The Emoji Movie (2017) is arguably the worst movie of 2017. It tries to be comedic and funny, while also having emotional depth. The final product has neither. What it does have is a poor script and cheap animation. The characters have little to no depth, and the scenes are not well placed. In the very beginning, there is an emotional scene between Gene (T.J. Miller) and his parents (Steven Wright and Jennifer Coolidge), before we know anything about the characters or what is happening. Most of the jokes fall flat. Also, this movie is basically a giant ad. Scenes include Candy Crush, Just Dance, and even Dropbox. Even the emojis themselves could be considered creative product placement.
First, there are so many plot holes that the movie does not even remotely make sense. The emojis have to be scanned every time Alex (Jake T. Austin), the boy who owns their phone, wants to send one. Wouldn't it be easier for them just to have a picture taken and used every time? Alex can already see their pictures on the keyboard, so clearly they have them. Also, Gene and his friends are afraid of being "wiped" from the phone. Emoji come preprogrammed on every phone, so this would not even affect them. It also brings up many unanswered questions, such as: Why doesn't Alex just wipe the phone himself? What happens if he wants to use Jailbreak's princess emoji? Does the same world exist on everyone else's phones? And, shouldn't all phones with this software be having the same problems? In the beginning, when Gene panics and makes multiple faces while being scanned, it makes a strange-looking combination emoji. Then at the end, doing the exact same thing makes a cool-looking, animated emoji. There are too many flaws in the logic of this movie.
Although other animated movies, such as Wreck-it Ralph, Trolls, Toy Story, and The Lego Movie, have successfully made a movie out of a product, those movies at least had depth and a good storyline. The Emoji Movie, on the other hand, simply states "This character is happy, that one is sad, and this one doesn't like the other two." Instead of gradually revealing the character's traits, this movie explicitly states them. One of its major flaws is that none of the characters change or learn anything except for Gene. The movie tries to have a theme of self-acceptance, but comes across as having no moral whatsoever.
Overall, The Emoji Movie is an uncreative approach at making a movie out of something we see nearly every day, emoji. Possibly the only good thing about it is that it is available on Netflix. I don't recommend watching it, unless you have absolutely nothing else. Actually, even if you have nothing else, you might not want to watch it. This cheaply made Sony Animation movie is not worth wasting your time on.
First, there are so many plot holes that the movie does not even remotely make sense. The emojis have to be scanned every time Alex (Jake T. Austin), the boy who owns their phone, wants to send one. Wouldn't it be easier for them just to have a picture taken and used every time? Alex can already see their pictures on the keyboard, so clearly they have them. Also, Gene and his friends are afraid of being "wiped" from the phone. Emoji come preprogrammed on every phone, so this would not even affect them. It also brings up many unanswered questions, such as: Why doesn't Alex just wipe the phone himself? What happens if he wants to use Jailbreak's princess emoji? Does the same world exist on everyone else's phones? And, shouldn't all phones with this software be having the same problems? In the beginning, when Gene panics and makes multiple faces while being scanned, it makes a strange-looking combination emoji. Then at the end, doing the exact same thing makes a cool-looking, animated emoji. There are too many flaws in the logic of this movie.
Although other animated movies, such as Wreck-it Ralph, Trolls, Toy Story, and The Lego Movie, have successfully made a movie out of a product, those movies at least had depth and a good storyline. The Emoji Movie, on the other hand, simply states "This character is happy, that one is sad, and this one doesn't like the other two." Instead of gradually revealing the character's traits, this movie explicitly states them. One of its major flaws is that none of the characters change or learn anything except for Gene. The movie tries to have a theme of self-acceptance, but comes across as having no moral whatsoever.
Overall, The Emoji Movie is an uncreative approach at making a movie out of something we see nearly every day, emoji. Possibly the only good thing about it is that it is available on Netflix. I don't recommend watching it, unless you have absolutely nothing else. Actually, even if you have nothing else, you might not want to watch it. This cheaply made Sony Animation movie is not worth wasting your time on.