In this animated comedy, Kumail Nanjiani stars as a play-it-safe duck who is urged by his more adventurous kids and wife (Elizabeth Banks) to migrate from New England to Jamaica. With an eccentric uncle (Danny Devito) in tow and a few friends they pick up along the way (a Jamaican parrot played by Keegan Michael Key with a thick patois, among them), the family faces death at every turn.
The film is in the mold of a classic animated film based around a simple Aesop (stepping out of your shell = good), but it thrives with a high laughs-per-minute ratio, solid animation, and strong comic personalities
One of the things this movie does best is to bend around the talents of its voice actors. Kumail Nanjiani often excels as a straight man on crack, so he's good as a worrywart parent who rightfully points out that life can be pretty dangerous from the bottom of the food chain. Danny DeVito is a bit of a wildcard, and has plays various degrees of curmudgeon, so as a cranky uncle, he works well. He also has a strong character arc. Carol Kane steals a couple scenes as an mercurial heron who might want to alternatively eat or nurture them during a storm.
The film is in the mold of a classic animated film based around a simple Aesop (stepping out of your shell = good), but it thrives with a high laughs-per-minute ratio, solid animation, and strong comic personalities
One of the things this movie does best is to bend around the talents of its voice actors. Kumail Nanjiani often excels as a straight man on crack, so he's good as a worrywart parent who rightfully points out that life can be pretty dangerous from the bottom of the food chain. Danny DeVito is a bit of a wildcard, and has plays various degrees of curmudgeon, so as a cranky uncle, he works well. He also has a strong character arc. Carol Kane steals a couple scenes as an mercurial heron who might want to alternatively eat or nurture them during a storm.