Movie Review: Smallfoot

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland


Michael's Movie Grade: B

Review: A delightfully enjoyable movie.

There is a lot to recommend this movie. The characters here are fantastic. There are no bad guys in this movie, as everybody has a very understandable reason for what they do. Nobody is out to hurt anybody else, they are instead out to either protect others or themselves, enlighten, learn or just trying to keep themselves from financial difficultly. Because of this these conflicts feel so human and completely relatable. We understand perfectly where they come from at all times, and it is easy to put ourselves in their shoes and feel what they feel. Among these conflicts are lessons about blindly believing and following what others tell you and about the importance of keeping your own integrity in a world that doesn't value it. These lessons are not subtle and in fact there is dialogue that directly states these exact things. However these lessons are beautifully worked into the movie. There is never a feeling that the entertainment stops so the movie can preach. Instead the lessons come naturally from the stories and characters. As well as any of this though the movie is just a lot of fun. The design work is fantastic. The characters have a goofy and silly look that is automatically appealing and enhances many of the slapstick scenes. However it is not too silly for us to take the story serious enough for the serious scenes to work. Speaking about the humor it is very good. There are many scenes in this movie that make me laugh. Of course Warner Brothers Animation has been known for its great slapstick comedies since the days of Looney Tunes, and it continues that legacy here. The slapstick is perfectly timed and the character's facial expressions always enhance the slapstick and make it even funnier. Still these jokes again always come directly from the story and add to it instead of detract from it.


The story in this movie is simple and charming. However its familiarity is obvious. We have seen much of this before and from the first song number you can probably guess the majority of the story and get it right. The whole movie is very predictable and because of this at times we feel we have seen this before. One scene in the bottom of a cave showing cave drawings even made me think of a movie as recent as Early Man. Still it is a story that is well told despite its predictability. The songs are also very familiar. Though the are new songs they don't feel new, but instead like so many other songs from recent animated movies. The songs are still pleasant to listen to and there was never a song that I actually disliked. Still there is nothing that I am going to remember tomorrow.

Overall a charming and fun, if familiar movie.

-Michael J. Ruhland