Storks


storksAfter getting out of the baby delivery game, storks now run an online marketplace called Cornerstore.com. The baby factory is shut down. A baby named Tulip (Katie Crown) was one of the last babies from the factory. Except she was never delivered. Now turning 18, Tulip, in her desire to help the storks, causes more problems than anything else. Junior (Andy Samberg), an ambitious Conerstore.com employee, is promised the position of boss. The only condition, he must fire Tulip.

Feeling bad for Tulip, who has lived with the storks her whole life, Junior decides to not fire her. Instead, he puts her in charge of letter sorting. Tulip’s job is in the now abandoned baby factory. When Nate (Anton Starkman), a boy eager to have a baby brother to play with because his parents (Ty Burrell and Jennifer Aniston), writes a letter to the storks – you know, the way babies used to be made – Tulip finally has something to do.

When Tulip triggers the baby making machine to kick out a baby, Junior and Tulip must secretly deliver the baby to Nate’s family without Junior’s boss, Hunter (Kelsey Grammer) finding out, or he will lose the promotion. Between a snooping coworker and a pack of wolves (Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele), this seemingly simple task becomes more dangerous than imagined.

Storks, from the studio that “delivered” The Lego Movie, attempts to bring the mythos of storks delivering babies into the modern age. Now, they run an Amazon-like website, which is much more lucrative, and much less risk than delivering babies.

The relatively small cast is packed with some pretty big names. Everyone seems to fit their roles nicely. Some of the characters, namely Kelsey Grammer’s Hunter and Stephen Kramer Glickman’s Pigeon Toady, are a little one note. Their gimmicks are funny at first, but get stale over the course of the money. I don’t fault Grammer and Glickman, as it is how their characters are written.

As expected for a kid’s movie, the characters are ridiculously cute and the colors pop on the big screen. There is also plenty of comedy to keep both kids and adults entertained. The story is fun and light-hearted, keeping things from getting too dark, even when the wolves are chasing Tulip and Junior. The “cuteness” of the baby comes out just in time to relieve the tension. It may be a bit of an easy out so the younger kids don’t get too scared, but it works with the rest of the story.

Now that summer has ended, choices for a family movie will be getting pretty sparse. Thankfully, Storks offers plenty for everyone to be entertained. Kids and adults, alike, can enjoy the film together. With its 90 minute run time, it is short enough that no one will get antsy without feeling like anything is rushed. Storks is a good choice for a family outing.

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