Surreal, witless cartoon in which an emoticon with a whole gamut of emotions just wants to be like very other emoji.
This pointless animated feature directed by Anthony Leondis will probably encourage young children to spend even more time on their mobile phones than they already do. The action takes place in Textopolis, where all the emojis are dreaming of being selected by their phone’s user. Each emoji has only one expression apart for Gene (T.J. Miller), who has no filter but multiple expressions which soon becomes a hindrance to his popularity. He seeks help from his friend Hi-5 (James Corden) and Jaibreak (Ilana Glazer) in order to overcome his problem...
The animation and voice work are fine but the witless script is often repetitive and not as funny as it thinks it is. It is not offensive by any means – just dull and unimaginative. Blame this on the success of The LEGO Movie!
GEORGE SAVVIDES
Voices of T.J. Miller, James Corden, Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Steven Wright, Jennifer Coolidge, Christina Aguilera, Sofía Vergara, Sean Hayes, Patrick Stewart.
Dir Anthony Leondis, Pro Michelle Raimo Kouyate, Screenplay Tony Leondis, Eric Siegel and Mike White, Pro DesCarlos Zaragoza, Ed William J. Caparella, Music Patrick Doyle.
Sony Pictures Animation-Sony Pictures.
86 mins. USA. 2017. Rel: 4 August 2017. Cert. U.
