FILM REVIEW ‘Two by Two’

STRANDED Finny, the lovable Nestrian, in ‘Two by Two’.

Rain, rain go away

Ciara Galvin

A kids’ movie was not the preferred option on a bank holiday Sunday, but such is life. The West of Ireland Women’s Mini Marathon and attendant traffic delays made the chore all the more, em, testing. Reviewing films isn’t the worst job in the world, even if people do look at you oddly because you’re at the cinema by yourself and you’re writing on a notepad which is partially lit up by your phone. Going to a kids’ film on your own makes you seem even weirder. I would have brought my 14-month-old niece just so I wouldn’t look so suspicious, but she has the chicken pox. So off I went to ‘Two by Two’, as one. I guessed the film would have something to do with animals and that fella, Noah. I was right. The story centres on an overprotective father, and a loveable son who wants adventure. The first comparison that came to mind was Finding Nemo. Dave and his son, Finny, are Nestrians, odd bird-like creatures with fur that lights up in the dark. They live a nomadic lifestyle and pride themselves on their nesting abilities. If they were human they would be seriously talented interior designers. There’s talk of a flood, and all animals are convened by the king of the jungle – an image-conscious lion. An ark is built by Noah, but first, each animal must check if they’re on the list. There is an array of every type of animal, from Russian-speaking Siberian tigers, to Indian elephants and the not-so-well-known grymps, Hazel and Leah. There’s even Irish animals. ‘Hey Mister, what’s that boat shaped thing behind ya’ is one line from the ‘Paddy’. The plot is fairly simple, as you would expect from this type of film. We follow Dave and Finny and their attempts to get onto the ark and what happens when Finny gets left behind with Leah. The animation is good. The Nestrians’ fur is realistic looking in all weather conditions. Anyone that has ever read up on or watched a behind the scenes of animators trying to create this will know how difficult the process is. The film’s backdrop is standard enough and reminded me of Madagascar. In fact, the majority of the film reminded me of Madagascar. But, in fairness, trying to create an original kids’ film about talking animals is like trying to create the wheel and not get done for copyright. Highlights include the posh chimpanzee porter, who shows everyone to their cabins on the ark and lines such as ‘Please don’t leave baggage unattended or it may be eaten’. The running time is quite long at 93 minutes, which may be a bit too much to ask of young attention spans. One young movie goer on Sunday agrees with me: ‘When is it over?’, he asked his mum, an hour in. It could have been kept to an hour too: The action is drawn out, and on a few occasions I felt some scenes were getting a bit too serious. If you’re a family looking to pass an afternoon, you could do worse, but don’t expect many laughs.