This past weekend DreamWorks released its new animated film, Home. The film stars the voices of pop star Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Steve Martin and The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons. During the opening weekend the film grossed $54 million dollars, earning more than other movies debuting the same weekend.
The film begins in space on the Boovs’ shuttle as they plan on running away and making Earth their new home. This is when the audience is introduced to Oh (Parsons) and his obvious excitement and his oblivious nature. Oh has the typical demeanor of the annoying, yet lovable next-door neighbor, much like Steve Urkel. Though Oh is beyond adorable and friendly, the other Boovs do everything in their power to avoid him.
After making a huge mistake that could have potentially threatened the safety of the Boov population, Oh was exiled from Earth. Rihanna’s character, Gratuity “Tip” Tucci is the only human left on Earth and she is determined to find her missing mother, which is when she crossed paths with Oh. The two embark on a journey across the galaxy to find her mother and to fix his mistake. Though the two did not immediately hit it off, they started to grow on each other.
Home was a delightful, heartwarming story about companionship and making friends. Younger viewers get to see that no one truly likes to be alone, and everyone deserves a friend. The film seems very similar to Pixar’s Finding Nemo, but it falls short of the glory. This story about friendship has been told countless times in numerous ways, but Home barely scratches the surface compared to other movies. It lacks depth and details like other films.
Even though this film was the top grossing for the weekend, it was not one of my favorite DreamWorks films. It seems to engage more with the younger audience than adults, which makes sense since it was made for a younger audience. Very seldom did I hear the room fill with adult laughter, and if it did it was because of something odd Oh said. Tip, on the other hand, was not very funny and in all honestly Rihanna’s voice sounded odd when paired with her character’s appearance. Unlike Oh, Tip was not as engaged or lovable. It seemed like she was an adult in a child’s body and had a more serious approach throughout the movie.
Overall, the movie was enjoyable, but I could have waited for it to come out in Redbox or on Netflix. Compared to previous DreamWorks films, this such as Kung Fu Panda, Home fell short of my expectations.
