60
Metascore
25 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreA delight, a jokey-smart cartoon that enlightens and teaches even as it entertains. Because we need to learn that sometimes there really are monsters “out there,” and sometimes, the monsters are us.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenThe Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenWhile it only occasionally rises to the clever levels of its inspired jump-off point, Smallfoot, an animated romp about a civilization of Yetis who make the discovery that the legendary pint-size human isn’t a mythological creature after all, carries sufficient charm and a bit of unexpected depth to justify its breezy existence.
- 63Slant MagazineEd GonzalezSlant MagazineEd GonzalezThere’s something undeniably ballsy about a children’s film that’s so insistent about pushing young viewers to think bigger, to be open to new ideas and question culturally coded notions of good and evil.
- 63The Seattle TimesBrent McKnightThe Seattle TimesBrent McKnightIt’s cute, it’s cuddly and Tatum is charming as the lovable, well-meaning goof. Young children who haven’t seen every trick and trope done better a thousand times will love Smallfoot, but for the rest, it’s instantly forgettable, like a 96-minute memory gap.
- 58The Film StageJared MobarakThe Film StageJared MobarakIt might be hyperbolic to call Smallfoot the most dangerous film of the year, but it wouldn’t necessarily be wrong.
- 55TheWrapAlonso DuraldeTheWrapAlonso DuraldeSmallfoot provides more complex food for thought than most mainstream animation, but the overall results are still disappointingly bland.
- 50IndieWireJude DryIndieWireJude DrySmallfoot really flounders with its obligatory message-mongering: a hodgepodge of didacticism about the importance of celebrating differences, asking questions, never fearing the unknown, or judging someone because they look different. Plenty of sound lessons in there, to be sure, but without a singular focus, they all blend into one.
- 50Screen DailySarah WardScreen DailySarah WardIt’s a playful inversion of the bigfoot legend, cautioning against unthinking compliance, championing curiosity and encouraging putting oneself in another’s shoes (or feet). Still, this all-ages affair is as blunt as it is busy; children will warm to the movie’s ceaseless energy, but parents might take longer to thaw.
- 50The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerThe A.V. ClubJesse HassengerIt’s still mostly just a time-passer for younger kids — and, absent a strong point of view, as much of a hedged bet as its narration-and-song opening.
- 30VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeIt’s messy and distressingly unmemorable, which is a shame since there are no shortage of great Looney Tunes-level cartoon gags wasted along the way, including an ingenious rope bridge sequence worthy of golden-age Warner Bros. animation.