Yellowbird (2014)

Admirable film.

Absolutely the worst movie.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

My son (16) and I watched this movie because my wife put it on. We were flabbergasted by it's stupidity and moral flexibility it showed in what was supposed to be the hero. I will mark this as containing spoilers but if you've seen any kids movie you could write this one. Father bird bites it in what has to be the most action packed and emotionally powerful part of the movie. It's all downhill after that. Father's last words to the cowardly yellow bird is to pass a message on to the new leader of the birds. JUST PASS THE DAMN MESSAGE!!! So the yellow bird's best friend and parental substitute, the lady bug, tells the yellow bird to LIE to the other birds and LEAD them to Africa... Yes. That's your moral right there folks. Cheat to win. Endanger the many to get what you want. Lie to succeed. Who the hell wrote the script? Teddy Kennedy? I've read here that the movie is actually French. It makes a lot more sense after reading that. Never mind this movie. If my son was under 8 I'd have turned it off once the lady bug told the yellow bird to lie.

As has been said by me many times, am a huge fan of animation. Always have been, always will be, so naturally will see any animated film regardless of age, how high budget or not it is and the studio/director it comes from.'Yellowbird' may not be a great film, let alone a masterpiece, but it is decent entertainment that won't offend anybody (while also not particularly inspiring anybody). There are certainly far worse animations out there, but they won't be named considering they've been talked about by me enough in recent months. As far as animated films go, to me 'Yellowbird' is one of the not exceptional but slightly above average ones, which is actually a not so bad distinction to have despite how bland that sounds to anybody else.While conventional storytelling is hardly bad, there are a lot of animated films that are conventional in story but execute it well, 'Yellowbird' can come over as a little too conventional, meaning that things can get predictable and like "this seems very familiar". There are parts where things are spelt out a little too much.There is a lack of finesse at times in some of the animation movement, and a few of the characters are blandly generic particularly Delf.However, most of the animation is impressive. The flying sequences soar beautifully, while there is such a sweeping realism to a lot of the photography/shots, some visual invention and vibrant colours. The soundtrack is breezy yet softens and darkens the tone when necessary.'Yellowbird' is not a laugh a minute film, but it does have enough amusing moments to satisfy both children and adults, it won't go over younger viewers' heads nor will it be too juvenile for older ones. There are also emotional moments, such as a crucial death that while clearly (but affectionately) modelled on the tear-jerking death scenes in Disney is quite poignant. The ending is a clever one and the most visually striking and compelling sequence is the one with the semi-submerged oil tank, which was thrilling but not too dark.A few bland characters aside, most of them have distinct enough personality traits, that are not treated overtly or vaguely, to make them stand apart. Yellowbird (regardless of whether one questions his likability or lack of, to me he made mistakes but evolved), Darius and Karl are particularly interesting. The voice acting is very good, Seth Green is a neat fit for the title character while Dakota Fanning is suitably spirited and there's great work from Danny Glover, Richard Kind, Elliot Gould and Yvette Nicole Brown.In summary, nothing mind-blowing but not bad at all. 6/10 Bethany Cox

European Swallows have to migrate to Africa laden with a cowardly bird. Swallows are blue. Biggest blue "swallow" dies at begging of movie. (This is NOT a spoiler--if you don't know the parent always dies you're not a movie buff)And I'm the only one who sees this? #MontyPythonFlyingCircusForever #DisneyesquebackstorytobestJohnCleeseskitever #mikedrop

I think the ratings are a bit harsh.The story is a typical rehashing of a generic protagonist moving from self-doubt to hero as he and his friends embark on an adventure of discovery and peril. The dialogue wasn't bad, but definitely not as funny as some adults might come to expect from films like this. Plenty of laughs for the kids though. Two of the main characters are a little flat, but there's a host of side characters to keep you entertained.The animation was surprisingly good for such a small studio. It was stylistically interesting/unique, and kept my interest, but the texturing and movement fell a little short for someone like myself, who really enjoys cutting edge computer animation produced by a big studio with lots of people power (i.e. enslaved animators spending hours on the texture of a single feather).Overall, definitely worth a watch. Especially on a rainy day, when boredom has driven your spawn into a spiralling descent down the evolutionary ladder, and another re-run of Frozen might just push you over the edge.