Storks Review

So far in 2016 pretty much every animated movie has featured talking animals. The trend continues with the newest animated movie called Storks. Like I said in my The Secret Life of Pets review, some of these movies have been pretty good while others not so much. For me Storks sits right in the middle. It was entertaining for the most part, just not very deep.

Storks takes place in a world where storks have stopped (not sure there is a world where they even started) delivering babies and instead deliver packages from an Amazon-esque site called Cornerstore. One day, a boy named Nate, decides he wants a baby brother and writes a letter to the storks asking them to deliver one to his house. A human orphan named Tulip, lives with storks and receives the letter and accidentally creates the baby via the Baby Making Machine. Tulip with the help of a stork named Junior (voiced by Andy Samberg) must work together to deliver the baby to it's new family. Along the way they run into various things that get in their way like a pack of wolves and an annoying pigeon that works at Cornerstore.

While watching Storks I was fairly entertained. I found myself laughing out loud during various parts of the movie. The funniest parts for me came from jokes that dealt with how people interact around babies. One thing I hear all the time is how great babies smell and that was a running joke throughout the movie, especially with the pack of wolves. I also enjoyed a scene where Tulip and Junior try to get some sleep but the baby will not let them and you just see the physical pain that it is causing them. Another scene I enjoyed was one where Tulip and Junior fight some penguins but they have to do it silently because the baby is sleeping.

I also thought the voice acting was pretty good in this movie. Andy Samberg was pretty entertaining as Junior. Usually Samberg annoys me, but since it was just his voice I found him enjoyable. Katie Crown voices Tulip and I thought she did a decent job. Katie is a voice actress on the show Adventure Time, which I have never watched, so before this movie I had never heard of her. I really enjoyed Ty Burrell as Henry, Nate's dad. He isn't given too much to do but I enjoyed watching him be a busy dad that then becomes obsessed with helping his son. Jennifer Aniston voices Sarah, Nate's mom. She is a pretty forgettable character. Kelsey Grammar was okay as Hunter, the stork boss of Cornerstore. He is only slightly menacing and I wish he had more to do. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele play the two leaders of the wolf pack when they were on screen I enjoyed them, but they are mainly there for laughs and not much else.

Even though I was entertained during Storks, it never reaches the emotional stakes that Pixar or even Dreamworks can attain. It's a very surface-level movie with it's laughs and story beats but has no depth that makes you emotionally attached to the characters. The main thing that kept me from being emotionally attached is that some of the characters have no reason to being in the movie. The movie tries to have these villains that have no motivation and never pose a threat to Tulip and Junior. One of the "villains" was just really annoying to me and pissed me off anytime he appeared on screen. Another character was just creepy and had no reason to be in the movie.

Storks was an entertaining movie that kids will enjoy and parents will laugh but will find not need to revisit.

3 1/2 out of 5 Stars