Back to the Outback - Fun Animated Movie for Whole Family

Last weekend, there were not that many new movies that I was totally interested in, which I thought would be the best time for me to catch up on some series. But when my wife told me this film was fun, she recommended that we watch it together. So we did watch it yesterday and here's my views.

Brief Story Line

The Australian Wildlife Park was famous among families and children as it was having a well known zookeeper named Chazz (Eric Bana - King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, The Finest Hours etc). One of the main attraction of the zoo was the cute and adorable koala bear named Pretty Boy (Tim Minchin - Robin Hood 2018 version etc). In addition, there were also a bunch of wild animals feared by the visitors such as the venomous snake called Maddie (Isla Fisher - Godmothered, Visions etc), the funnel-web spider Frank (Guy Pearce - Without Remorse, Mare of Easttown mini series etc), the thorny devil Zoe (Miranda Tapsell), the scorpion Nigel (Angus Imrie) and the crocodile Jackie (Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook, Animal Kingdom etc).

Feeling tired of being looked at as scary animals and treated like monsters, Maddie and the others decided to escape from the zoo and return to the Outback where they would be able to live freely.

So how would the story conclude? Find them all in this fun movie.

End of Brief Story Line

So just like what my wife told me, this movie was indeed fun. There were quite a number of moments where we laughed out loud. My wife even managed to laugh again while re-watching the first 15 minutes or so together with me. The main part that was hilarious for us was the appearance of these wild animals since they were totally the opposite of scary. We were amused by their colorful body, like the orange color of scorpion or the purple of the spider, not to mention their baby faces.

In addition, their characters were also very likable. Maddie was very soft hearted while Zoe was very intelligent, plus Frank's behavior as it was the mating season for him, or Nigel who sometimes would provide funny remarks. These attributes made us pretty engaged with the animals and rooting for them. And obviously it was very fun watching them trying to do their best to get to the Outback.

In term of story, it might not have been very original as we have seen a similar one where animals in a zoo had to survive the outside world and go to the wild life (I am sure you are aware which movie I am thinking about as it was very successful and made into few sequels and spin-off). But the interaction between these animals was what made me and my wife like the film, supported by some amusing scenes as well. 

For me personally, what I loved the most was the voice cast as I thought their work was fantastic and they were able to bring life into these characters. As this is a joint US and Australian production, many of the cast were Australian like Isla Fisher, Tim Minchin, Eric Bana, Jacki Weaver and others. There were even some Australian singers like Kylie Minogue and Keith Urban appeared briefly in here. The animation was pretty good with realistic Australian sceneries. It has a duration of only 95 minutes including closing credits which did not have any mid or post end credit scenes.

Overall this was a fun movie, with simple enough story, engaging characters, exciting adventure and safe for children to watch. It is pretty enjoyable and a good option for the whole family. So if you are looking for this kind of film, then you can give it a try and hopefully you would enjoy it like we did.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars