IF Review: IF (One Movie) COULD (Be This Imaginative!)
Copyright © Paramount Pictures, Sunday Night Productions, Maximum Effort
Title: IF
Director: John Krasinski
Release Date: May 17 2024
When it comes to kids movies, 2024 is not only shaping into a year for sequels but also for some original content to pump out as well. After Kung Fu Panda 4, this is another out-of-theater movie review of the year. One of Ryan Reynolds' newest movies of the year is called IF. Therefore, this is the blog's second movie that was done after a theatrical viewing. Although with a budget slightly higher than the average $100 million, it got mixed reviews from critics. The Rotten Tomatoes critics is 48%. However, it also has a 87% score from the audiences, plus a 6.7/10 score on IMDb. Seamlessly blending humor and imaginative wonder, IF is an imaginary place that will resonate with viewers of all ages.
Summary
Young girl, Bea (Cailey Fleming), can now see everyone's forgotten imaginary friends, who are also called IFs. There is a catch: they have been abandoned by their kids after they have grown up. To fix the problem, she teams up with her neighbor, Cal (Ryan Reynolds), to reconnect these imaginary friends with their kids.
Reasons
Firstly, IF has the notably impressive animation blended into live-action, emotional story, and entertaining characters, to make on big imagination smoothie. To get Blue out of the room, Framestore had all the guts to make the animation smoothly integrate into the real world. Plus, for each character design, it did not even bother to try different art styles to fit the context of different childhoods. They can range from cute and cuddly to even fantastical which was a smart approach to the concept. Speaking of which, the story executes the creative concept in both cute and emotional ways. Yes, imaginary friends is not a new and original concept but the movie uses it to be its own thing. The story does know when it can be funny and when it can be sad, so that it can be an emotional ride. As a cherry on top, the story has a beautiful message about getting your inner child! This is a great message for everyone, especially those who are going through trauma, because it can help with a well-being that is being in the dump. One last thing about the primary strengths is how creative and likable the characters are. All of the characters, including the humans, were fun and interesting to explore. Not only were they diverse but they were likable role models. Well, even the minor imaginary characters can be a yes, right?
Additionally, the other things that are creative in IF are the well-written humor, dignified editing, and the star-studded voice and acting talent. At first glance, it might be lazy and unfunny but it turned out that the character quirks and situations made the humor funny. There is also a bit of black comedy which the writers were not afraid to add for the parents to enjoy the movie, too. Since this is also a live-action movie, let us not forget to add that the editing is well done. Not only were the effects and camera good to make it a realistic Pixar movie. Even the visuals were a highlight of the editing which made the movie seem more magical. As a result of the ensemble cast involved, the acting made these characters entertaining to watch. For the live-action cast, Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming did an impressive job as a parent figure-and-daughter team. On the other hand, the voice actors also did impressive on making the IFs friendly and fun for kids.
Although IF is perfect as it is, there are a little bit of things that are extremely small of a deal. As said before, the concept of imaginary friends was already seen before. However, the movie chose to remix the concept into something fresh and new. There were also a little bit of gross-out jokes. However, depending on the view, they can be justified to fit the character.
Conclusion
To wrap it up, IF is an unironically incredible imaginary place with humor and imaginative wonder for all ages! Again, to get Blue out of the room, the animation is realistic and diverse in the most fun way possible, with the help of a lot of live editing. Next, the story is packed with great humor and emotional beats that can hit really hard. All of the characters serve as both fun imaginary friends (no pun intended) and great role models. Yes, that includes those that have very little screentime. Even though the concept was something seen before, the movie decided to make it even more original. Definitely give this a try, especially if you have little kids, because it is the most suitable choice for a family! Otherwise, it is completely understandable to skip it if the reviews convinced your view.
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