‘Flow’
During his acceptance speech at the Oscars on Sunday, the Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis (“Away”) spoke about overcoming our differences, a central theme of his movie and a lesson that feels more urgent today than ever. “Flow,” which won best animated feature film, is the dreamy tale of a black cat with huge, expressive yellow eyes. After getting caught in a sudden and enormous flood, the cat finds an old sailboat and then meets a capybara, a benevolent Labrador retriever, a secretary bird and a lemur along the way. The unlikely crew must learn to accept one another and work together to survive in their strange, beautiful, post-flood world.
There’s zero dialogue in this film, which might pose a challenge for children who are used to movies with rapid-fire chatter like “Sonic the Hedgehog,” but the animals here are so expressive, distinct and endearing, it’s easy to get swept up into the story. Even my son, a fierce dog lover who “hates cats,” gave it a go. Zilbalodis wrote the script with Matiss Kaza.
‘Plankton: The Movie’
This is the latest in a string of animated musical features starring different characters from Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” universe, created by Stephen Hillenburg. Our hero (well, antihero) this go-round is Plankton (voiced by Mr. Lawrence), a little green one-eyed baddie intent on taking over Bikini Bottom and then the world. When Plankton’s wife, Karen (Jill Talley), gets angry at him, she transforms into a rage-filled hydra-headed computer who has her own plan for world domination.
The plot is downright wacky, which makes sense given that this is based on a show about a yellow sponge who wears shorts and a necktie. Along the way, SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) occasionally transforms into a Freudian psychologist who analyzes Plankton to figure out what the heck is wrong with him. In the end, Plankton learns a little bit about empathy.
The original songs by Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, Linda Perry and Bret McKenzie give the musical numbers a psychedelic-punk-comedy vibe. When Sandy Cheeks got her own movie last summer, my son watched it on repeat, so time will tell whether Plankton wields as much power over his imagination. Dave Needham (“The Loud House Movie”) directed, and the screenplay is by Mr. Lawrence and Kaz, and Mr. Lawrence and Chris Viscardi.
‘Pil’s Adventures’
Pil (voiced by Eleanor Noble in the English version) is a barefoot orphan snagging scraps of food in the streets of her medieval town. But Pil is, above all, kind. She loves animals, dreams of having friends and just wants to get by day to day. With her punked-out braids, she looks a little bit like a sweet animated version of a “Mad Max” character. She tries to keep her chin up even when the townspeople reject her. One day she sees the dastardly Lord Tristain (Terrence Scammell) try to poison young Prince Roland (Scott Humphrey) before Roland becomes king. Instead of killing him, the poison turns Roland into a half-chicken/half-cat creature. It’s then up to Pil, disguised as a princess, to help Roland and save the kingdom.
There are dragons, battles and sorceresses in this French film, as well as plenty of adventure to keep young viewers rapt. The French director Julien Fournet also wrote the screenplay.
‘Home Team’
In this feel-good sports flick from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions, Kevin James plays a somewhat fictionalized version of the real N.F.L. coach Sean Payton, who got suspended in 2012 for his role in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal. After his ouster in the film, Payton goes home to Texas to see his son, Connor (Tait Blum), and his ex-wife, Beth (played by Sandler’s real wife, Jackie Sandler). When he watches Conner’s Pop Warner football team, the Warriors, get destroyed on the field game after game, the dethroned coach steps in to help the kids discover their inner athletes.
Taylor Lautner plays the Warriors’ dedicated but worn-down coach, and Rob Schneider plays Beth’s new husband, Jamie, a Snuggie-wearing vegan with a man bun who is the opposite of Payton. The underdog story line will be familiar to fans of “The Bad News Bears” and “The Sandlot,” so expect plenty of “That’s how you become great!” pep talks and moments of redemption. This film is not one of Happy Madison’s best by any stretch, but for little ones who love uplifting sports movies, it’s worth a try. Charles and Daniel Kinnane, the filmmaking brothers known for their short films starring James, directed. Chris Titone and Keith Blum wrote the script.
‘Azzu and Gazzu: International Super Detectives’
Azzu (Alison Miller) and Gazzu (Amanda Sullivan) are twin aliens whose pod crash-landed on Earth when they were children. The duo were raised by the mustachioed Uncle George (Simon Speight), a scientist and gadget maker who trained them in “the art of self-defense and warfare.” They’re now 11 years old and the most famous detectives in the world. When the royal family summons the twins to solve a mystery and save them from an evil monster, Azzu and Gazzu embark on a great adventure.
This low-fi animated film out of India is a little rough around the edges, with visuals that resemble an amateur YouTube video, but in a pinch, younger children should find the twins’ antics entertaining. At the end, a new bad guy called the Golden Goon shows up, so who knows? Maybe there will be a sequel. Deborah C. Stone directed from a script by Srivinay Salian.
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