Barnyard

Barnyard**

In the end, "Barnyard" doesn't pretend to be something that it's not. It doesn't try to wow the audience with amazing visuals, like those that can be seen in "Cars" or "Monster House." It doesn't try to wow you with an amazing voice cast. It doesn't flaunt the commericals with names like JULIA ROBERTS or PAUL NEWMAN. It is cheaply made, a low key voice cast, and something a little different compared to some of the animated movies of late. It's not just for children, and I was surprised at some of the rude jokes that it presented, many of which I didn't mind at all. In fact, it gave a little life to the lifeless slate of animated films of late. But, in the end, it was pretty uninspired, and was indeed something that could be missed. But I admire the fact that it wasn't trying too hard to begin with.

"Barnyard" is the story of a barnyard, where there's the farmer, who wakes up early every morning, and prepares to go on his rounds. However, little does he know that the animals in his barn actually walk and talk. Nobody has four legs, and they can easily walk on two. And they can talk, and have celebrity voices, and plan meetings. More deeply, "Barnyard" is the story of Otis the cow, who would very much like to be like his father Ben, but he would also like to lay back, have a good time, and party. And indeed, when we first meet Otis, he is getting ready to skate down a mountain, with his friends the mouse, and the pig. He crashes, literally, into the town meeting, where his father is prepared for the coyetes, who come every season and try to slaughter all of the animals in the barnyard. However, a horrible fight with the coyetes leaves Ben dead, and Otis suddenly finds himself in charge of all the animals, including a foxy new, pregnant cow, Daisy, who Otis finds himself attracted to right away. So, as the coyetes prepare to come and take the hens, Otis tries his best to defend the rest of the animals, and do well in his father's memory, while also trying not to be caught by the farmers, and trying to have big parties every night.

"Barnyard" does have some laughs. There is an extended gag with a pizza delivery duo, who act very much like Bill and Ted. There's the wife and husband of the house next door, where the wife always hears the animals having their parties, and thinking that the farmer is a wild and crazy man. There's another gag where the farmer actually sees the animals having a party, where the other animals have to keep knocking him over the head so that they can plant him under a tree, and have him thinking that he was hit in the head with something. The voice talents are well done, and they aren't very huge names. They are famous, but not to the extent of the voice actors that these latest flicks are getting. The animation is not the greatest in the world. It looks more like a television show, which doesn't get the type of budget that a movie does, or even a video game. But, it didn't really bother me very much. Like I said, I have a feeling that "Barnyard" wasn't made to compare to "Cars," or "Monster House." I have a feeling that it really was just made to entertain, and not become groundbreaking. It doesn't pretend to be better than it is. I did hate one scene, towards the end. It's the birth of Daisy the cow's baby boy, and it's a very odd, uncomfortable, dull, overlong scene. It was like the filmmakers wanted to get a little spirtual, and it just doesn't work. It's a birth scene, with soft, one beat music playing the background. It doesn't fit at all, and even if they wanted to include it, it could have been much shorter.

I must point out one thing, and this is really to the filmmakers. Male cows are called bulls, and bulls do not have udders. Every single cow in this film had udders, and besides for the one gag where the bull gives a pelvic thrust moving his udder, there was no need to screw up the anatomy. It's a cartoon, I know, and it's for children, yes, but there was no need for the male cows to have udders, not at all. It was pretty distracting, really. "Barnyard" is a good pick as a last resort, and now that the two big animated blockbusters are pretty much gone(and I mean "Cars," and "Monster House,") it's probably your best bet.