Smallfoot – A Multiple Personality Movie Review
Smallfoot is a clever animated film about a village of Yetis that discover humans exist, and they call them “Smallfoot.” The concept is very clever, however, it resorts to standard animated clichés a few times too many, which drops it down from a great movie to a decent one. The laughs started right away with the introduction of Migo, voiced by Channing Tatum, and his dad Dorgle, voiced by Danny Devito. Their job is to bang the gong to wake up the sun every day. Only they don’t do it with a mallet, they use a giant crossbow to shoot themselves, headfirst into the gong. This craziness helps to establish early that the village of Yetis have a lot of strange beliefs, that will remind audiences of ancient religions like the Egyptians or Aztecs.
Migo ends up discovering a smallfoot, but the town elders deny it because it would go against the law stones. They end up banishing Migo when he won’t follow along with the village’s beliefs. The entire film is a metaphor for standing up to authority and established beliefs. The message will seem obvious and slightly preachy to adults, but there are enough fart jokes and catchy musical numbers to distract the kids from ever noticing.
Migo hunts down a smallfoot named Percy, voiced by James Corden, and they journey back to the village to show them the truth. When Migo and his friends try to return Percy to the human village, chaos ensues.
There are several musical numbers in this film. Some that are catchy and others that slow down the pacing of the movie. One particular rappish song by Common sung toward Migo as he learn the Yeti history is one of the less awe-inspiring ones.
Whose Review gives Smallfoot the overall rating of… Yeti, No Regreti. It’s an enjoyable movie for children of all ages, even older kids. It has a slightly subversive message that won’t be lost on the adults in the audience, but it’s funny and whimsical enough to keep the kiddies entertained.
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