"Animal Farm" — Andy Serkis's Orwell Adaptation Drowns a Classic in Sugar
The new animated feature, voiced by Seth Rogen, Laverne Cox and Glenn Close, betrays Orwell by turning his Stalinism allegory into a happily-ever-after pantomime — according to the Guardian, the most gutless adaptation of the year.
According to the Guardian's review, the new 'Animal Farm' animated film, directed by Andy Serkis and written by Nicholas Stoller, is one of the most distasteful cinematic crimes committed against George Orwell's 1945 classic. Aside from its cheap-looking digital aesthetic, the film's real problem is that it defangs Orwell's Stalinism allegory with a Disney-style happy ending.
The voice cast, featuring Seth Rogen, Laverne Cox, Glenn Close and Kieran Culkin, is strong, but the dialogue put in the characters' mouths lacks the ruthless political intelligence of the original. Napoleon's rise, Snowball's exile, and the cold irony behind the line "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others" — all of it is softened in the film.
Where does it stumble? Serkis's choices as a director are surprisingly cautious. The emotional depth we know from works like 'Mowgli' and 'Breathe' is nowhere to be found here. To be "appropriate" for young audiences, the film censors both the violence and the political weight; but strip out those two elements and what's left is neither the book's heart nor a standalone animated work.
Verdict. According to the Guardian, 'Animal Farm' is a case study in how film adaptations shouldn't be made. It's monotonous even for a child who's never read Orwell's text, and outright infuriating for those who have.
Source: The Guardian