NORM OF THE NORTH (Theatrical Release USA 2016)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 3.0|5.0 Stars ììì

Norm of the North—chose terrific voices for its animated characters; but, the film fails due to its constant barrage of ‘Save the North’ innuendos. It’s hard to swallow a whole fish at once. Small, palatable increments make a more enjoyable meal. This movie crams the whole fish down at once and loses its entertainment value. The story needs more fleshing out to really work and the character development is poor. Those two improvements would add a lot to this film.

Film Poster Courtesy of Google Images

Storyline

The Polar Bear Norm (voice of Rob Schneider) has ability to speak to humans. He becomes involved with a real estate developer, Mr. Greene (voice of Ken Jeong), who desires to install a series of new homes in the Artic. The story is ‘on’ as the animals work together to forestall the home development plan.

Additional Thanks

Thank you to Director Trevor Wall for his directing efforts. Thank you to Executive Producers Silvio Astarita, Paul Cummins, Daniel Engelhardt, Noah Fogelson, Kamal Khanna, A.K. Madhavan, Xia Xiao Ping, Han Tao, Shi Wen, Rose Zhang  for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include:  Vera (voice of Heather Graham), Socrates (voice of Bill Nighy), Grandfather (voice of Colm Meaney), Tamecia (voice of Loretta Devine), Laurence the actor (voice of Michael McElhatton), Olympia (voice of Maya Kay), Stan/Pablo (voice of Gabriel Iglesias), Councilwoman Klubeck (voice of Salome Jens), Forebear (voice of Charlie Adler), Female Tourist (voice of G.K. Bowes), and Daughter (voice of Debi Derryberry).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

No. This film is not the best in its class due to its heavily scripted environmental themes. For entertainment value, choose Ice Age instead.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers