The Emoji Movie (2017)

Sometimes I just feel like watching shitty movies so that I can have fun writing a review late on. Today was one of those days and, having heard and read so many awful things about The Emoji Movie over the past year, I made it my mission to sit through it. It was not easy, I'll tell you that as this is one of the most dreadful animated films I've seen. And I've seen a lot of dreadful animated films. 

Set inside a smartphone, the film follows Gene (voiced by T.J. Miller), a meh emoji with a problem, he doesn't feel meh and always has another expression on his face. Determined to become a normal emoji, Gene enlists the help of his new friend Hi-5 (voiced by James Corden) and a notorious Emoji hacker, Jailbreaker (voiced by Anna Faris), and they embark on a journey through the apps on the phone.

Though calling it a plot should be punished with death penalty, The Emoji Movie's plot makes no sense whatsoever as every single obstacle the main characters face could have been easily avoided, it's beyond predictable and bland, and completely lacks originality as it is yet another story about a misfit, someone who does not fit in. This film basically tries, not so hard, to be a combination of Wreck-It Ralph, The LEGO Movie and Inside Out. 

The characters are just as bland and non-sense as the plot. Every single one of them is one-dimensional, even Gene who is supposed to be a little deeper but has the same depth of the others, none, and most of them are mean assholes. These are characters representing emotions and yet they deliver absolutely nothing and I couldn't care less about any of them. The voice work, at least, fits these characters to perfection as it is bland and uninspired, just like everything else in the film.

Columbia Pictures

The humour, however, is probably the worst aspect of The Emoji Movie. It is a hundred percent garbage. There isn't a single funny joke unless you consider poop emojis making a joke about washing their hands after using the toilet funny. Yep, that's the level of humour here, cringy and at times insulting. I read on IMDb's trivia section that, in Saudi Arabia, this played as a double feature with Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. It does not surprise me one bit. 

In addition, The Emoji Movie can also claim dumb as fuck dialogue, a lot of product placement and ads --the whole movie is basically a huge ad--, and an overuse of catchy pop songs which only angered me. The animation is pretty good though, I'll give the film that.