Do you have kids? Are you into babies and the fantasy genre? Well if you're like me who's more into the fantasy genre then you won't be disappointed much.
Actually I wasn't even going to watch this at all. I just decided to do so because I was bored and had nothing to do. Didn't know anyone who spoke highly of it so I didn't bother watching it when it was still showing in theaters.
Out of the blue I saw this 2017 animated film's poster online while searching for something to watch and poof! This movie review was written. 😆
Warning: Spoilers ahead! Read at your own risk. 😉
🔸🔶 Voice Cast 🔶🔸
Here are some of the characters and their voice actors:
◙ Alec Baldwin is Theodore "Ted" Templeton Jr./The Boss Baby
An infant with a non-baby mind and manner. He is intelligent and can speak and walk like any adult.
◙ Miles Bakshi is Timothy "Tim" Templeton
The 7-year-old brother of The Boss Baby.
◙ Tobey Maguire is Adult Tim
He is the narrator of the story.
◙ Jimmy Kimmel is Ted Templeton
Tim and Ted's father.
◙ Lisa Kudrow is Janice Templeton
Tim and Ted's mother.
◙ Steve Buscemi is Francis E. Francis / Super Colossal Big Fat Boss Baby
The former boss baby who grew and became an adult.
◙ James McGrath as Wizzie
Tim's Gandalf-like wizard alarm clock
🔸🔶 Trailer 🔶🔸
As usual I never watched the trailer before I watched the movie. I only had the movie poster to go by. 😂 And because Alec Baldwin voiced the character it was another reason to watch this animated film.
In case you haven't seen the trailer, check it out below.
🔸🔶 Synopsis 🔶🔸
Tim is a 7 year old only child until a baby was brought home. He begins to see the newborn as someone who stole his parents' love and attention from him. Also he saw the baby had become the boss of his mom and dad, always catering to his whims and needs.
One day Tim caught the baby speaking like an adult. He found out The Boss Baby is on a mission from The Baby Corp. Once he completes it then he will be able to leave Tim and his parents alone. Thus baby Ted and Tim goes through an adventure to complete the mission.
🔸🔶 ArtGirl's Review 🔶🔸
Good God. I never thought I would cry so hard over a "baby movie." Why am I even the one still crying over it after all these years? Why am I the one sad over an unborn child, someone I will never meet? (Bakit ako yung umiiyak???)
Oh dear Lord in heaven, have mercy on those who've lost a child in their womb. I pray the unborn children have all gone to heaven.
You see my parents lost my "brother" when I was a little kid. Well at least I imagine it would have been a baby brother. My mom accidentally ate something or God knows what happened why she had a miscarriage. I was so excited at the thought of having a younger brother and then just like that, "poof!" He was gone.
Over the years, on rare occasions I even think of such thoughts: "Can you tell me it's all alright? That you're somewhere out there and doing ok in a different body?" Sad huh?
Oh the pain. 😭💔 I've bawled my eyes minutes before and after the movie ended. No one told me I should have prepared some tissues. 😭💔 How can I objectively review a movie when it brings me to tears? How can one not cry at the thought of those "standard procedures" in "forgetting the baby ever existed?" How can you also forget something that never even actually "existed"? * blows nose *
Image from The Art of The Boss Baby
Egads, I have a review to write. Somebody needs to stop weeping first... 😭💔
◙ Characters and Story
So okay, after I've calmed down and stopped crying, I did a quick search of the movie's story. Apparently it is an adaptation of a picture book first published in August 2010.1
Image from Simon & Schuster website
While watching it I had this inkling of some kind of subliminal message within the story. I dunno maybe it's just me and my life experience. Haha. A quick online search also showed me I am not alone in this thought. A reddit post has several theories about what happened too.2
The Boss Baby's story totally has nothing to do with loss and miscarriage. The animated film director and producer said it was developed based on what-if baby-source scenarios and more of how a young boy would feel about having a baby brother.3 The picture book author also said it was written partly due to a friend's complaint of a boss and her experience as a parent.4 This then is how interpretation and relatability to something always comes into play. Just like what we say can definitely be taken differently by other people, same thing with movies being interpreted based on our experiences.
