Extinct Revisit: Animated Adventure That Gets Time All Mixed Up
Copyright © Netflix, Huayi Brothers, Cinesite
Title: Extinct
Director: David Silverman
Release Date: November 19, 2021
This movie is one of the lesser-known Netflix original animated movies. Compared to other movies like Back to the Outback and Wish Dragon, this one did not get as much recognition due to its exclusive distribution to the service. Today's movie review is the movie Extinct, an animated movie themed around extinct creatures! Back in 2021, it was first released in the United Kingdom and China, until it hit Netflix worldwide a few months later. When it got released, the movie was met with mixed reception, as reviewers liked the animation and voice-acting but criticized the story and execution. Even though this may look like a solid kids adventure at first glance, Extinct happens to be a revolutionary mishap of glossy animation as well as...dumb writing and execution.
Summary
Two Flummel siblings, Op (Rachel Bloom) and Ed (Adam DeVine), accidentally wind up in present-day Shanghai, after they have discovered a mysterious flower from the Galapagos of 1835. When they discover their species went extinct, they work together to stop their species from dying.
Reasons
The primary dying weaknesses of Extinct are the messy lore, dumb story, and bland execution. Handling the concept of extinct creatures is a tricky concept for kids movies, so the writers must do this wisely. For this one, they messed it all up, especially with the Flummels. Something that not anyone did see was that their culture had some things from the modern times when they were supposed to be in 1835. Additionally, they did live in another time when they were supposed to be extinct by then, which adds to how the writing for the lore is nonsensical. Moving on, the story did start off simple and cute, until it goes downhill in around three-fourths of the movie. Well, it is okay to make a cute little adventure story that does not mean to teach a message but the writers did not do so good with the direction. In the ending, that is where the story is crumbled down into a rock of messy plot holes and unexplainable crap. What is the reason behind the messed up lore and dumb story? It is the execution. Again, there is nothing wrong with making a cute adventure story that the kids can enjoy. However, because of the messy writing, the adults could not even enjoy it at all. The movie could have at least added in some simple deep themes or adult humor, so that it can be a family movie as well.
Adding on, the other dying weaknesses that Extinct harbors are the lousy humor, empty logic, and stupid characters. Despite that there were a few jokes that did give out a small chuckle, almost all of the jokes are juvenile and tasteless. It mostly consists of bland puns and moves. Be lucky there is no toilet humor in this. Going on to the next point, the logic is mostly full of plot holes that are never patched up. Unlike some other animated movies, this one's holes are more noticeable, no pun intended. There could have been room for the writers to patch them all up with explanations on how this happened. Finally, the characters may not be unlikable but their writing is the thing that makes them stupid. Ed and Op are okay protagonists to say for the least but the other characters were not that great. Notably, it has to be Clarance whose writing is the worst in the movie, because of how his backstory is tasteless and also somewhat nonsensical. The Extinctables, barring Dottie, do not have any personality whatsoever as they only serve as comic reliefs that help with Ed and Op on the quest.
This may not be a good movie but Extinct does have some things that are pretty remarkable from their time, and they are the animation, voice-acting, and soundtrack. Compared to Netflix's Marmaduke (2022), the animation is actually solid and acceptable for a streaming exclusive. The reason is because it is animated from China, and almost all of the animated movies from there look just as good as what Hollywood would make for the animation library. Next up, the characters may be one-dimensional but the voice-acting does serve. It is loaded with a bunch of known actors like Rachel Bloom and Adam DeVine who do not do so bad. Finally, the soundtrack is not that bad either. There are not much cheesy pop songs but there is soft background music and the Extinctables song, which is actually pretty cute.
Conclusion
The animated extinct creature feature, Extinct, may look like a simple little adventure but it ends up being a messy disappointment that needs to be extinct. Yes, the animation and voice-acting are good and all but it is the writing and execution that makes this movie dumb. One thing to credit though is that it is at least not as bad as The Emoji Movie because the movie is not trying so hard to get the fellow kids. Plus, the bad writing sparks in the other half of the movie, not all spread throughout the whole span. If you have Netflix, just look for something better to watch with your kids instead of this mediocre and rushed mess.
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