Mr. Peabody and Sherman: REVIEW

“I forbid you to fight in the Trojan War!”

Isn’t it what any good father would tell their son? Albeit, most fathers probably aren’t a talking dog. Or the inventor of a time machine that brought them to the Trojan War in the first place.

Mr. Peabody, the world’s most accomplished dog, and his adopted boy are about to go on a wild adventure through history in their time machine, the WABAC.

Mr. Peabody and Sherman, based on the cartoon series from the 1960’s, is a silly, lighthearted romp through time. It’s a whole bunch of colorful fun for all ages, and has a good amount of rib-tickling historical references for the older audiences.

Mr. Peabody has some great voice actors, and oodles of pun-ny jokes. But even if it’s surprisingly entertaining throughout, this animated film probably won’t be one adorning many DVD collections or becoming a recurring favorite once it hops out of theaters. Plenty of jokes are overdone, the animation looks like everything else Dreamworks does, and the story loses track of itself towards the end. Mr. Peabody and Sherman is fun. But not that fun.

+ Entertaining throughout
+ So many puns!
+ Good blend of smart and silly humor
+ Good pacing: never feels slow

– Some of the gags are overdone– it’s not funny the third time
– The time travel follows no conceivable logic and leaves plenty of holes (but that’s almost to be expected)
– Penny, the main girl, is a total cussword. Why do they think we want to see her get together with Sherman?

Mr. Peabody and Sherman is an entertaining, if forgettable, adventure through time with a dog and his boy. There’s plenty of laughs and some great historical references and gags, but it all boils down into a bland, cliché-ridden kid’s film. Penny, the “love interest,” is frustratingly annoying, and the film seems to send mixed messages about parenthood. All in all, it’s just the next in a recent trend of so-so outings from Dreamworks Animation.