Ozzy (2017)

You won't be disappointed!

Sadly Over-hyped

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Am saying this with a heavy heart. Animation was a big part of my childhood, and still holds a very special place in my heart as a young adult. A canine parody of prison films didn't seem such a bad idea and neither did incorporating a pertinent, relevant and important message about bullying.What a disappointment 'Ozzy' turned out to be. The advertising may not have been promising but there was enough to make me want to see it (wanting to see as many animated films as possible and the concept). So some may not have been expecting much in the first place, but to me 'Ozzy' could have been decent with the right execution. Will start with the good things. It starts off well and the soundtrack is catchy. Everything else fails spectacularly. And no nobody expects Disney or Pixar level when watching an animated film not made by them, that's just silly.One does though expect to see a film and animation that looks as though effort was put into them and the sense that those involved cared. That's where 'Ozzy' falls.There is certainly worse animation around. Video Brinquedo is a very good example. A very good case can also be put for Spark Plug Entertainment, Dingo Pictures and the CGI 'Swan Princess' and 'Alpha and Omega' sequels. That doesn't stop 'Ozzy', although the animation quality doesn't come close to the amateurishness of the above, from looking very flat and blocky, it lacks vibrancy and crisp detail and none of the characters look appealing.Nothing interesting or likable about the characters, with the conflict being as stock, hammy and sadistic as one can get. The voice acting doesn't fit these characters well, and some are hard to recognise (Rob Schneider especially).It's the script and story that doom 'Ozzy' the most, after a promising start once the conflict and prison story is introduced the film falls drastically downhill and never recovers. The dialogue is mundane and contrived, while there is nothing witty or clever about the prison parodying, which will go over the heads of most children and be far too predictable and clumsily inserted for adults, or emotionally resonant about a potentially good but forced message about bullying completely lost amidst the constant target audience and tonal issues.One seriously questions the maturity levels of the writers with potty humour so obvious and juvenile that even the most undemanding child will find their I.Q. dropping. Children and adults alike will be bothered by the tonally jarring and overdone darker elements where in particular characters are treated cruelly and the strands and types of characters being more suited to a film with a 15 or above certificate, where the writers clearly forgot about the younger viewers and tried too hard to provide content for adults and going way too far in that direction. The story lacks energy and is structurally and tonally disjointed throughout.In short, there is worse but this is a disappointing mess. 2/10 Bethany Cox

This movie has some very adult themes and had to stop halfway through. It started out well enough but then went down hill. I wouldn't recommend this for the family because it touches on some very gritty and dark themes. I would not watch this with any child under the age of thirteen because the adult is left with so many questions to explain to a child who has difficulty in understanding the ways of the world.

The animation would have been pretty amazing 15 years ago, but by today's standards it looks like this film was made by a bunch of 3rd year animation students. The plot is full of basic tropes and any attempt at humor was lost on my entire family. My 6 year old laughed once at the very end at a dog in a mailbox. The writing and cinematography fall flat. The script includes a lot of bullying in the form of physical and verbal abuse, and the overall "doggie prison" theme may be a bit dark for younger kids. There are lots of poop and pee jokes, as well as name calling. At no point during that hour and a half did I feel any emotion other than boredom.

When I sat down to watch "Ozzy" with the family, I was expecting this to be a family-oriented and suitable animated movie, however it turned out that it had some fairly more mature storyline to it, because it dealt with some topics that seemed a bit too heavy and appalling for a young audience whom might not fully understand the concept of it.While it was intended for a more grown-up audience, it turned out that the storyline in "Ozzy" actually was quite good, and it was entertaining. You just have to get past that this is not really an animated movie intended for the youngest of audiences.The animation in "Ozzy" was good, and it did have a good feel to it. A good amount of variation in the characters, and the characters did have depth and different personalities.An animated movie needs a good ensemble of voice actors and actresses to it, and the ones in "Ozzy" were doing fair jobs with their given roles. Now, I can't really say that they had some outstanding names on the cast list. And while the English dubbed version had Will Sasso and Rob Schneider on the list, they didn't really stand out from the other talents. In fact, I didn't even recognize Rob Schneider's voice as being his.The dialogue in "Ozzy" was actually quite good, but again, do keep in mind that this is for an audience that is not the youngest of viewers.All in all, "Ozzy" was an entertaining animated movie, although it hardly had the potential to be a classic. And I actually doubt that I will be returning to watch it a second time around, as it just didn't have that quality to it.