Home – Film Review
From the Dreamworks animation studios come yet another exciting adventure about Oh, an adorable alien on the run from his alien clan, ‘the Boov’.
Oh (voiced by Jim Parsons), lands on earth and comes across Gratuity ‘Tip’ Tucci (voiced by singer Rihanna), a young bright-eyed adventurer who lost her mom Lucy (voiced by Jennifer Lopez) during an invasion. Together they set off in Tip’s usual car with very surprising results as the two both has different priorities, Oh to go to Antarctica so he can be the only Boov there and Tip on a quest to find her mother.
I love animations, they are my favourite genre in movies. There is just something awesome about revisiting one’s happy spot and revealing one’s inner child. So I searched for my inner child, got into my happy place and booked myself in a seat next to Tip’s cat, Pig, and went on an adventure to a land far and wild, riddled with flying shells, a car that moves on slush puppy juice and has Nanchos and dip as a form of ammunition.
Thirty minutes into the film I began noticing that Home has certain similarities with other animations, especially character wise. Of the many similarities two stand out the most. The Boov are like the minions in ‘Despicable me’, except that the Boov are more coherent in their speech, and Captain Smerk’s attitude is similar to that of the lovable King Julian of the ‘Madagascar’ film franchise. He is just as quirky, loony, bossy, and shallow as King Julian. This and its inability to be an animation that people of all ages can enjoy makes ‘Home’ fall flat a little.
Jim Parsons is perfect as Oh, as his role is almost similar to the one he plays in the hit sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’ as the quirky, funny, yet annoying Dr Sheldon Cooper. I am not saying this because I love Sheldon, but because Parsons is an excellent actor. This is Rihanna’s first animated feature and I must say I am impressed by her role as Tip. The two characters are gelled together, their mutual distrust for one another making ‘Home’ enjoyable to watch. Then there is Steve Martin who voices Captain Smerk. Martin has always been known for his less than serious roles and for making a fool of himself in all his roles, which is not any different in ‘Home’. He delivers killer punchlines which will have you rolling on the floor with laughter.
Overall, ‘Home’ has a good storyline, amazing Computer Graphics Imagery and a lot more laughs than you would expect from such an animation. However, my verdict still stands as this is not your typical animated film for adults, rather it is perfect for children with good imaginations.
It teaches children that no matter how different we may look we are all in fact one, and that we live in one big global village. It is an extremely brilliant film for anyone below the age of thirteen but not so brilliant for the average adult animated film fan. Be sure to bring out your innermost child before watching it as you might just leave disappointed.
