First off, it's my obligation to mention I the reviewer personally only watched the Charlie Brown and Snoopy cartoons every so often and couldn't say I grew up on them, but as an adult now certainly have a feel for what it was all about, its atmosphere and spirit; it's just I wasn't a diehard connoisseur.
I preface this review by saying that as the nostalgic effect on me was only temporary and evaporated pretty soon into the developments. However, it felt SO COOL and exciting to see Charlie Brown and Snoopy and the whole gang again and they did a fine job hyping up the event in the early stages. They did an amazing job reconstructing the Charlie Brown appeal both in spirit as more tangibly in the drawings: this here is a 3D rendition of the characters and backgrounds, only boosted with computer-generated virtual motion and it's absolutely superbly done: all the authenticity and pure Peanuts aesthetics preserved, but adapted into the modern mold carefully and most subtly and with excellent attention to detail.
However, as mentioned the effect only lasts so long and this film needs to be critiqued as a film for adults, as millennial kids hardly know anything about it and it is obviously aimed at the then-children/now-adult portion of society. So it's a film for grownups; nostalgic grownups; not kids. And as a film for adults, it's just way too thin. It's got the good old morals, the story is easy to follow, the characters each in their own way are funny and cute... but the parts with Snoopy vs the Red Baron turn self-indulgent very quickly and overall the emotionally-charged laughs quickly turn into mere snorts then into polite smiles.
It's cute, it's fun, it kept the spirit of the original and preserved the visual appeal outstandingly....but it's not enough as a FILM. A generous 6/10.
I preface this review by saying that as the nostalgic effect on me was only temporary and evaporated pretty soon into the developments. However, it felt SO COOL and exciting to see Charlie Brown and Snoopy and the whole gang again and they did a fine job hyping up the event in the early stages. They did an amazing job reconstructing the Charlie Brown appeal both in spirit as more tangibly in the drawings: this here is a 3D rendition of the characters and backgrounds, only boosted with computer-generated virtual motion and it's absolutely superbly done: all the authenticity and pure Peanuts aesthetics preserved, but adapted into the modern mold carefully and most subtly and with excellent attention to detail.
However, as mentioned the effect only lasts so long and this film needs to be critiqued as a film for adults, as millennial kids hardly know anything about it and it is obviously aimed at the then-children/now-adult portion of society. So it's a film for grownups; nostalgic grownups; not kids. And as a film for adults, it's just way too thin. It's got the good old morals, the story is easy to follow, the characters each in their own way are funny and cute... but the parts with Snoopy vs the Red Baron turn self-indulgent very quickly and overall the emotionally-charged laughs quickly turn into mere snorts then into polite smiles.
It's cute, it's fun, it kept the spirit of the original and preserved the visual appeal outstandingly....but it's not enough as a FILM. A generous 6/10.