Someone can find The Boss Baby enjoyable and fun because hey, it's a kid's wild imagination come alive. (Think Calvin and Hobbes, another comics I love.) I mean, the babies vs puppies "fighting to get the most love" angle is good enough as a movie plot right? Add the sibling rivalry to the mix and voila! Fun and adventure.
On the other hand, others like me will cry a lot due to loss (towards the end of it). The buried pain suddenly bubbled up and overflowed from my eyes. Oh man. That incident happened so long ago before I was even 7 yrs old like Tim was. I thought I was already over the experience but heck my tears welled up unexpectedly just by watching this movie. Ah my hangups in life.
The fact that I was also feeling unhappy due to frustrations as a real estate agent plus I haven't really cried so hard in a long time probably did it for me. Ah it's good to really cry once in a while. Gives you that refreshing reset of feelings after you're all cried out with puffy eyes to boot.
Of course this animated film is far from perfect. I'm sure some people would find it boring or uninteresting like it is for me with Frozen. Some might even think it's preposterous but hey, that's what fantasy movies usually are. 😆
Aside from the fact that it made me cry, the story isn't really at par with Up, Moana or even The Lion King. (These animated movies also made me cry, the first two as an adult and the latter as a kid.)
If you don't like kids/babies, fantasy or even sci-fi films, you're definitely not going to enjoy The Boss Baby. It's also not really a comedy film even if they say it is. I don't think I ever laughed at any point while I watched it. 🤔 It's light-hearted and fun but not funny enough for me.
In terms of story, I'd put it alongside Frozen, Shrek or even the Peter Pan movies. It's not that awesome but still okay to watch. Kudos to the creators because it's not just another dream sequence movie. 😂
Hey wait, guess who's my favorite character in the movie. 😁 None other than... * drum roll pls *
Wizzie! 😆
SourceNo I do not love Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, albeit he is admirable, but it is just cute to have such a fantasy - a talking wizard alarm clock. haha~ Lucky Tim!
This of course brings us to character development. I can say it has well developed characters. Yes they are all relatable and life-like enough except for the talking babies. 😂 Kids have wild imagination of course so what's not to love if you see it all "come alive" onscreen. It's a make-believe adventure movie no doubt about it.
Objectively I like that it shows how through imagination and necessity, one can overcome personal shortcomings. And of course let's not forget unconditional love. 🤓
◙ Voice Acting
Well the fact that the baby is voiced by Alec Baldwin definitely makes a talking infant executive in an animated movie as real and believable as possible. 😂 He's just perfect as baby Ted. 😆 I give him the best voice actor award in this 3D animated film.
Image by Dreamworks/20th Century Fox
As for the other voice actors, each of them did a good job. They all definitely made the characters come alive.
◙ Animation, Design & Music
As an adult and non-parent, the film's other best feature is the amazing visuals and out-of-this-world fantastic scenarios.
The animation is very nice and smooth. Not too cute but still pleasing to the eyes. I also like how they designed "heaven" or the "baby factory". Beats the stork baby delivery story anytime. haha.
Image from The Art of The Boss Baby
I also love how they did the eyelashes. I don't know why but it's one of the things I noticed a lot in the movie. 😄
As for the music, it surely made each scene fun to watch. ☺️
◙ Rating
Now that I'm over the experience of watching The Boss Baby, I can say the story is one of the movies any person with siblings should watch. It's not just for parents and kids but for the entire family. There's something for everyone to enjoy.
Image from the Motion Picture Association
It's definitely one way to look at coping with having a newborn child in the house.
Will I be having kids after watching this and seeing the comparison between a boss and babies? Oh I'd like to say never but you know, people say, "Never say never."
As for the rating, well, let's break it down shall we.
- Characters & Story: 7
- Voice Acting: 10
- Animation, Design & Music: 9
FINAL RATING: 8.67
Image from The Movie Database (TMDb)
How about you? What do you think about The Boss Baby?
All images above are not mine.
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Very silly movie... But it's funny, haha!
Alright!