Free Birds Movie Review

Reviewed by Lynn Barker on Nov 01, 2013

Rating:

Turkeys are out to change the history of Thanksgiving! Who wants to be the main course? Kidzworld gobbled up this fun film and gives you our review on the new movie Free Birds!

By: Lynn Barker

If you were a free-range turkey actually pardoned by the President of the U.S., thus spared from being someone’s dinner, would you give up your newly cushy life and join the Turkey Freedom Front to travel back in time to the first Thanksgiving to take turkeys off the menu forever? This is the big challenge for young Reggie!

Reggie, Jenny and Jake hear trouble coming

Pardoned by the Prez

After being pardoned/saved by the President of the United States, Reggie the Turkey (voice of Owen Wilson) lives a very cushy life at Camp David discovering pizza, watching Spanish soap operas on TV and living free of the flock. Meanwhile, puffed up but dim-witted, farm turkey Jake (Woody Harrelson) has a plan. He kidnaps Reggie to help him on his secret mission for the Turkey Freedom Front (of which Jake is the only member).

Reggie says pizza for dinner!

Back From the Future

Jake’s plan is to hijack a time machine currently being tested at a secret government facility and go back to the first Thanksgiving (settlers and American Indians, remember? Plymouth Colony 1621) and stop turkey from being on the menu thus saving millions of future turkeys!

The plan to steal the time machine

Building a Turkey Army

Once stealing the time machine dubbed S.T.E.V.E. (voice of Star Trek’s George Takei), the duo makes it to Plymouth Colony where Jake and Reggie are almost killed by the Colony Commander Myles Standish (Colm Meaney), an avid turkey hunter, but a cute female wild turkey Jenny (Amy Poehler) rescues them and takes them to her flock’s H.Q. in the forest. Reggie falls for the brave Jenny who tries to rally her flock to the cause. A group is formed to rescue turkeys at the Colony but Jake’s carelessness leads Standish and his hunters right back to the flock! Now even more turkey’s will be killed and will be on that table. History won’t be changed.

Bad guy Myles Standish gives orders

Back to the Future and Home Again

Discouraged, Reggie takes the time machine back home to go it as a loner but that’s not his destiny. After taking care of some very “timely” problems, he’s back again to join Jenny, Jake and the flock in changing Thanksgiving and making sure the humans know that “It’s not what you eat, it’s about the time we share together”.

Reggie and Jake in the time machine

Wrapping Up

Although there are a few minutes when the jokes don’t flow and a teeny bit of possible confusion toward the end of the film when Reggie pops up in several times and places seemingly at once, Free Birds is a delightful holiday treat for, you, your homies and the family.

Jenny steps between Jake and rival

Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Amy Poehler do really good voice work as Reggie, Jake and Jenny as do all the other voice actors. You really do pick up on first a rival, then buddy-vibe Owen and Woody (friends in real life) put into their characters. Animation is fine and music works great.

Amy recording voice of Jenny

If you are a “veggie-tarian” or Vegan you will get behind the theme of the movie bigtime but if you love eatin’ turkey during the holidays, it’s okay. I just found it hard after seeing the movie to look at turkeys exactly the same again even though the filmmakers told me they weren’t trying to get across a “don’t eat turkey” message. Either way you land on the issue, go see the film. It’s very entertaining. We go 4 stars.