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The Boss Baby
The eternal question of where do babies come from is imaginatively addressed by 20th Century Fox and Dreamworks in an animated gem from 2017 called The Boss Baby that effectively blends slick and sophisticated humor and a surprising touch of warmth to great effect, even if the screenplay is a bit over-complicated.
The title character (brilliantly voiced by Alec Baldwin) appears in a cab, wearing a suit and tie as the new baby brother of the spoiled seven year old Tim Templeton (voiced by Miles Bashki), whose parents (voiced by Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow) are employed by a company called Puppy Corp. It seems that Baby Boss is from a company called Baby Corp who fear their destruction is imminent because puppies are believed to be cuter than babies and they've received word that Puppy Corp has come up with a new product that is sure to destroy Baby Corp...a puppy that never grows old and stays a puppy.
The Boss Baby enjoys the control of his older brother as part of his mission until it is stalled when Tim gets grounded for life. In order for Baby Boss to complete his mission and for Tim to get Baby Boss out of his life, they have to work together to bring down the CEO of Puppy Corp, the evil Francis Francis (voiced by Steve Buscemi).
The screenplay is a little complex as it tries to tell two stories at once. The story of the manufactured brothers learning how to be real brothers is a lot more interesting than the story of Baby Corp VS Puppy Corp, making the story a little hard to follow at times, but the relationship between Boss Baby and Tim eventually becomes the core of the story and keeps the viewer invested in the sometimes confusing goings on.
The story is rich with pop culture references and some surprising contemporary choices in music. The screenplay even manages to squeeze in Baldwin's most famous line from Glengarry Glen Ross. Some of the story's cards are played too soon as the film opens with the creation of the Boss Baby, which happens on an elaborate assembly line, giving away immediately that this is no ordinary baby. It would have been more interesting if this had been revealed later on in the story, perhaps through flashback with Boss Baby narrating.
The film is a lot of fun and provides a lot of laughs. The initial scenes of Baby Boss' arrival and how he completely dominates Tim's parents time and attention are easy to relate to and we initially consider the title character to be the villain of the piece, but that changes when it's revealed that if he doesn't complete his mission, Baby Boss will become a regular old baby and neither we or Tim are sure that we want that.
The animation is crisp and colorful and the story moves at a nice pace, giving us a baby eye's view of the world that is quite endearing. Like a lot of new millenium animation, there are a couple too many endings, but when the ending finally comes, it's a winner.
The eternal question of where do babies come from is imaginatively addressed by 20th Century Fox and Dreamworks in an animated gem from 2017 called The Boss Baby that effectively blends slick and sophisticated humor and a surprising touch of warmth to great effect, even if the screenplay is a bit over-complicated.
The title character (brilliantly voiced by Alec Baldwin) appears in a cab, wearing a suit and tie as the new baby brother of the spoiled seven year old Tim Templeton (voiced by Miles Bashki), whose parents (voiced by Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow) are employed by a company called Puppy Corp. It seems that Baby Boss is from a company called Baby Corp who fear their destruction is imminent because puppies are believed to be cuter than babies and they've received word that Puppy Corp has come up with a new product that is sure to destroy Baby Corp...a puppy that never grows old and stays a puppy.
The Boss Baby enjoys the control of his older brother as part of his mission until it is stalled when Tim gets grounded for life. In order for Baby Boss to complete his mission and for Tim to get Baby Boss out of his life, they have to work together to bring down the CEO of Puppy Corp, the evil Francis Francis (voiced by Steve Buscemi).
The screenplay is a little complex as it tries to tell two stories at once. The story of the manufactured brothers learning how to be real brothers is a lot more interesting than the story of Baby Corp VS Puppy Corp, making the story a little hard to follow at times, but the relationship between Boss Baby and Tim eventually becomes the core of the story and keeps the viewer invested in the sometimes confusing goings on.
The story is rich with pop culture references and some surprising contemporary choices in music. The screenplay even manages to squeeze in Baldwin's most famous line from Glengarry Glen Ross. Some of the story's cards are played too soon as the film opens with the creation of the Boss Baby, which happens on an elaborate assembly line, giving away immediately that this is no ordinary baby. It would have been more interesting if this had been revealed later on in the story, perhaps through flashback with Boss Baby narrating.
The film is a lot of fun and provides a lot of laughs. The initial scenes of Baby Boss' arrival and how he completely dominates Tim's parents time and attention are easy to relate to and we initially consider the title character to be the villain of the piece, but that changes when it's revealed that if he doesn't complete his mission, Baby Boss will become a regular old baby and neither we or Tim are sure that we want that.
The animation is crisp and colorful and the story moves at a nice pace, giving us a baby eye's view of the world that is quite endearing. Like a lot of new millenium animation, there are a couple too many endings, but when the ending finally comes, it's a winner.