Summary:
Mr. Peabody (Ty Burrell of Modern Family) is just about everything in the
world: An inventor, a scientist, a gourmet chef, a musician...and a talking
dog. He is also the adoptive father of an orphan named Sherman (Max Charles of
The Neighbors). This odd-pairing of father and son, however, wouldn't have it
any other way, and the two often partook in time-traveling adventures in Mr.
Peabody's WABAC Machine. But when Sherman comes into a conflict with his rival
and classmate Penny (Ariel Winters of Modern Family and Sofia the First) and
makes a mess of the space-time continuum, Mr. Peabody and the two children must
race against time to correct it. At the same time, Mr. Peabody must also
contend with the possibility of being an improper father to Sherman, and must
face the beginnings of his adopted son growing up.
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For those who don't know, Mr. Peabody & Sherman is based off of
Peabody's Improbable History, a short cartoon segment in the old Rocky and
Bullwinkle show of the 1950's-60's. The premise of each segment was simple: Mr.
Peabody and his adopted human Sherman would travel to the past using his WABAC
Machine, meet various historical figures and witness historical events, and
(educational) hi-jinks would ensue.
I vaguely remember watching this all of once, during the late 90's when I
caught it on the now-defunct RPN Channel 9, but for the most part I approached
this movie with hardly any knowledge of the source material. The premise alone
wouldn't have gotten me hooked, but then I saw that DreamWorks was producing
it. The films of DreamWorks are a rather mixed bag. Unlike Pixar, there are an
equal amount of bad films to their good films. But as of late they've been on a
role with the likes of How to Train Your Dragon and both Kung Fu Panda movies.
So I decided to check this out.
It was pretty enjoyable, with a combination of memorable characters, really
hilarious and heartwarming moments, and a good story that seems to look
unbalanced with many plot elements, but they all blend together really well.
First, the characters. The titular duo are both great and manage to play
their roles well without going into expected levels of annoyance. Mr. Peabody
is smart. REALLY smart. Throughout the movie you see him accomplishing various
feats and always having a plan and solution to almost every problem. This is
especially evident in the scenes where he and Sherman are time traveling.
Despite the dire perils they come up against, Mr. Peabody always knows what to
do and is completely confident and cool. Yet at the same time, Mr. Peabody is
also very likable. Often in movies you encounter the smart character who is an
egotistical know-it-all that lords himself over others. Mr. Peabody is not like
that all, especially with Sherman. He is loving and caring and takes it upon
himself to teach Sherman all he knows and be a good father.
For all his good intentions though, this is contrasted with the idea that
perhaps he has grown a little too attached to Sherman; this plot thread is not
taken to the fullest extent because Sherman is seven years old in the movie,
but he doesn't readily accept the idea that Sherman is growing up and wants to
be on his own. It does, for lack of a term, humanize the brainy dog and makes
him more dimensional alongside Sherman. Speaking of Sherman, he is also a
nicely developed character too. Sherman is the one to learn and observe Mr.
Peabody and all the events of history they visit, and also has no qualms with
having Mr. Peabody as a father. We can see in the movie that Mr. Peabody taught
him well with history.
As the movie progresses though we see other sides of Sherman: he's a little
slow on jokes, he does need to be rescued by Mr. Peabody on occasion, and when
he interacts with the third character Penny, he becomes more like an actual kid
and is set on the path towards becoming a more responsible person. He starts
looking out for himself, questions the judgment of Mr. Peabody, and starts
interacting with other kids. Again, it makes the character more dimensional.
However, it's hard to say if this applies to the character of Penny. Penny was
not an original character in the show; she was created for the movie. As such
they had to make a character from scratch, and...I'm not entirely sure what the
writers’ intention for her character was.
In the beginning, Penny is antagonistic towards Sherman for being smarter in
history. This leads her to start picking on him. Now I'd say, as was said in
the movie, for children to pick on other children, except that the lengths
Penny goes to prove her point doesn't make sense. She outright bullies Sherman,
and mocks him for having a dog as a father and being an obedient dog. This
culminates in Sherman biting Penny on the arm and setting the story of the
movie in motion. I don't get it, really. Penny seemed to come off as a
knowledgeable person, but instead of taking her ire out on Sherman through
things like other classes and insults, she becomes a bully?
