When Animal Farm was announced back in 2021, I was actually riding the hype train. Andy Serkis seemed like a natural choice for Orwell’s biting political allegory featuring a cast of talking animals, and with Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) tapped to direct, all signs pointed to the possibility that we might get something truly excellent.
Sadly, that was 2021 and through years of development hell, the film we got is quite different. Andy Serkis ended up in the director’s chair with Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) as the sole writer. In a very weird twist, religious production company Angel Studios grabbed the distribution rights, which signalled to some that this movie would not, in fact, be a retelling of the formation of the Soviet Union. In fact, it looked like a kids’ movie.
As a curious person and a glutton for punishment, I knew I had to see this movie. The trailer hinted at something that kept the bones of the story but went in a radically different direction. While not an inherently wrong choice, it seemed like a strange one for such a dark story. After all, the book features everything from secret police to outright murder. How were they going to square that in a PG setting? I simply had to know.
Adapting a Classic
For those who don’t remember from high school English class, George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an adult and deeply upsetting political allegory, specifically covering the ousting of the monarchy (kicking the farmer off the farm), and the rise of Joseph Stalin (a pig named Napoleon). The story starts hopeful, as the animals attempt to run their farm through collective action, but Napoleon quickly changes their established rules and consolidates power, leaving the animals in squalor and some even die. This is a major oversimplification, but I’m guessing you don’t come to Screenage Wasteland for in-depth literary analysis, so we’ll keep going.
In Serkis’ film version, the bones of this story still exist, except we’re given a bright-eyed young main character named Lucky, voiced by Gaten Matarazzo in his first post-Stranger Things theatrical role. He serves as the self-insert for viewers, navigating the first struggle between Snowball and Napoleon, then the internal guilt he feels for following Napoleon. In an attempt to neuter the original story’s violence and cruelty, the political themes are incomprehensible. Rather than a cautionary tale about totalitarianism, the film (I think by accident) seems to hint at some libertarian themes while enforcing strong-man theory with Snowball. Kids will likely not pick up on this, but the tone definitely feels like propaganda.
The Story
The movie’s story follows, and is ultimately restrained by, its source material. The animals still drive the farmer off the land, though the battle is comedic and ultimately bloodless. It’s after this point though where it starts to feel uncanny. As Snowball rises to power, the obviously evil Napoleon calls her boring and gets her kicked off the farm. How this plays out is messy, and it only gets worse when Napoleon’s rise to power is accompanied by gags, shouts, and visual overwhelm straight out of a Mr. Beast video. It’s not fun, it’s just exhausting.
The wildest part is perhaps the addition of the brand-new third act, giving the animals a chance at a happy-ever-after that doesn’t exist in the source material. This section is mostly fine and non-descript, but the whole thing together is just weird. Because of the existing structure of the source material, it gives the film a dark undercurrent that just clashes with the snarky 2010 straight-to-DVD tone of the kid-friendly animal cast. It’s not just cringe, it’s actively and constantly at war with itself.
Everything Else
I will continue to decry Hollywood for casting big-name actors as voice actors when it is a completely separate skillset, and this movie is a great example of why. Every single performance is so lackluster that even Seth Rogen feels pretty restrained. The only role that even made me chuckle was Steve Buscemi’s Mr. Whymper, and chuckle is a strong word.
The writing is by far the worst part of this movie. Every single joke is low-brow humor. The animals twerk, fart, and echo Gen-Z slang that already feels dated. The longer this movie went on, the less thoughtful I became about the movie’s messaging and the more I just wanted it to be over.
I will say something positive though: the animation isn’t horrible. It’s just horrible what they do with it.
To Conclude
To no one’s surprise, this movie is a disaster, but not even in a way that people can laugh at. Originally, I thought I would end up doing some War of the Worlds-style write-up for this, but to be honest, this movie just made me feel tired. Don’t watch this movie, or take anyone to see it. I understand that it’s meant for children, but children aren’t stupid. There are lots of wonderful children’s films that are thoughtful, engaging, and promote interesting ideas; this is not one of them.
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