I was correct. It did $32 million last weekend, which is very good obviously, but lower than some of this studio’s past movies like How to Train Your Dragon. It will also face stiff competition next week up against the new Muppets movie. However, it is getting getting some great word-of-mouth (77% on Rotten Tomatoes, an “A” on Cinemascore), so maybe it will hold for awhile.
Having said all that, this is a great family film. It is cute, funny, and you even might learn a thing or two from the genius Mr. Peabody. The films puts a funny spin on history, such as the French Revolution starting over Marie Antoinette’s love of cakes (lavish aristocracy vs the poor, starving population), or the Greek officer warning Sherman to not visit Oedipus (“very awkward house around the holidays”). Even how Mona Lisa gave us that enigmatic smile. And you can’t help but chuckle at Mr. Peabody’s eye-rolling puns throughout.
This is a film for everyone. The kids in the theater were laughing at Sherman and his friend’s antics, and the adults were laughing at the dialogue that was a little over the young-ins heads. This movie does a fantastic job of blending it all together, and with a heart-warming story to boot.
Jons Movie Takes 