Release Date – TBC, Cert – TBC, Run-time – 1 hour 36 minutes, Director – Andy Serkis
A group of animals take control of their farm and start to run it for themselves, however their home of equality soon shifts into a corrupt power structure the more the pigs take greedy charge.
In a pre-recorded introduction to an LFF screening of Animal Farm director and producer Andy Serkis said that he wanted to make an adaptation of George Orwell’s classic novel that told the story in an entertaining way rather than a messagey, browbeating way. However, isn’t part of the point of Animal Farm that it is browbeating in its allegory of communism and fascism? There’s certainly not-entirely-subtle dialogue scattered throughout, especially when early on one character declares that “freedom is the ability to act, speak and think what we want!”
Adapting Animal Farm has been something of a passion project for Serkis for the best part of 15 years. Having gone through development hell, different studios (even Netflix ditched it after a while) and moving away from initial motion capture intentions; I don’t believe that this is the film that he initially set out to make, and one or two tweaks may have been made for the sake of the studio, but it’s still one that he wanted to make, and that he’s happy with. One that takes a look at the world as it is today – Napoleon (Seth Rogen), now in a state of full control of the farm after ousting owner Mr Jones (Serkis – who also plays rooster Randolph), declares “everyone is saying I’m doing a really, really super job.”
Generally the film is likable enough for what it does and passes its run-time fairly well with its more commercially leaning targeting of a younger/ more family-based audience, with a couple of bumps along the way. But, what diminishes it the most is that in the attempt to make an entertaining version of the story screenwriter Nicholas Stoller has made the pigs (also including Kieran Culkin’s Squealer) the comic relief. Perhaps in an effort to make them seem foolish, their acts of greed and corruption don’t quite come across in that way, and don’t perhaps have the threat that they should have either when a couple of fart gags are thrown in. Or just slightly strange sequences seeing the characters ascending a never-ending escalator to a supermarket – or a bank representative (Steve Buscemi) going to a group of animals about mortgage repayments.
Yet, there are occasional amusing moments here and there throughout the film. One which manages to hold its head just above water and I was glad I watched. This was one of the films I was looking forward to most at this year’s London Film Festival, largely because of how long Serkis had been working on it, and I was perhaps more glad I saw it at one of the two public screenings where it seemed to go down ok with an almost full screening room. I don’t believe that Serkis’, or the audience’s, time was wasted on this project. It may not be perfect and it may have some key creative choices that truly hold it back from landing that impact that it needs – although the note of the ending is effective and the decisions made understandable considering the angles the film has taken in trying to depict the world today in some way.
A world that sees no Old Major, where Moses has turned from a crow into a drone and the opening credits play out like an action sequence as the animals rid the farm of Mr Jones. As mentioned, this may not be the film Serkis initially set out to make, but it’s at least one that he wanted to make and appears happy with. And one that’s generally worthwhile as it manages to amuse and make some solid points, especially in its closing stages, amongst its still-rather-messagey nature that follows the familiar themes and beats that many of us will have likely studied in great detail at school. It may not be perfect, and it could possibly do with some more browbeating, but there’s a solid family-friendly take here.
Animal Farm somewhat shoots itself in the foot by making the pigs the comic relief and focusing more on entertainment than message, yet, while it could do with a more looming sensibility it manages to amuse and make for a likable enough time whilst on.
Just A Little Bit Random 