Shadows on the Wall | Animal Farm

Animal Farm

dir Andy Serkis
scr Nicholas Stoller
prd Jonathan Cavendish, Adam Nagle, Peter Nagle, Dave Rosenbaum, Andy Serkis
voices Gaten Matarazzo, Seth Rogen, Glenn Close, Steve Buscemi, Laverne Cox, Kieran Culkin, Woody Harrelson, Jim Parsons, Andy Serkis, Kathleen Turner, Iman Vellani, Elijah Cook
release US 1.May.26,
UK 24.Jul.26
25/UK Imaginarium 1h35

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Animated with a bright sense of colour, texture and attitude, Andy Serkis and Nicholas Stoller adapt George Orwell's seminal 1945 allegory with perhaps more than the required amount of anthropomorphism. The script grapples with the book's major ideas surrounding the dangers of authoritarianism and elitism, while also touching on crushing capitalism and the perils of seeking stardom. It's also infused with wacky humour, nutty slapstick and adorable critters.

Smart piglet Lucky (Matarazzo) is thrilled when the barnyard animals take over the farm themselves, after fighting off corporate boss Frieda (Close) after she evicts their inept farmer. Wise pig Snowball (Cox) sets up new rules to create a fair animal society. But Napoleon (Rogen) rebels against Snowball and rewrites the rules, elevating pigs above the others. Napoleon also insists that they must walk on two feet and wear clothes, even though it violates their nature. Amid the ensuing chaos, they earn cash to pay off banker Whymper (Buscemi), even as they jeopardise their future.

Between manure and fart jokes, Napoleon insists that some animals are "more equal than others". Far from being a leader, he's a greedy goofball who is easily manipulated by Frieda. Meanwhile, Lucky's beloved friend Boxer the horse (Harrelson) just looks at the stars when things get tough, forgetting his worries. These ideas are clever, but the meaning begins to get lost in the silliness after the critters go on a department store shopping spree. And the action climax is also bizarrely overegged.

Both the animators and the voice cast create characters who ripple with personality. The fur has a nice hand-painted sheen, while the humans and their world is overly slick and spiky. Along with the central figures, vivid side roles include Napoleon's weak-willed sidekick Squealer (Culkin), thoughtful donkey Benjamin (Turner), dopey goat Carl (Parsons) and blustery rooster Randolph (Serkis).

Lucky is a likeable protagonist whose journey is easy to identify with; despite his intelligence, he discovers Napoleon's treachery very late in the game. How he tries to fix things feels wildly improbable plotwise, but there are enjoyable parallels with today's political landscape in how Napoleon believes that anyone who disagrees with him is ignorant. So Lucky hits the grandstanding Napoleon where it hurts the most, making him look weak and stupid. In the end, the message seems to be that no leader is good, but choosing to help each other is what gives us freedom. It's a nice sentiment, but kind of misses the point.

themes, violence 19.Jun.26

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