Rating 3/5
The premise of Storks is sort of a silly one. Writer and director Nicholas Stoller, along with co-director Doug Sweetland, bring this animated tale about storks, which no longer partake in the delivery of babies, due to a mishap years earlier. They now deliver parcels for Cornerstore, an online superstore.
The film is far from a well-rounded, spectacular film from the likes of Toy Story, the recent Lego Movie, or the likes of some classic Disney films. But it does bring its own sense of comedy and joy to audiences. The animation is charming, but not much that we haven’t seen before. It did serve the film well and brought the story and characters to life on screen.
The talented actors who lent their voice talents to the film were Andy Samberg, who played Junior, a top stork at the company, set to receive a promotion by the CEO Hunter (Kelsey Grammer). The catch is he has to fire Tulip (Katie Crown) the baby orphaned there after her “homing beacon” was destroyed and was therefore undeliverable. Junior can’t bring himself to fire her and decides to put her down in the mailroom to sort the mail where she accidentally puts a letter through and activates the dormant Baby Making Machine. Junior and Tulip then have to deliver the baby. Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell, and Anton Starkman voice the Gardner family who the baby is supposed to be delivered.
At the company, we also meet Pigeon Toady (Stephen Kramer Glickman), who acts as an assistant to the CEO (and also may have his own aspirations to become the head honcho). He is apparently there to act as some sort of other comic relief with his “brah” toting language and a musical sequence to The Heavy’s “How You Like Me Now” that seems just a bit over the top.
But at the heart of the film is the sub plot of finding the home in which Tulip was supposed to have and the stork, Jasper (Danny Trejo), who failed to deliver her. Through the course of Junior and Tulip’s adventure to deliver the baby, she begins to ponder the thought of having the family she never really had. They also come across a pack of wolves led by the Alpha (Keegan-Michael Key) and the Beta (Jordan Peele) that can apparently form various shapes of boats, minivans and others in order to chase their “prey.”
In a story about family, friendship, and finding one’s self, Storks delivers a fine film. It had its moments of incongruous bits but had enough to keep me in the film and entertained with the dialogue, story, and characters. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was delightful and entertaining.
A Writer's Voice 