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Storks review by Rashid Irani: Baby bonanza
This is an emotional, fun film with a moving plot and a clever spin on the myth of long-legged birds bringing babies into the world.
STORKS
Direction: Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland
Voices: Andy Samberg, Katie Crown
Rating: 2.5 / 5
Livelier and with a more pronounced streak of poignancy than the standard animation fare, Storks puts a clever spin on the myth of long-legged birds bringing babies into the world.
The story has an emotional, family-friendly core. For nearly two decades the storks have stopped producing and delivering infants at family doorsteps. Instead, they have switched to the more lucrative business of dropping off parcels for an Amazon-like retail giant.
From the get-go, the viewer is drawn into the swirling mountaintop factory that is the birds’ base.
The CEO (voiced in appropriately haughty tones by Kelsey Grammer) is to be made chairman. In turn, there’s a chance that the top delivery stork (Andy Samberg) will be promoted too.
The rollercoaster ride begins when the firm’s star performer and its sole human employee, an orphan girl (dubbed with comic verve by Katie Crown), accidentally reactivates the long-dormant ‘baby making machine’.
She then attempts to transport the unauthorised infant to her new home, meeting with various adventures along the way.
The fantasy is bolstered by a talented supporting voice cast including Jennifer Aniston and Ty Burrell as workaholic realtor parents and Stephen Kramer Glickman as a toadying pigeon.
The kaleidoscopic backdrops are given the 3D treatment. The sequence involving a million babies being transported along a conveyor belt is truly wondrous.
Read: Animated movies are not just for kids anymore, even in India
Oscar-winning composer Mychael Dana (Life of Pi) and his younger brother Jeff contribute a lilting music score.
Clocking in at a breezy 89 minutes, Storks merits the attention of its targeted kiddie audience. Adults will relate to its pleasures too.
