Storks (2016)

(On Cable TV, May 2017) There are a lot of animated kid movies in theatres these days, and Storks does seem poured in the same mould as most of them: Imaginative premises, anthropomorphized characters, madcap action sequences, pat emotional core, musical interludes … and so on. While Strokes doesn’t venture too far away from the formula, it does execute it decently and thrown in a few good laughs along the way. The two lead characters have their appeal, and Stork does allow itself a few minutes to explore plot tangents that are nearly superfluous to the plot. (It particularly liked the “stork landing zone” construction project that bonds the family … and proves itself useless.) It doesn’t amount to much more than a serviceable film of its genre … but that’s not bad. For the Warner Animation Group, it’s a way to step out of The Lego Movie shadow and show that they can develop their own properties. They haven’t scored a unanimous success yet, but they’re in the running.