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Boss Baby is a mix of laughs and confusion

While Disney is making a comeback in both animation and live-action adaptations, and Pixar continues to pump out great films (fingers crossed for “Cars 3”), DreamWorks seems to be spewing out any sort of Luxo Jr. wannabe “light bulb” that pops into their heads. With the exception of the “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Kung Fu Panda” films, in recent years, DreamWorks has really been lacking in quality.

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When “The Boss Baby” trailer released, I was optimistic. The animation looked great, and it was an idea that has been done in some way before, but it still looked very original. It also had the comedic aspect, which hooked me above all.

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With that being said, I didn’t expect “Spirited Away” or “Toy Story,” yet I was still disappointed. It was interesting, I will give it that, but the story was extremely confusing, and it wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be.

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Let’s start with the plot of the film. The film starts with there being a distinct line between reality and imagination. Since the protagonist is a seven-year-old boy, his imagination is off the charts. Whenever he is imagining what is going on, the art style is completely separate from the actual animation of the film. As the film progresses, there is no more separate art style, therefore the line between imagination and reality becomes blurred. Nonsensical events take place that either make no sense in the context of the film, or make no sense no matter what. Obviously, the target audience (which is obviously not college students) won’t have this problem, but it is still a film, and every film should be analyzed and critiqued on a level playing field. They should be looked at by what they are, films, regardless of genre or target audience.

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Most of the humor in “The Boss Baby” doesn’t land. Of course, kids will love it, but for anyone else, it’s mostly slapstick and cheap laughs. Remember, “children’s” films can have jokes that can appeal to audiences of all ages, with some jokes even directed towards older siblings and parents; take “The Lego Movie” for example.

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The animation in “The Boss Baby” is extremely good, on the other hand. The film is very fast-paced, and the animation keeps up very well. Also, Alec Baldwin is great as the titular suit-sporting infant. He shows enough personality to keep the film pretty interesting, despite its flaws.

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Overall, “The Boss Baby” is okay. It’s just okay. It’s nothing special, but it’s not terrible. I liked the look of the film, and it remained relatively intriguing, although the story was hard to follow and it wasn’t that funny. It is not a must watch, but for kids it’ll be a great time waster.

April 11, 2017

By Kirin Siton, Staff Writer

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