It's only when the movie progresses and she gets roped into the
time-traveling that she becomes a better character...sort of. At first she
intends to use the WABAC to get rich, but quickly learns that's a bad idea.
Unlike Sherman, she's more interested in fiddling and having fun in whatever
era she is in, but we only see that apply to one historical era because of the
plot. After that it's hard to say what kind of role or character she has. But
just because it's hard, it doesn't mean it's impossible. The way I interpret
Penny's character is that she represents the side of life that Sherman didn't
have at the beginning of the movie and begins to have by the end of it: being a
normal child who has fun, gets into trouble, learns things on his own, and
makes new friends. By the climax of the movie, Penny becomes friends with
Sherman and we can clearly see the subtle beginnings of a childhood crush. With
that in mind, I suppose Penny is an OK character. It's just too bad that she
doesn't have more going for her.
The supporting cast is great too. Naturally, with a movie about time travel,
we meet a lot of historical figures who all have their shtick and memorable
moments. Special mention goes to Sigmund Freud (Mel Brooks), Leonardo Da Vinci
(Stanley Tucci) and Agamemnon (Patrick Warburton of Seinfeld and Family Guy).
They are all memorable and contribute to a lot of the humor of the movie. The
humor does get a little childish at times (Escaping the Egyptian booby-trap
through the behind of a Sphinx), but a lot of it is derived from character
interactions, historical irony, or just well-written jokes. For example, just
to see how smart Mr. Peabody really is, you can see scientific sketches,
equations, and formulas that are just gone in a flash. They are funny moments
to emphasize that Mr. Peabody always has something up his non-existent sleeve,
and brings to mind Robert Downey Jr's Sherlock Holmes.
Finally, there is the story, and the importance of Mr. Peabody, Sherman and
Penny to the underlying plot. The time travel angle rightfully makes it a
humorous fun romp throughout history with tons of jokes, and while I feel that
it's good in its own right, what makes this movie for me is the plot and idea
of Mr. Peabody watching Sherman grow up. Sherman is the focal point, with Mr.
Peabody and Penny serving as the two sides to Sherman's growth. It is pretty
much the story of the bond between a father and his son, and how the father
wants to continue being part of his son's life for a while longer. If Penny
serves as the side of Sherman's life to come, Mr. Peabody serves as the side of
Sherman's life in the past. He represents all the times he's had with Sherman,
and how Mr. Peabody isn't quite ready to let him go yet.
It's complimented with another plot regarding how Mr. Peabody is an unfit father
to Sherman, and it also represents how no matter how weird a familial
relationship is, if it works, it works. Together it just makes for a
heartwarming movie that is put alongside other funny stories and moments. I can
see how, plot-wise, people may find it a mess. We have four subplots set in
historical periods, the two plots of the separation of Mr. Peabody and Sherman,
and the plot of Sherman's relationship with Penny. For me personally I don't
find it that hard to follow, and compared to other stories that have time
travel as a focal point, this is easy.
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Final thoughts:
Overall, Mr. Peabody & Sherman is a fun and enjoyable movie. It has a
good lead and supporting cast with funny moments and a heartwarming and fun story.
Its weaknesses mostly fall within the slightly convoluted story and a slightly
weak third character, but how much it'll hamper the movie depends on you. For
me personally, it didn't ruin much. I still had fun watching it, and I
recommend it as a good family flick and for those who like DreamWorks.
****/5 stars
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Trailer thoughts:
Muppets Most Wanted: As said previously, I'm eagerly looking forward to it.
The Muppets are always a hoot.
Divergent: Looks and feels so much like The Hunger Games it's not funny.
Looks to be based off a book, but I'm not going to watch it any time soon.
Need for Speed: This one, I really need to shake my head at. As I said
previously, why does this exist when we already have The Fast and the Furious?
Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Again, looking forward to it.
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NEXT TIME: Muppets Most Wanted
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