I found out about this movie when it was promoted in certain Indonesian cinemas websites and it premiered on Wednesday. I also read somewhere that the movie was not really well received, but my wife and I were willing to give it a try as we wanted to check and see it on our own before deciding if a movie is good or bad. However, as we were already having other things planned these past few days, we only got the chance to see it today. So will go on with the movie now.
Brief Story Line
In the world where defect dolls called Uglydolls were "thrown" into a place called Uglyville, the residents were happily living in peace with its mayor Ox (Blake Shelton). Moxy (Kelly Clarkson - From Justin to Kelly) was one of them who always dreamt of going to the outside world and be adopted by a child, but her wish never came true. Until one day, she decided to find out the way to fulfill her dreams. Together with her friends the wise Lucky Bat (Wang Leehom - Lust, Caution etc), the big & having many things in his pocket Babo (Gabriel Iglesias), the cool Ugly Dog (Singer Pittbull) and the sarcastic Wage (Wanda Sykes - Ice Age:Collision Course etc), they embarked on a journey to find ways to the outside world.
They somehow found their way to an Institute of Perfection for dolls to be prepared for children use. Their leader was a perfectly looking Lou (Nick Jonas) who always emphasized on perfection and despise ugliness. As Moxy and her friends tried their best to be "perfect", they would find their wish was not easy to achieve. They also met with other dolls who were not that receptive with them, such as the 3 mean girls and another doll named Mandy (Janelle Monae).
So could Moxy and friends achieve their dreams? Find them all in this musical animated movie.
End of Brief Story Line
OK, so when the movie started for around a minute or so, we were already given a song that was sung by Kelly Clarkson and the rest of the residents of Uglyville which sadly took a lot longer than we anticipated. It was like a song that was seemingly endless, and just when we thought it was over, the song continued again. That was not the start we would have wanted, but we still kept our minds opened. However it turned out almost the entire movie was filled with songs after songs, where only during the middle part we could enjoy a lot more conversations without being inserted with songs.
Now those of you who have read my posts, especially when it comes to musical, you would already know that I am not a major fan of musical films but I could enjoy if few songs are sung every now and then. My wife though was a fan of such genre, but even she did not find it interesting, probably due to no songs were memorable enough for her.
To be honest, the movie actually had the right idea of reminding us that perfection may not be what everybody was looking for. Sometimes it's the imperfection that made them the right choice. However, the plot was rather poorly executed, with many of the scenes which could have been nicely done fell flat. Apart from a brief scene towards the end that was quite emotional (which did affect my wife), we had difficult time to feel attached with the characters.
There were also some comedic scenes which were not bad with one particular character that I quite liked, the sarcastic Wage voiced by Wanda Sykes' whose voice was very familiar to us as she seemed to be in a lot of comedy movies. The rest of Moxy's friends despite having a lot of screen times were just so so to my opinion. And those 3 mean girls (voiced by singers Bebe Rexha, Charlie XCX and Lizzo) left quite an impression to us as they managed to provide more memorable amusing moments. Oh, but Nick Jonas I think successfully portrayed the most annoying character Lou. Btw, the end credit scene did have some funny animation of the Uglydolls, plus a very amusing brief scene right after the last moment of the credit scene.
Overall I thought the movie should have been a wonderful film as it had a beautiful premise, but unfortunately due to some writing which left a lot to be desired, the story did not leave a lot of impressions. It was a bit boring as well with the almost nonstop songs by the voice cast of mostly singers. If I compared with another animated movie Trolls which was based on different kind of dolls and also got some songs but not a musical, that one was a lot more enjoyable and successfully delivered their message. Plus one of their songs was a major hit that was promoted before the movie premiered, while this one sadly did not have such hit. It was a pity though as this was supposed to be a great underdog movie. It could probably entertain young girls at best, while adults would probably have a harder time to enjoy it.
So if you are looking for an amazing animated movie based on commercial dolls, you would be having more fun seeing the other movie I mentioned earlier. You could give this one a try but do no expect it to have a high quality that would leave you with the most delightful feeling after seeing it.
Mike's movie moments rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
PS: Uglydoll is a brand based on a series of plush toys created by David Horvarth and Sun-Min Kim released since the year 2001 and was a huge success. Apart from this movie, there would also be an animated TV series on Hulu.
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