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Back Shelf Beauties
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Chicken Little Chicken Little doesn't lay an egg, but it doesn't fly like a majestic eagle either. I guess you could say it aims squarely for average and succeeds in wildly achieving commonness. Zach Braff provides the voice of Chicken Little - the young chick who caused a massive panic in the small town of Oakey Oaks when he thought the sky was falling, and loudly warned the town residents. The town now thinks of him as that crazy little chicken, and his father, Buck (Garry Marshall) feels great shame and embarrassment over the incident. Chicken Little wants to do something special and amazing to win back his father's love and respect, but that plan might be doomed when, once again, Chicken Little thinks the sky is falling. Is the sky really falling? Can Chicken Little and Buck patch up their differences? Chicken Little is good enough to get some laughs and entertain the kids, but it is a movie far from classic status, which might be extremely troubling to Disney, which would like to mirror the successful Disney/Pixar films like Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Toy Story if they can't hammer out an extension of its partnership with Pixar. Writers Steven Bencich and Ron Friedman along with director Mark Dindal are mired in the typical kid's movie formula and provide a very basic, simple story that isn't dedicated to character development, intricate subplots and smart jokes. Even though the movie can be seen in Disney 3-D in some theaters, the characters and story emotionally and intellectually are strictly one dimensional. All of the basic elements are there for a cliché story including the tiny hero who tries to overcome massive obstacles, the dedicated pals who support their fellow nerdy tiny hero, estrangement between child and parent, a love story and a few pop culture references to make the movie look like it's hip and self-aware, but Bencich, Friedman and Dindal are coasting. This team makes it appear as if kids are the primary audience, so great dialogue and challenging characters are pushed aside for some gross out humor and a straight ahead story that needs some padding to make the movie a little longer (back to back montages???? Yes, back to back montages). Bencich and Friedman give us some funny lines, and the plot has the requisite beginning, middle and end, but nothing stands out as all that amazing. However, it is not a total loss. Dindal and crew make Chicken Little into a likable hero who is trying to bounce back from horrible embarrassment, something all of us have had to do at some point in our lives, while Braff adds some heart to Chicken Little. Granted, he could have tried a bit harder to make Chicken Little into a unique character instead of sounding like a mini Zach Braff, but he is able to evoke our sympathy at the right moments and excels at the little guy's more manic and crazy scenes. Additionally, Chicken Little and his pals find themselves on a wacky adventure full of silly, giggle-inducing situations, while Dindal's animation team creates a breakout character in Morkubine the Porcubine, who always has a funny quip to get our attention (and, much like Andrew Stanton in Finding Nemo and Brad Bird in The Incredibles, Dindal casts himself as the voice of the best character in the whole movie, Morkubine). More importantly for parents, Chicken Little has a decent theme about the importance of communication between parents and kids, even if it leans a little too much on the kids side. When all is said and done, it's easier to say YES to seeing Chicken Little than to say NO. 2 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2005 - WaffleMovies.com
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