Movie review: ‘Storks’

For many parents, the standby answers for the awkward question kids invariably ask “Where do babies come from?” is that storks deliver them.

In Warner Bros.’ newest animated movie “Storks,” the birds are no longer able to deliver babies because profits have dwindled in the baby industry and running an online package delivery service is a much more lucrative business model.

“Storks,” a goofily animated and fast-paced comedic adventure, is as touching as it is funny and never takes itself too seriously, complete with slapstick comedy and cartoon visual humor.

Star delivery stork Junior (Andy Samberg) is about to be appointed as boss of the storks’ package delivery company. The only prerequisite for the job is to fire the clumsy orphan human Tulip (Katie Crown), but he doesn’t let her go out of kindness.

But when young human Nate (Anton Starkman) sends a letter to the storks asking for a baby brother, Tulip accidentally turns on the baby-making machine. Junior and Tulip must then race to deliver the baby to its family without anyone noticing and make it back to headquarters in time for Junior to receive his promotion.

The film deftly handles its central theme of family. The half of the story that follows Junior, Tulip and the baby deals with the definition and creation of a family and what it means to belong. The other half details Nate’s family and focuses on how family dynamics grow and develop as his parents transition from absentee workaholics to warm, involved parents.

The relationships of the two families build organically through the film’s quick pacing and don’t feel forced or shoehorned like other films. The longing that Nate feels for his workaholic parents and the joy they feel after reconnecting with him is one of the most powerful and relatable family elements of the film.

Some of the most clever dialogue came from the scenes in which Nate guilt-trips his parents into spending more time with him before he grows up. Lines about growing up too fast and the limited amount of time before Nate leaves for college ring painfully true.

Despite its respectful treatment of its theme, “Storks” is primarily a comedy. Much of the film’s comedy comes from physical gags and snarky dialogue. Boss stork Hank (Kelsey Grammer) constantly uses smaller birds as sports equipment, like golf balls and paddle balls. Although not an original concept, these gags were amusing and fit well with Hank’s abusive and power-crazed character. However, the birds also evoked guilt for laughing at their pain.

The comedy in “Storks” caters to both adults and kids. The mature humor it employs shies away from sexual humor and relies more on jokes that adults understand through life experience that would likely fly over the heads of younger viewers. A scene where Junior and Tulip are trying to get the baby to sleep appeals to kids because a sleep-deprived stork and human arguing while trying to rock a baby to sleep is inherently funny. But for many adults, the laughter will come from experience putting wired children to bed.

However, the animation style of “Storks” is bright, cartoonish and silly and doesn’t really stand out from the plethora of animated animal films that have taken over theaters this year and lacked the detailed animation of Pixar or the distinctive styles of Dreamworks franchises. While it is no picturesque Pixar flick, the animation of the sky and clouds is enchanting. But the best visuals by far are the babies, big-eyed and adorable. It’s hard not to fall in love with the film for the babies alone as they fill the screen with their smiles and innocent antics.

The voice acting for the non-baby characters was generally of high caliber. Andy Samberg is a veteran voice actor and expertly imparts emotional variance to Junior, while Kate Crown’s energy brings the lovable orphan Tulip to life and Kelsey Grammer’s low, grumble voice makes Hank the epitome of a power-hungry boss.

However, the voice of Pigeon Toady (Stephen Kramer Glickman) sounds like a poor, overly stereotypical mix of the “valley girl” and “surfer dude” accents and feels like the grating of a thousand nails on a thousand chalkboards. Perhaps Kramer chose to use the voice because the character is supposed to be the dumb antagonist henchman.

“Storks” is a charming film that brings a lot of laughs with its relentless stream of jokes and heartwarming theme. Parents and children will be drawn to the film for its cute animation and comedic promise, and they will likely find joy in how earnest and relatable it is.