Mr Peabody & Sherman Review
From inventor to olympiad, musician to gourmand, Mr Peabody has done it all and now he’s starring in his very own film along with his adopted son, Sherman. Dreamworks have taken the much loved 60s cartoon and given it the modern treatment in Mr Peabody and Sherman. Traveling in their mind-bending time machine, the WABAC, they are ready to, quite literally, make their mark on history.
After an incredible life Mr Peabody has one last thing to accomplish and that is to be the perfect father to his adoptive son Sherman. Don’t get me wrong, he is doing a great job, but when Sherman starts school things start to get a lot tougher. When he gets into a fight with fellow classmate Penny, Mr Peabody must rectify the situation or risk losing his son for good. When Penny’s family come to a reconciliation meal, Sherman goes too far in trying to impress. He shows Penny the WABAC and so the catalyst is sparked. Penny falls in love with Ancient Egypt and a Pharaoh. So along with Mr Peabody they start an epic adventure back in time to fix the things the kids have wronged. This ends in accidentally breaking a hole in the space time continuum and suddenly the race is on to save time as we know it.
From what could have been a roller coaster of back and forth from past to present, present to past, the film does well to hold you long enough in each time zone and keep you well grounded. Mr Peabody & Sherman comfortably takes you on a journey from the French revolution to Ancient Egypt and even the siege of Troy with the latter causing most of the laughs. The introduction is narrated by Peabody and includes a clever and slightly stylised montage of how this particular relationship came to be. It is one of the films many touching moments, that shows the true love and admiration that the pair have for one another. The intro stays short and tight allowing us to be thrust into the story quicker and it works a treat. From the outset the film has it all from high octane thrills, with a chase through the Paris sewers, to full on comedy with the cake guzzling Marie Antoinette. Sherman is the perfect companion to the intellectual Peabody and is bursting with infantile enthusiasm and wonder. His personality and dialogue dictate this film which is cleverly written letting his uniquely developed personality shines through. With some of the characters relying on certain pre-requisite stereotypes, Peabody and Sherman stand out as well rounded and originally thought out characters.
The overall look of Mr Peabody & Sherman is a delight, somewhat generic of a lot of CG films, but original ideas and designs flourish though out, keeping it fresh and interesting. For example look out for the heavily influenced Cartoon Modern approach of the vehicles. High roofs and windows, exaggerated to the extreme, help to bring the background elements to life. The inclusion of little diagrams and workings when Peabody is coming up with an idea is also a great addition and really helps to create another level to the film. The idea of stylising the opening montage, in a subtle cel-shaded way, is also a nice touch but it’s difficult sometimes to really distinguish it from the main style. It seems like the ideas are there and are screaming to get out. The animation and designers look like they really had some fun with this film and there are sections where they’ve really succeeded. Taking an existing 2D cartoon and creating a 3D world was always going to be a tough job and overall Dreamworks really triumph, just maybe they needed to be a bit braver.
This film has been on my personal radar for a long time and it really didn’t disappoint. A great action packed adventure full of twists and turns, great one-liners and heart felt moments. A true father and son film with a large dose time travelling enchantment. Although I must warn, if you are a father taking your son, Mr Peabody is a lot to live up to.