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Movie Review: The Peanuts Movie

Adapting beloved figures of Pop Culture to the big screen who have spanned generations is no easy task. Fans put their favorite characters from their childhood on a pedestal and finding a way to make an updated version work can sometimes lead to disappointment. Charles Schulz's The Peanuts definitely falls into the category of sacred work, but luckily for movie patrons 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios managed to modernize the Peanuts gang while still staying true to the original material in The Peanuts Movie.

The Peanuts Movie is just like any other Peanuts story with the focus being on that lovable loser Charlie Brown and his Beagle Snoopy. For those thinking the new film would be too soft, you would be wrong. Old Chuck is still getting a raw deal in life with things never going his way no matter how hard he tries. Lucy, Sally, Linus and the rest of the Peanuts are there to ridicule the mishaps and perhaps give our little hero some guidanceas well. The Peanuts Movie isn't a complete bummer and does manage to make you smile many times through the film especially with its sweet ending.

Most of the old Peanuts stories are revisited in The Peanuts Movie that will give fans of the series a warm nostalgic feeling inside. Lucy's Psychiatric help, Snoopy vs. The Red Barron and many other famous scenes are blended into the film nicely for both parents and kids to enjoy. The Peanuts Movie also mixes classic animation with the new bells and whistles of computer animation as wink to the audience reminding them the creators didn't forget their glorious Peanuts past.

The Peanuts Movie looks beautiful with its modern-day computer graphics, but still manages to look and feel like the old comic strip. At its heart, the movie is a simple story about a young boy's life and that's exactly what it should be. We don't need Charlie Brown to go on a globetrotting adventure to make and entertaining film. We want Charlie Brown to be relatable and find a little bit of ourselves within his cartoon soul. Longtime fans of the series should be proud of this film that will hopefully lead to a whole new generation discovering Schulz's creations.

Overall, I give The Peanuts Movie 3 out of 4 cute nostalgic stars.

Read all my Movie Reviews here >>Follow me on Twitter @TMtheCW44Critic and become a fan on Facebook.

 

 

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