Barnyard

Barnyard is another in the entertaining animated films that attempt to please all audiences. There's much good humor in this film and many sight gags as well as the usual shenanigans. The film is well put together technically, but there are some things about the film that just don't hit the spot. I didn't have any sympathy for the lead character Otis. Perhaps it was just the mood I was in, but the characters just didn't come through and I didn't feel much of an emotional response through most of the film. I think it was a little too teen for me. If you want some good teen-ish laughs, this is for you. Otherwise go with Cars or Over the Hedge.

BARNYARD

For severe lack of options currently in theaters, I found myself seeing a movie I thought you wouldn't have been able to pay me to see... BARNYARD. I couldn't have had less interest in seeing this movie, however a friend of mine swore that when they took the kids they were babysitting, they laughed so hard they snorted. So I figured, why not.

I can honestly say the film is enjoyable, and I'll get to the reasons why later on in this write up. But their are some glaringly bad qualities to these movies that need to be mentioned. The animation is simply not up to par for what other studios are offering right now. It all feels non-dimensional and simple. Character designs lack creativity and the execution could have been much better. Also, the voice work does little to improve the material (with the exception of David Koechner as the villainous Coyote). To be honest, people like Courtney Cox have never been worse or less engaging.

I would describe the plot here, however it's easier to say watch THE LION KING. Except here, the film tries to mix the most dramatic elements of THE LION KING with slapstick/crude humor that doesn't mix. THE LION KING's humor had some class to it which allowed the drama to feel real. However, when BARNYARD attempts to be dramatic it just feels awkward because two seconds before you watched a mouse crap pellets onto the head of a pig. Not only are main plots stolen from THE LION KING, but the villains are painfully reminiscent of the Hyenas in that better film.

Nonetheless, BARNYARD has some genuinely funny moments. While other family CGI films seem to excel at balancing wonderful storytelling with intelligent humor and social commentary (Pixar for example), this film simply goes for the laugh at all costs. This takes away virtually all artistic merit for the film. But then again, it's not as if BARNYARD was ever aiming for artistic merit. BARNYARD was gunning for mindless humor that would appeal to kids and adults, and it succeeds to great extents in some sequences. In particular, there is a scene in which the farmer witnesses the other life his animals lead and they hilariously try to convince him it was all a hallucination.

While this works well for kids, I couldn't help but want a more engrossing plot. The plot is too familiar and the animation does nothing to enhance it with a visual flair. Though the film kept me laughing, anytime I wasn't laughing at some stupid joke I found myself anxious for it all to be over. In general, BARNYARD is good for a hearty laugh, but not as a full movie.

... C ...

Dear Friends,

My name is Huri, I have a 6 years old who loves animated movies. every day he asks me to go out to shop movies, he has almost all animated products of different company. me and my husband watch all movies with him several times. Sometimes he watch movies in till midnight while he is using a headphone to avoid disturbing others.

A few months ago I bought "BARN YARD" cartoon for him, he asked me that are all cows female including Otis and Ben? If yes, why their characters are male? - in this case he watched the movie alone because I was cooking. I asked him why? he answered me that because Ben and Otis have TEAT such as Daisy! me and my husband watch the film with him and find out that he is correct! we surprise so much, then I check the site and understand that even though any where in site is mentioned that both of them and Jasi's cows are male but they have teat? As you know that is impossible! how you can explain it? as you know only and only females have teat in any kind of animals that feed their babies. please describe it. perhaps Mr. Oedekerk wants to tell another thing!

We kindly ask Mr. Oedekerk and other friends to give us explanation to understand the meaning.

Best regards Huri, Hamze (My husband) and Saman (our son)

hmmm.once again i'm amazed.i can't understand the low rating(just over 5/10)this movie has.i thought there were a few very funny moments in the movie,much more than "Over the Hedge" which has a rating of over 7/10.this movie is also touching in parts and i thought they achieved a good balance of humour and drama.while i wouldn't say it is hysterically funny,there are,like i said,some very funny moments.this movie is also a fun movie to watch.it is exciting,with plenty of action.this to me is a much better family movie than its rating reflects.id have to say it tries very hard to achieve its goal of being an animated comedy(and succeeds often enough)rather than just an animated film."Barnyard" gets a 6/10.

To the lady who wrote the first review, get over it! This is a movie, one with talking animals, and you are worried about the udderly silliest things. So what? Did you want to see the big male organs on the male cows? I think that is why there is an udder on all the cows, to avoid this uncomfortable situation. Or maybe it was just something silly to do, at any rate if you had to have a heart to heart with your kids about male and female animals, I am sorry for them. They need parents who can relax a bit.

The film is OK. My two boys liked it and I did too. It is not a classic, but a good film. Overall a barnyard remake of Lion King with a lot of the same plot elements. Kevin James character is great and there is a lot of good humor for much of the film.