"The Emoji Movie" film review

 

 

 

I know I am late to the party in regards to writing about "The Emojii Movie". I know the internet and multiple film and media critics took their turns ripping this film apart. Really, there is nothing new I can add what has already been said.

 

Having said that, I feel that if members of the average movie-going crowd are displeased with what big budget studios are releasing, it's up to us to say it's garbage. We all know critics get a bad rap among typical movie-goers, as there seems to be a divide in what critics see as praise worthy or condemnable, versus what the masses see. It was the same story with movies like "Suicide Squad", "Batman V. Superman", "American Sniper" and others. So it's our job as patrons of film and media to voice our opinions and make them known so that maybe the studios will take notice and stop or continue making the types of film we want (or don't want) to see.

 

 

And now is my turn to voice my opinion. "The Emoji Movie" is completely harmless, but it is also utter garbage.

 

Released on July 28th, 2017 from Sony Pictures Animation "The Emoji Movie" tells the story of Gene (played by T.J. Miller), the Meh emoji who lives in the city of "Textopolis", which is located in the smart phone of a high school freshman named Alex. Gene explains through expositional narration that an emoji's job is to maintain one and only one emotion. So the crying emoji is always crying even when he's happy, the laughing emoji always laughs even if he's in pain, and vice versa. So, Gene's job is to portray only a feeling of apathy in order to do his job and fit in with the other emojis. However, Gene has multiple expressions and emotions therefore making him the token "misfit" character.  During his first day on the job Gene is selected by Alex to be sent in a text to a girl he is attracted to; but instead of being only "meh" Gene shows too many emotions at once and doesn't convey the proper emotion. The main antagonist of the film, a smiling emoji named "Smiler" (played by Maya Rudolph) finds out about Gene's emotional breakdown and decides to have him deleted in order to protect the order within Textopolis.

 

Gene decides to try and find a hacker who can make him be a normal Meh face, so he can be a normal emoji and be able to perform his job. He teams up with Hi-5 (James Cordon), the obligatory funny fat side character who is obsessed with being a popular emoji again, and they take off for a trip through the multiple apps on Alex's phone (all of which are their own little worlds) in order to find the hacker. They find what/who they're looking for in the "Piracy App" (which is a thing, apparently) in the character of Jail Break (Anna Ferris). She joins the party on their mission, while they are being hunted down by Smiler's "bots" who are set to seek and destroy Gene.

 

Ultimately by the end of the movie you find out Jail Break is actually a princess emoji who wants to be her own person, and not what she actually is, it's revealed that Gene's father is also capable of displaying other emotions like Gene, Gene learns to accept himself, everyone is happy and has a dance party….. The end.

 

 

I really don't know where to start with this film. While it is fairly harmless in the way of children's movies and acts like a cinematic set of keys being jingled in their faces for and hour and 30 minutes, I still feel that this movie is something that no one really wanted, didn't care when it came out, and thankfully will be forgotten over the years as it is beyond bland and forgettable.

 

Generally speaking, that is enough. The fact that "The Emoji Movie" is so basic and uninspired that it will easily be forgotten in minimum 3 years is enough for me. But this sort of blatant selling out and product placement is what is wrong with films in general these days, and that is all the reason in the world to speak up about it. Film and motion pictures are types of art, and should be treated as such. Let's compare film to literature for a second. Some films can be revered on the same level of greatness as famous works of literature, while there are movies that are as memorable as a favorite nursery rhyme or children's story; not as grand or as epic, but they tell a story and convey it in a way that stays with the reader/viewer forever. Then you have films like "The Emoji Movie" which are comparable to sales adds for Walmart. Lots of bright pretty colors, identifiable brands, it pulls you in enough so you look but you will literally forget about it after you throw it in your garbage can.

 

The plot of this movie is unapologetically dull and forced, none of the characters are interesting enough to have the audience actually care about them,  the central plot has been done much better in other films ("Inside Out" and "Wreck It Ralph" come to mind), the jokes are one note and unfunny… It's not the worst or most offensive film I've seen, but the fact that movies like this keep getting churned out is a problem, as they are only created to make money- not to stimulate their audience, not to inspire imagination; just make a profit from people who don't mind.

 

I also am beyond confused as to who the target audience for this film was. "The Emoji Movie" was marketed towards kids in an age bracket that don't even use smart phone or emojis as they are too young to have a phone or are too young to read, it wasn't accepted among tweens and teens because the humor was too flat and the story too uninteresting to peak their interest, and as for adults while they are aware of what emojis are and have probably used them before, the story and humor is so low brow and uninspired it's no better than a marathon of mind-numbing children's cartoons found on Nick or Disney Jr., though even they are more original and try to serve a purpose in teaching kids something. I'm also confused as to what the writers were thinking when they were writing this film. I can't help but feel they weren't even connected to the story or technology they were writing about. With "Wreck It Ralph" you could tell whoever worked on that movie actually had some knowledge about video games, and had enough heart to suggest that they were also fans of games, which connected them to their audience. I never got that vibe with this film. I felt like the studio was trying too hard to be relatable and they missed the mark. Just because they reference popular apps like Twitter, Instagram, Candy Crush and others doesn't mean they relate to the people who access those apps.    

 

As I said, there is nothing more I can add to what has already been said by others in regards to this critical disaster disguised as a movie. But again, I wish that more audience members would be more apt to speak up against these types of brain drain media, but only time will tell.  I implore that others take their turns to voice their opinions of blandness like this.