Classic Review: The Peanuts Movie (2015)

Since I’ve started this site, I’ve written a lot of reviews. In case you missed some of my earlier ones, I would like to share an older review of “The Peanuts Movie” which originally appeared here.

Life has always been complicated for Charlie Brown (Noah Schnapp), the boy who always tried his hardest despite seemingly insurmountable odds. When a little red-haired Girl (Francesca Capaldi) moves in across the street from him, Charlie Brown finds himself completely smitten with her. Meanwhile, his best friend Snoopy (Bill Melendez) embarks on an epic adventure in a fantasy world. As a World War I flying ace, the lovable beagle pursues his nemesis, the Red Baron, while also trying to win the heart of a beautiful pilot named Fifi (Kristin Chenoweth).

I have always been a fan of the whole Peanuts series since I’ve been a kid. I’ve seen some of the old cartoons and read some of the comic strips. I haven’t seen much of the cartoons in a while since they now seem a little outdated to me but I was willing to give this one a try since it had a new story and the animation looks much different. I chose to see this film in 3D but I don’t believe that it is necessary in order to have a good experience. As with most animated films, another short film proceeded this one. It involved Scrat (Chris Wedge), the squirrel from the Ice Age films. He was in a spaceship, then in space for some reason (don’t ask me why). I didn’t find it funny but the people (mostly kids) in the theater seemed to like it. The plot of the main film consisted mostly of Charlie’s pitiful attempts at getting with the nameless, faceless (at least until the end) little red-haired girl who just happens to move in across the street. All of it was very Charlie Brown-like as he tried many different things in order to become the kind of person that he thought the red-haired girl would have wanted and failed but was cute while doing it. To do these things, he had the help of his dog Snoopy. He had his moments during this and laughs were to be had. He did some funny things onscreen and had some funny interactions with Charlie Brown, Woodstock (also Melendez), and the other kids (too many to name here) in the film. These all worked for the most part. During all of this Snoopy finds a typewriter (for some reason) and starts creating his own story in a fantasy world where he was a flying ace and along with Woodstock was just flying around during some sort of war and when a beautiful pilot Fifi (Chenoweth) (and also a dog) gets taken by the Red Baron (who we never see). These scenes were entertaining on their own but I felt like they took away momentum from the main plot. I preferred the scenes with just the kids as I thought the voice acting was very good. I did say the voice acting was good but I felt like it was a little sleepy. I don’t know if it was because of the script or just the style of the film but it just wasn’t exciting. Maybe that’s what the show really was but I just don’t remember it that way. Of course being a kid’s film it has a moral, “if you see yourself as a winner or a loser in life, you are probably going to act like one. If you think you are a winner, act like one and others might think so too.” It’s a good message but a rather predictable one. It doesn’t happen very often to me but this is the second film I’ve seen this year that has gotten a round of applause at the end, the first being War Room. Overall, this is a decent animated film with a decent story that kids and adults should enjoy (probably as long they are Peanuts fans).

Score: 7/10 

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.