It was easy getting in touch with the inner child while watching the much maligned Emoji Movie. The jokes connected with both young and old during the screening as the filmmakers included a few subversive moments for the parents to laugh at while their children were otherwise occupied.
The story is the well trodden tale of finding oneself in a busy and not always friendly world. Where things got interesting though is in the transformation of computer terminology and operation into both walking and talking characters with action and purpose.
These actions took clever application and more than a little restraint to keep things in the youth realm. The film sits comfortably in the G rating camp but doesn’t lack a bit of grit in all that candy floss (both visually and thematically).
Being overly critical of this film seems to miss its intent and might point to that assessment being based more on elitism than the actual product. There are large number of kid’s films that shoot far lower than this that have been well received.
Rob Hudson
www.sonypictures.com/emojimovie
