Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Norm Of The North - Review




Norm, a polar bear who has the power to speak "human", despite the fact that all his fellow animals can too as well, heads off to New York City in order to secretly sabotage a campaign to build condos in the Arctic. NORM OF THE NORTH is a clear contender for worst film of the year, maniacally flailing about with its sheer stupidity, dubious animation, and overall lack of coherence. It needs to be repeated and underlined that the entire conflict of this film rests on the fact that a real estate magnate believes that rich people will want to buy Frank Gehry-styled condos in the Arctic, amid dangerous wildlife and an unstable environment that is closed off from the rest of the world. Even a 2 year old can see that this is a pathetic villainous plot that makes no sense whatsoever. Further story decisions that erode intelligence with ease include having Norm becoming famous due to an attempted office shooting, by his antagonistic boss no less, introducing several female characters only to then throw them to sidelines and offer no real assistance, having everyone constantly say "save the Arctic, not sell the Arctic", and having the normal public wholeheartedly believe a stilted, clearly edited sound clip is a winning endorsement for environmental destruction. All of that plus a near minute long scene where Norm's companions, three little lemmings that are always hopped up on goofballs, continuously pissing into a public fish tank. Why bother caring about characterization or logical behavior when you can just sit through another dance number or see furry creatures make poop jokes? The cast is wasted, the direction is an abomination, and the 3D imagery is completely erratic when it is not copied and pasted. Nothing works at all! In an otherwise fantastic year in cinematic animation, this stillborn is sure to live in infamy.


FINAL REVIEW: 1 / 5

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