It was no surprise that The Emoji Movie was going to be a commercial failure when it came out on July 28, 2017. I had no interest when I first saw the trailer because I knew that it was going to be a badly made film. However, I wanted to see how bad this film was myself and I was not disappointed.
For a well-known studio like Sony Pictures Animation Inc, giving the green light for a movie like The Emoji Movie is incredibly disappointing because it just shows that they care more about making money instead of creating something well-thought-out for their target audience. Just because the primary demographic is young children, doesn’t mean it’s okay to offer a film that isn’t visually and narratively appealing.
The film tells the story about Gene, a Meh emoji that is also able to make multiple expressions for some strange reason. When he attends his first day of work, he is unable to control his emotions when chosen to be sent in a text and makes a panicked expression. The leader of the digital world, Smiler, concludes that Gene is a “malfunction” and must be deleted. So, the entire story plot is focused on Gene trying to find a way to be a regular emoji and fit in.
Such a revolutionary film, right?
Courtesy: The Verge
The Emoji Movie is one of the reasons why animated films don’t get the respect they deserve from mainstream society. It’s badly designed, the plot is lazy, and the characters are so bland that they all seem to blend into one another. The film simply has no heart, it felt more like a never-ending stream of advertisements than an actual movie. I’d rather play Candy Crush by myself than spend my time watching the characters in the film play it.
However, The Emoji Movie is not the only film to blame. Other films like Sing, Hotel Transylvania 2, and Minions are also at fault because their main purpose is to make as much money as possible by pushing lovable characters in our faces like the Minions and depending on a boring concept like animals participating in a singing competition.
The Emoji Movie is one of the worst animated films I’ve seen. But unfortunately, there are going to be more films like it or maybe even much worse.