The Peanuts Movie Review

The Peanuts Movie

 "Good grief."  -Charlie Brown

  The Peanuts Movie is the new animated adaptation of the Charles M. Schulz Peanuts comic strips directed by Steve Marino (Horton Hears a Who!, Ice Age: Continental Drift) and written by Brian Schulz, Craig Schulz, and Cornelius Uliano. The Peanuts Movie stars Noah Schnapp as Charlie Brown, Francesca Capaldi as The Little Red-Haired Girl, Bill Melendez as Snoopy/Woodstock, and everyone else is basically a child who voices the iconic children in Peanuts.

  The Peanuts Movie, like the original comic strips and videos, is mainly about poor Charlie Brown. For those of you who don't know who Charlie Brown is, have you been in a nuke bunker your whole life? Nevertheless, I will tell you.

^You're exactly right, Charlie. Exactly right.^

   Charlie Brown is a boy who fails at everything and through his shenanigans, learns valuable lessons that he will pass down to his children that will fail too (OK. That last part I made up). The Peanuts Movie is just that, only put into a 1 hour and 28 minute long film. One day, a little red-haired girl (who is never named in the movie) and her family moves in across the street from Charlie. He is infatuated with her and wants to talk to her, but he seems to not muster up the confidence to do that. He also worries that she will hear talk from the other kids of the school that Charlie is a failure. Now we have our story: Charlie Brown goes through one silly event after another in order to win the heart of The Little Red-Haired Girl with help from his always lovable dog Snoopy.

^I was nervous about The Peanuts Movie too, bud.^

  I can genuinely say that I was profoundly surprised by the end of The Peanuts Movie. It really tugged at my heart strings in a big way and a bunch of other little ways.

^Congrats, gang! You deserve it especially, Charlie.^

  The original Peanuts comic strips, by the late and great Charles M. Schulz, had a really fun, playful, and heartwarming feel in them. That definitely transcribes into The Peanuts Movie. I felt like I was watching the comic strips and the TV show specials on the big screen. The emblematic cast of characters is the biggest reason why this works out so well. The children voicing the Peanuts gang are all children (I don't think you can do it in another way anyhow). Everyone, and I mean everyone is totally likable. The tomboy and sport star Peppermint patty is likable, the quiet and talented Schroeder is likable, and even the annoying and mean Sally is likable.

^I still think you're awesome, Sally.^

 Another huge part that makes The Peanuts Movie a success is the animation. I really believe this was one of the best uses in animation in a while. It wasn't too realistic (which is excellent depending on the type of film) and it wasn't a 2D interpretation (which wouldn't really fit in the age of the type of animation we are in). It actually used both 3D and 2D. I particularly love this because there was more freedom in what the director and the writers wanted to show.

^A fairly blatant example, but still a good one^

  Going off of the animation, the scenes of Snoopy and The Red Baron dueling it out in the sky while Snoopy is trying to save the lovely poodle Fifi, were, I feel, outstanding. I hear a lot that it these sequences took you out of the film. I would agree to an extent because by the end of the movie, you could easily connect the dogfights to Charlie Brown's storyline. Even if it takes you out of the real world (Charlie Brown's world), it will still keep you engaged. Honestly, my eyes and ears were glued to the screen because the action (yes, there's action in a Charlie Brown movie) was really cool. The sound was interesting as well. Snoopy and Woodstock (who was in some of these dogfights) don't really talk. This kept me focused on the engines of the planes, the breaking of metal and wood, and the air brushing around.

^Wow! That looks sweeeeet!^

  I don't want to give away the ending, so all I will say that The Peanuts Movie is ultimately about never giving up. Even if you don't do something right the first time or you don't think you can do something, you should always try and never give up if you really want it. This really resonated with me in a personal way and I think that since this is a film primarily targeted towards children, it's a fantastic and uplifting message to send to them.

^The parents are actually thanking her for taking her to see The Peanuts Movie.^

  The Peanuts Movie is a near perfect movie on all areas of film. The only somewhat weak element that sticks out is that The Peanuts Movie is a very simple movie in terms of the story. It's not the most complex story of all time but it's deeper meaning (never give up) makes up for it. Also, I can see how the poeple who aren't really fans of Peanuts will think that it's an alright movie. Not a bad movie, just fine. Though the story is kind of simple and some of the non-Peanuts fans will brush it off their shoulder in a week or two,  I highly recommend The Peanuts Movie to people of all ages. It's a great film for children to learn the value of pursuing their dreams and it's Charlie Brown and Snoopy. C'mon. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get some hate from this next comment, but The Peanuts Movie could possibly be my favorite animated movie of 2015, just beating Inside Out and Shaun the Sheep Movie. We just have to wait if Pixar's second movie this year, The Good Dinosaur, will take the cake.

Pro

• The Peanuts gang is back with good child voice actors
• 2D and 3D animation
• Snoopy and The Red Baron dogfights
• The overall message: never give up!

Con

• None

5/5

The Peanuts Movie is rated G

The Peanuts Movie is in theaters everywhere now

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