Skruffbagg

I first heard about this film from a trailer during a horror film I went to see (which was more than a bit strange) and perhaps it was because of the mood I was in - ready to be creeped out - but I snorted in derision because I thought it looked stupid.

Oh my, how wrong I was. This is an incredible piece of art, with a beautifully told story and the most spectacular animation I've ever seen. Really, this is a genuine masterpiece with huge emotional depth, a powerful, emotive and memorable soundtrack, and superb voice acting from all involved.

This even kept my 3 year old son completely silent and mesmerised for nearly 2hrs. Trust me, that's no mean feat.

Absolutely unforgettable and highly recommended for families.

I'm so confused about this film - is it a comedy? Tragedy? Horror? Is it a Christmas movie? Was it made for kids? Adults? Tweens? Nothing about this makes an ounce of sense.

One thing that is definitely not confusing; This movie is atrocious.

Clearly written purely as a Jack Black vehicle, he's hardly even in it and is simultaneously hamming it up and phoning it in. By no means his worst performance, but zero effort applied. The rest of the cast might as well immediately retire because their acting is some of the worst I've ever seen in a production of this kind. Keegan-Michael Key is the only person to come out of this with any credibility intact.

There are approximately 5 minor laugh moments in this film. One of them is because the scene is so bizarre and awkward you'll question what you just watched - The main kid's parents kidnap him from a carnival and literally bundle him into the back of their car off to a hospital for a brain examination. What? If you ever wondered what terrible parents are like, boom. There you are.

The ending is cheap and utterly grotesque - a complete insult to anyone with a brain or parents grieving the loss of a child. I turned to my partner and said "what the hell did I just watch? That movie was terrible".

1hr and 45 minutes of my life I will never get back, on a Saturday night too. Infuriating.

Let me first of all frame my review by saying I'm a massive fan of the original movie.

I hadn't even heard of this until I accidentally stumbled across it on Apple TV, and given that my partner has never seen the 1981 original (disgraceful, I know) I thought we should give it a whirl.

Let's get one thing straight - This is absolutely not a remake of the film. Most of the story beats are there, but it is otherwise completely different and is very much aimed squarely at kids, with some adult humour thrown in. Admittedly it starts off... not great, just ok, but stick with it for a few episodes and it becomes very funny, especially the episodes with the neanderthals and Mansa Musa.

It doesn't have the writing genius of Gilliam and Palin, but I enjoyed it as its own thing, and not just an updated version of the much loved film.

It helps if you're a fan of Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Concords) and Taika Watiti (What We Do in the Shadows) as their humour is pretty off the wall and improvised, but if you're a curmudgeon who says things like "in my day blah blah blah..." then you'll probably moan about this.

If you have adolescent kids, you won't really go wrong here. If you enjoy offbeat, stupid humour you'll have some fun. It's not amazing, but it's much better than it has any right to be, and I had a pretty decent time watching it.

I have minor hope for a 2nd series, but we'll see.