The Peanuts Movie (2015)

The Worst Film Ever

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

This feature is similar to "You're in Love, Charlie Brown." It includes all the cliche bits we have seen a dozen times before. BTW I have never really warmed up to Woodstock which they insist on putting into every film.I loved the old cartoons, and indeed they attempted to use similar voices. In that regard they did fairly decent except for Charlie Brown and Lucy, the two main characters. The film starts out in winter and seems days later it is the middle of summer. The film avoids all holiday or religious themes as Chuck does a book report on "Leo's Toy Store" by Warren Peace.The theme is that Charlie Brown is a good man with good intentions under all of his "failures" and that is what is important. It was so much like what was already done, I was not overly entertained.

First off, it's my obligation to mention I the reviewer personally only watched the Charlie Brown and Snoopy cartoons every so often and couldn't say I grew up on them, but as an adult now certainly have a feel for what it was all about, its atmosphere and spirit; it's just I wasn't a diehard connoisseur.I preface this review by saying that as the nostalgic effect on me was only temporary and evaporated pretty soon into the developments. However, it felt SO COOL and exciting to see Charlie Brown and Snoopy and the whole gang again and they did a fine job hyping up the event in the early stages. They did an amazing job reconstructing the Charlie Brown appeal both in spirit as more tangibly in the drawings: this here is a 3D rendition of the characters and backgrounds, only boosted with computer-generated virtual motion and it's absolutely superbly done: all the authenticity and pure Peanuts aesthetics preserved, but adapted into the modern mold carefully and most subtly and with excellent attention to detail.However, as mentioned the effect only lasts so long and this film needs to be critiqued as a film for adults, as millennial kids hardly know anything about it and it is obviously aimed at the then-children/now-adult portion of society. So it's a film for grownups; nostalgic grownups; not kids. And as a film for adults, it's just way too thin. It's got the good old morals, the story is easy to follow, the characters each in their own way are funny and cute... but the parts with Snoopy vs the Red Baron turn self-indulgent very quickly and overall the emotionally-charged laughs quickly turn into mere snorts then into polite smiles.It's cute, it's fun, it kept the spirit of the original and preserved the visual appeal outstandingly....but it's not enough as a FILM. A generous 6/10.

The good news is that this movie captures the best of Peanuts animated specials: adult neuroses via childlike dialogue, amusing visual gags, charming characters. The bad news is that it also captures the worst of those tv shows: minimal plot, random/long Snoopy interludes and self serious thematic speeches. The animation style was perfect (and beautiful), but the movie was still uneven.

Charlie Brown is flustered. The cute little red-haired girl has just moved to town and is in his class. While he's desperately infatuated with her, he's convinced he needs to accomplish something amazing in order to get her attention.When I was a little boy, I went to see "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" in the theater....and I bawled my eyes out. After all, Charlie Brown seemed about to really accomplish something and kids would stop mistreating him....and then he failed and things were back as they used to be...with him being a miserable nice kid. Because I grew up feeling so awful for him, as did most folks of my generation, then I think that "The Peanuts Movie" will really, really appeal to you. For once, Charlie Brown makes good...and the film seems like an excellent way to cap off the wonderful work of Charles Schulz. It's a shame he didn't live to see this delightful film.So why is the film so nice? Well, it's not just that Charlie Brown finally finds happiness but the audience does as well--with lots of gentle nods to the old Peanuts animated specials and characters who were not updated too much. Lucy is still pretty awful, Linus still very thoughtful and the rest of the characters rather sweet. Overall, a delightful film that adults might just like and appreciate more than the kids. Sweet and well made.By the way, the IMDb trivia says that the flying ship Fifi is stuck on resembles the Hindenburg. Well, it doesn't. Its shape is those of the WWI Zeppelins--the Hindenburg was fatter and with a much more rounded nose. In other words, the filmmakers got it right...and the ship should have been 1910s vintage, not that of a mid-1930s Zeppelin. Just a bit of trivia for aviation buffs!