The story is nothing to write home to Mom about, and the dialogue is painfully dumb in more than a few places. But I sat watching this thing with my jaw hanging open. I have never, in all my born days, seen an animated funny animal movie with so many CLOSE UPS! And big, screen-filling close-ups, where you can see every little nuance of the fur texture and the facial rig. This won't be a spoiler if you've seen the film: There's a scene (one of many) where Surly is being glum. He thunks his head down on a parapet. Buddy comes over and tries to cheer his friend up, thunking HIS head down. He smiles at Surly. Surly grumps. Buddy smiles bigger. Surly offers him the teeniest of smiles, just a little twitch of one cheek -- and you SEE it, clearly. For furry fans or animation geeks, this movie is simply beautiful. Just watch it with the sound turned off. Or, with your brain turned off. Either works.
The story is nothing to write home to Mom about, and the dialogue is painfully dumb in more than a few places. But I sat watching this thing with my jaw hanging open. I have never, in all my born days, seen an animated funny animal movie with so many CLOSE UPS! And big, screen-filling close-ups, where you can see every little nuance of the fur texture and the facial rig. This won't be a spoiler if you've seen the film: There's a scene (one of many) where Surly is being glum. He thunks his head down on a parapet. Buddy comes over and tries to cheer his friend up, thunking HIS head down. He smiles at Surly. Surly grumps. Buddy smiles bigger. Surly offers him the teeniest of smiles, just a little twitch of one cheek -- and you SEE it, clearly. For furry fans or animation geeks, this movie is simply beautiful. Just watch it with the sound turned off. Or, with your brain turned off. Either works.