Free Birds is not really a good or great film, nor is it terrible. If there was a word to sum it up it would be mediocre. Is it the worst animated film of the year? No, that dishonour goes to Sir Billi(which was billed as Sean Connery's comeback!). Is it the best? Again, no, that's so far been between Monsters University and Despicable Me 2(have high hopes for Frozen, and that is looking like that will be even better than these two). Free Birds does have a few things that came off well. The animation has some nice bright colours and attention to detail(though the character designs could have been smoother in places),the soundtrack is catchy, the scene with the hunters destroying the turkey's nest is indeed tense and the voice acting has the right amount of zest and energy, Woody Harrelson is almost unrecognisable and is clearly having fun, Amy Poehler should do voice acting more often because she is born to do it and Owen Wilson brings some distinctive quirkiness as well(if at times on the one-note side). George Takei while bringing dignity to his part is very underused though, and it does feel like a waste. There are a lot of flaws as well unfortunately. The script lacks crispness and wit and has an overkill of turkey jokes that are both contrived and dumb, some gags are stretched out to pointlessness while the slapstick is heavy on predictability and over-broadness and light on fun and invention.

With the target audience too, children may enjoy it if they understand the humour but it is likely to go over the heads of adults. If that is the case, considering that Free Birds is a family film(NOT a kids' film) the film only does half its job well, if children are not amused it's a failure. Where I was, the reception from both children and adults were largely the latter, but then again it will be different with you. The story is well-intended but is far too simple- even for a family film- and predictable, while it also doesn't do anything with the time travel idea(which had great potential) that comes at the expense of the humour, which very little hits the mark really. The message is good if clumsily and heavy-handedly incorporated(likewise with the few emotional parts that were more manipulative than heartfelt),and there's no better about the characters unfortunately who suffer from flat personalities(some like Jake irritating too) and dealt with far too simplistically to the extent we know little about them. Non-US viewers may also find that because the film is so rooted in American customs and their early history that that is a further reason why the humour is likely to be lost on them. In conclusion, the potential and intentions are there, and it is not as bad as others have said- because the animation, music and voices are good and one scene came off well- but it was lacking in a lot of areas- mostly the humour and the story- and had a lot of wasted potential(doing little with the time travel idea and under-using George Takei). Despite how this sounds, it isn't terrible but rather mediocre, and this is not being said with vehemence but with a heavy heart from a 21-year old animation fan(to avoid over-generalising that defending of panned family films are prone to). 4/10 Bethany Cox

Reggie (Owen Wilson) is a scrawny turkey who knows that they are on the Thanksgiving menu. None of the other turkeys believe him. Luckily for Reggie, he gets pick by the President's daughter to be pardon. Jake (Woody Harrelson) is a strong slightly dumb turkey who takes Reggie on a mission. He takes him to a shed in Camp David which turns out to be the entrance to a secret base with a time machine. The two turkeys go back to 1621 Plymouth colony to take turkeys off the Thanksgiving menu. Reggie falls for the chief's daughter Jenny (Amy Poehler). The time machine is called S.T.E.V.E. (George Takei).

The advertisements keep touting the fact that one of the producers (Aron Warner) also produced Shrek. Really? That's just stupid. There is also the tough sell that they're getting turkeys off the menu. Turkey is tasty. If one can accept the idea of Thanksgiving without turkeys, then this movie has a chance. 'Chicken Run' is more palatable because it doesn't propose to take all chickens off the menu. The animation is reasonable for a family movie. It's not the top of the line but it's good enough.

I really like the idea that turkeys are the Indians to the Pilgrams settlers. It works quite well. Reggie and Jake are fine but I wish they get friendlier faster. There is one joke that made laugh hard. "STEVE's not here, man." It's a great stoner joke. I wish Cheech or Chong was doing it and they could keep it going for awhile. On the other end of the spectrum, the 'angry birds' joke was groan inducing. I thought the big capture is quite thrilling and the resulting low point very touching. I also really like the final resolution for the Thanksgiving meal because that is filled with great big pitfalls. This premise has its difficulties but I find most of it is resolved reasonably.

Not nearly as good as the other time traveling animal (Mr. Peabody),but has some charm of its own. Although that might depend on your take of Owen Wilson (since he's the voice of the main character here). You might want to rate higher or lower I guess. The time travel thing does not work entirely, but what makes it worthwhile is the fact that it has a few jokes here and there (definitely not the "twist" towards the end though that's for sure).

This animation works more the kids and less for the adults, though there are some stabs at American/native history here. It still is kept simple and the whole thing is predictable. There are worse things though and your kids/young ones won't mind watching this at all.