LIKES:
Cute
Has Some Spirit And Soul
Funny At Times
Clever
Novel Idea
Good Voice Acting
The Animation/Design Of The Shoes
Great Musical Score if You Like The Style
Summary:
Sneaks takes the metaphor of what our shoes have seen and unleashes a novel idea that pulled me into seeing this film. The perspective of the accessory holds a Toy Story-like craft to it, but chooses to focus its humor on footwear plights and the cultural sense of the world they walk through. A cute film fit for families, Sneaks offers a lot of friendly fun with jokes and antics that had me chuckling, including a few adult jabs that were so well-timed. The clever quips never cross too many lines, and the writers managed to hit Disney-style morals and heart when they execute the scene to perfection. Surprisingly, there are more of those moments than I anticipated, a lot of good life lessons packed into the film about identity, adventure, kindness, reputation, and trust that the main shoe, Ty, helps to uncover. Some of these moments are very touching, especially between the two leads who explore a lot of concepts and have the most heat behind them. It manages to teach these lessons in a way that doesn't come off too preachy. And thanks to the voice acting, much of what I mentioned comes to life in the best way possible. Fishburne's commanding bass adds the same power he always brings in his performances as the Collector. Keith David's unique and velvety voice pulls the puns to new heights and adds that leader of the community aura that is perfect for several moments. And Mackie is always so much fun in how he can bend his character to familiar, and yet unique qualities that I love to see, or in this case, hear, as she makes Ty a very enjoyable character.
As for the production, it's okay. Sneaks doesn't have the backing of money like other animation studios we know, but they still brought the style to the screen when it came to the shoes. The sneakers have all the mannerisms of their human voices, but still maintain the quality of the accessory. Shoestring hands, fun hops for their mode of transportation, and plenty of kicks and flips to give them a little more dimension than other modalities enjoy. I liked their character models, and I liked their involvement as they managed to personify different uses of shoes in witty portrayals. As for the music, that aspect was my favorite part of the movie. Sneaks is all about the cultural flair of the city, and the music is almost as big a part of the feeling as the storytelling. Loaded to the tens with rap, hip-hop, and R&B, the track list adds so much style to the film with beats that had me rocking in my seat, tapping my feet, and looking up the soundtrack for potential purposes. Obviously, if you aren't a fan of this genre, you'll have little to enjoy, but I, for one, loved the utility of the songs and having the censorship of the movie give me tracks not loaded with vulgarity or gimmicky lyrics. I think that a lot of the target audience will enjoy these aspects well, if they give it a chance.
DISLIKES:
The Plot Needs Work
The Balance Needs Work
They Didn't Flesh Out Characters Fully
Limited Emotional Connection For Me
The Animation/Design Of Other Characters
Summary:
Where the movie fails for me is in executing the story and the cultural merit they wanted to showcase so well. Sneaks plot feels a bit like Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, and any basketball-centered movie from Disney Channel. On paper, this mashup seems genius, but the limitations of the animation studio must have included time, because it failed to find the momentum to optimize the adventures. Balancing between the sibling shoes, the big baddie, the other baddie, and the supporting character is mediocre at best, with Ty being the only shoe that feels close to having a complete Hero's Journey. Most of the characters have closure and some defining elements, but they were hastily executed to cram into the lower run time. It's a shame, because the potential for these stories could have been so good, especially about the Collector (who is probably the central connection to the whole story), whose tale felt underwhelming despite all the planning they did. Those fully fleshed out characters were present, but I believe so much of the arch support was left on the cutting room floor, filled with add-ons that were funny at times, but quite worthless in the grand scheme of the story. As a result, I didn't have the emotional connection that other animated features have accomplished in their storytelling, which might be turning other audience members away. Finally, Sneaks didn't do much in terms of designs and story outside of the shoes. The human characters are forgettable for the most part, simplistic models that aren't horrible, but just lack the wow factor other films do so much better. I'll give a pass to the fashion statements, as well as the animals, as they have edge, excitement, and personality, but they still pale to the shoes that stomp about them.
The VERDICT:
Sneaks is a movie that is full of heart and soul (sole). It's got attitude, cuteness, and some good material to work with as the fun adventure unboxes itself on the screen. A great voice cast brings things to life, hitting some jokes and emotional moments to peak perfection. The animation and soundtrack help round out things, the latter my particular favorite, with what it added as the shoes laced themselves up for Toy Story antics. Yet, the inconsistency is what gets this film, the budget strained compared to the big-budget projects that other major studios hold. Sneaks needs more time to play with the characters, more building of the characters with meaningful quests, deeper dives, and some stakes to make us worry about the characters. With forgettable action sequences and animation that needs more depth, the movie loses a lot of face to potentially deterring people from giving it a chance. The ideal audience is going to be those who love shoes, have kids, or are looking for that cultural immersion again. Is it a theater movie? Borderline for the music, but I think this is a movie best left (and should have opened) on television viewing.
My scores for Sneaks are:
Adventure/Animation/Comedy/Family: 6.5
Movie Overall: 5.5.
