The Bad Guys
Or should I say... the average fellows.
Ok, I really wanted this film to be good, like, really wanted and there are parts of it where I can see a film approaching a level of good that I wish the rest of the film had; the trouble is that it is just loaded with cliche's, usually unfunny jokes and other issues that just drag it down from what otherwise could be a solid film.
I know there are plenty of people who do like it and that's fine, but for a fair number of reasons I personally didn't like it very much.
First off; the first half had my face rolling into itself with cringe, nearly none of the characters ever seem to behave in a somewhat sensible way, the jokes often make my eyes roll; oh and the film has fart jokes because of course it does, I am of a somewhat controversial opinion that these can be done right if they have something to say but here there is nothing being said other than haha flatulence funny innit.
Was the film devoid of being funny? not entirely, there are a few jokes that got a chuckle out of me in an ocean of jokes that were trying too hard for their own good though that might have been through just being so bonkers that I couldn't help but chuckle.
The film is loaded with trend chasing cliche's; villan with an accent just because, check, evil army of something cute, check, unconvincing inspirational speeches, check, protagonist having a fallout with his friends only for them to change their mind, check, there are more but I don't want to overload this post with cliche's; honestly Dreamworks are better than this, they used to set the trends not follow them.
The character designs however are actually really good; this is partly why I was hoping that this would be a great film and am still hoping that Dreamworks make a sequel with their usual Dreamworks sequel magic applied; my favourite character design belongs to Diane, especially during the second half of the film; not only are the character designs great but also, as is to be expected from Dreamworks, they are super expressive and could be genuinely great characters if the film only dialed down the silliness a fair bit; I am not saying that a film cannot be somewhat silly, I mean Kung Fu Panda for example is pretty bonkers at times but it balances it out with geninue dark moments, proper emotional scenes and villans to run away from, the last of which, this film does not have at all.
Oh boy; the villan, this guy gets on my wick, especially when he is trying to pretend that he is a perfect model citizen in the first half, his voice is really grating and he has an army of mind controlled guinea pigs, or hamsters I'm not sure, honestly I despise the minions, and this just screams of wanting to be the next minions to me; I suppose there is the fact that he was leading Wolf into a trap for the whole of the first half that makes him somewhat competent at what he does but I honestly can think of so many better Dreamworks villans, honestly writing this reminds me of how the film Megamind has a really good villan, and a really good protagonist to boot, watch Megamind it's great.
Mr Wolf kind of tries to play the society hates me so I'm bad trope but Shrek and Megamind both handle it so much better; with that said it does lead to one of the best things about the film IMO even if it has been done better before.
The second half is better, with more serious moments that show that there is indeed hope for this if it is to become a franchise, here we see Diane get a chance to really shine, which is great because she is easily my favourite character of the entire film, while I can remember all the other characters getting on my wick at one point or another, Diane simply didn't, she is the one sensible character in a film that has hardly any, not to mention how I almost never see any anthro vixen characters who are given a good role in the film/game/etc that they star in so I am glad to see that she was much more than an extra and a genuine part of the film; she pretty much kept the film somewhat afloat while nearly all the other characters were trying to sink it; also Diane never falls into the furry reminder trope, as far as I remember, unlike some of the other anthro characters so there's another reason why she is my favourite character in the film.
I do also see the potential that comes with how the anthro characters fit in with human society but I think the film should have explored that more because without an explanation of sorts, it does come across as somewhat strange; not only that but it is a potential gold mine for world building that I really hope is covered in any future installments, if there are any.
This one stings quite a bit because when I saw it was on Now TV, I jumped at the chance to watch it, I really believed, until I actually saw it, that this was going to be at least a solid film featuring a character archetype that I genuinely think can make for a great character if handled correctly but there are too many issues that hold the film back; I do like the character designs and am glad that my favourite goes to the one character with more than a modicum of sense but I cannot see the overall film as better than average when all the downsides are keeping it from being good.
Is there hope for this in the future; well, despite me not liking this film very much, yes, I mean it's Dreamworks, they usually can make good sequels out of films whether they're good or not, they made a really good sequel out of the painfully average Madagascar so anything can go but this film as it stands is held back by just how it takes too long before it starts to take itself seriously and that the jokes are rarely funny, how many cliche's it has as well as how trend chasing it feels at times, I am really disappointed with this one and I have to give it a.
5/10
(yes it's a classic and I love it but I needed to burst your slight bubble of "serious critic" air a little) 
