A movie that starts off as a Matilda-like story quickly becomes something that is equal parts fun, engaging, heart-warming, and twisted in its delivery.
Feel-good animated movies are nothing new. However, it's not often that you get those movies heading down a decidedly dark path—many who do fail even to make an impact on their audience. However, one or two names come to mind, such as the adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline. The Willoughbys also follows in this vein, creating a whimsical movie that's equal parts dark leadup and heart-warming resolution, with a rollercoaster of emotions in between. If you're someone who needs to have their feel-good movies with clear-cut, distinct endings, then you're likely to be thrown for a loop by this one.
By now, this is a trope in modern entertainment. The movie's basis is a book by Lois Lowry, and it keeps on the same road as others that came before it. The Willoughbys benefits from the strange twists and turns that the book offers. It's not nearly as dark and fatalistic as A Series of Unfortunate Events, but it's no Disney movie either. Some moments make you want to cheer for the titular Willoughby kids, and some moments make you feel helpless and scared for the protagonists.
The animation style is also unique, with the animators opting for a style that's reminiscent of a combination of old British claymation films and the newer, sleek, Dreamworks-esque sort of dynamic. The result is rather charming. They also poke fun at how difficult it is to get certain textures right in 3D animations, and we find clouds made of candy floss and yarn that's decidedly animated. The tongue-in-cheek fourth-wall breaks are part of the humor and a refreshing change from what we usually see from animated films these days. So, what's The Willoughby's like? It's a ride like you've never had before.
The story is relatively tight, although it leaves a little to be desired here and there. The movie follows a quartet of red-headed kids born to a pair of adults who despise children and who are neglectful to the point of being ridiculous. The children rescue an orphan, the super-fast baby Ruth (one of several candy-themed references in the film), and then get the brilliant idea to "orphan" themselves by sending their parents on a deadly around-the-world cruise. The kids quickly realize that they can't take care of themselves. However, the parents in one of the few times they think about people other than themselves, hire a cheap nanny to take care of the kids. Naturally, they begin to fall in love with her, only for the Evil Government Corporation Orphan Services to show up and wreck everything. We follow the kids on a whirlwind ride to find their parents and discover what a real loving family is supposed to be like.
The script is outstanding and does a few things superbly. The characters are well-developed, even the nanny who forms a core part of the latter half of the movie. There are a few decisions that are questionable regarding the characters themselves, and there should have been a little more time dedicated to the candy-making Commander Melanoff and Ruth. Still, aside from these minor issues, the script is exceptional in its construction.
The studio seemed to put a lot of thought into the actors chosen for various roles. British comic Ricky Gervais voices the narrator (which is also the family's cat) and doesn't break character even once. Martin Short and Jane Krakowski perform admirably as the parents. The kids are voiced by Will Forte (Tim), Alessia Cara (Jane), and Seán Cullen (who plays both twins, Barnaby A, and Barnaby B). Maya Rudolph shines as The Nanny, and Terry Crews makes for an amazing Commander Melanoff. The core members of the cast are tight, and the animation shows off their chemistry very well. Overall, excellent casting.
While there are a lot of remarkable things about this movie, the pacing is most definitely not one of them. The action is always breakneck, and the speed of transitions is decent. However, if you're someone who pays attention to the time changes in films (especially animated ones), this movie drops the ball a bit. Things happen without care for the time passing in different places. Some may argue that, given the whimsical nature of the setting and plot, you shouldn't expect time to be such a big deal, but it's the one thing that put me off this movie.
What really makes this movie stand out is how well it came together. You're always waiting for the second shoe to drop, and for something to go wrong. And towards the end of the movie, it almost all does. You connect with the characters on a fundamental level to such an extent that you want to smack Tim for his stupid behavior once or twice. And that's what gives this film such a universal draw. It doesn't go for the cheap double-entendre humor that other kid/adult animated series or movies go for (I'm looking at you, Spongebob). Instead, it opts to use fourth-wall-breaks to throw humor at adults without breaking the immersion for kids. For this alone, it's at least worth watching with the little ones in your household.
The Willoughbys has reflections of several other animated films, but trying to pin it down as one that follows a recipe is a bad idea. It's got a little bit of everything, along with that slight hint of magic that makes animated films worth watching. It's not a kid-only film with sight gags, nor is it an adult-only film that throws a bone to kids to watch it because it's animated. It reminds you of a Pixar film, albeit without the cheesy reconciliation moments. It takes risks, and those risks pay off big time in the finale. If you like animated movies but hate something with a foregone conclusion or some sappy message about "the power of love/friendship," then you should give The Willoughby's a whirl. You'll be pleasantly surprised by the results.
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