“Goat”
Rated: PG
“See it, Stream it, Skip it” is a movie review column giving readers spoiler-free reviews of new box office films and reporting back on whether readers should see it now, wait until it comes to streaming services or skip it altogether.
Plot Summary: “Goat” follows a young goat named Will Harris (voiced by Caleb McLaughlin of “Stranger Things”) in a world of anthropomorphic animals.
Harris wants to be the greatest “roarball” (basketball) star of all time but is mocked throughout his childhood for his dreams due to his small stature.
But, when Harris’s favorite team, the Vineland Thorns, goes on yet another losing streak, the team owner offers Harris a spot on the team to try to turn the season around and give Harris his chance to finally make a name for “smalls” in the game of roarball.
Review: Hollywood has some pretty nasty trends when it comes to kids’ movies. Kids’ movies will be
loud and flashy, with an ultra-quick pace and lots of potty humor to boot.
It makes for a great movie for toddlers through young teenagers to see, but a miserable chore for parents to sit through.
“Goat” (mostly) bucks these trends, delivering not only an enjoyable movie for all ages but also possibly a spiritual successor to the late great basketball kids movies of the 90s (looking at you, “Air Bud” and “Space Jam”).
“Goat” has a heartwarming and inclusive story about following your dreams and found family. And, it features slam-dunk animation to boot.
In a world full of anthropogenic animals, each creature feels genuinely alive. The script and animation use the full potential of each creature, whether it be parkour off a giraffe’s neck, passing the basketball with one’s tail, or just having realistic animal sounds coming from the voice actors themselves.
The animation team gave each character immense attention to detail, and many of the main characters get realistic close-ups that make the animation ascend to a whole new level.
“Goat” contains the kinds of details that you can only get on a movie theater screen. The voice acting may not be out-of-this-world great, but it’s more than serviceable for the film “Goat” is trying to be.
And while Sony Animation may always be remembered as “that studio that brought you ‘The Emoji Movie,’” it’s safe to say that between the Spider-Verse films, “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” and now “Goat,” Sony might just be coming for Disney and Pixar’s MVP trophy.
Now, while I did say that the movie would be enjoyable for all ages, it’s not a lights-out shooter.
Even for a kids’ movie, the side plot with the team owner wrapped up just a little too cleanly (and absurdly) for me, akin to an accidentally banked-in three.
And, while I get that children’s movies probably shouldn’t be stretching past two hours in length to capitalize on the shorter attention spans, this movie is desperately missing another five to 10 minutes to flesh out some of the supporting cast on the Thorns a little more.
While I can’t really touch on the movie’s ending any more without giving spoilers, I think that if these two flaws were tweaked, “Goat” might have been the GOAT of basketball movies.
FINAL VERDICT:
SEE IT!
4.0 / 5 roarballs
