Don’t judge a book by its cover or a movie by its trailer. The teaser trailer of Storks portrayed the film to be a low on spirit tale with a weird dull concept. But, nothing is as it seems and the movie surprisingly has a bunch of stories that converge to touch various aspects of day to day life leading to form an intense connection with the viewers.
It’s all about making a baby. Well, you may ignore the fact but humans are a baby making factory. However, science and reason have been adapted to use the concept of creating babies in a witty way to tell an enriching tale. This film nabs the opportunity by picking a hypothetical concept of ‘making babies’ through a machine but gradually dwells into the ultimate bonding that we build with every living being around us.
Stories with underlying messages entangled in loose strings fascinate the audience in their own subtle way. Warner Bros. Animation’s recent animated feature Storks delights the viewers with a story that will unknowingly grab your attention and keep you hooked.
Diving into the digital world where a single click on the ‘Buy’ button can get your Cinderella dress delivered to your doorstep after a few payment tabs, this film is tossed with a lot of modern day perks. Online shopping has been made easy by customer service providers and online delivery portals in the current trend. But, what if you wanted a human baby delivered to your home? What if you felt lonely despite of not being alone?
Following the peculiar business of creating babies and delivering them, these white birds spread their wings to drop the babies at respective houses to fulfill the wishes of yearning souls. Highly committed to their morales, these storks consider completing the delivery assigned to them as their mission for life. However, engaging in a business with a human often turns out to be treacherous therefore, the Storks take up delivering consumer goods just like an Amazon or a Flipkart today instead of human babies.
The storks have shifted from human babies to lifeless products for a distinct reason. And, this reason leads the plot of the film as the adventure begins and ends with this reason itself. Till now it may seem that this film is all about storks delivering babies, that’s what even I thought after watching the teaser trailer and was a bit disappointed. But you will be surprised to know that the story has a number of strings which loosen up step by step. Gradually, you want things to get right in the movie and eagerly await for ‘the’ happy ending.
Characters in a film need to have a backstory as it forms the basis of storytelling. But when the backstories are seamlessly immersed with each other, the true essence of storytelling is emerged. Be it the lead Stork named Junior (Andy Samberg), Orphan Tulip (Katie Crown), Baby, Kid Nate (Anton Starkman) or even the leader Hunter (Kelsey Grammer), each character has some connection to the central plot or the co-character.
The long-legged, long-necked white birds are created with a peculiar style to keep it as close to reality as possible. The breathtaking sequences of the film are when the pack of wolves suddenly modify into various shapes like a wolf bridge, boat, submarine and an aeroplane. Cuteness is one factor that the team of Warner Animation Group has targeted to enhance the visual appeal and raise a typical “Awww” response from the viewers. Variations galore in the background and different elements are enriched due to the visual effects added to them.
Jason Derulo’s song Kiss the Sky blends well with the story. Storks has a number of deep messages which are quite quirky, bonding and attachment which take place subtly yet have a powerful feeling which make it difficult to let go of relations, tips to do the right thing in times of adversity and retreating to your loved ones and finally standing tall in hours of need. Directed by Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland from a script written by Stoller, Storks is produced by Warner Animation Group and RatPac-Dune Entertainment.
Characters are not filled in just for the sake it, the story is not twisted just to elevate the plot nor are emotions expressed unnecessarily to build a bond; everything just happens and your one and a half hour is just gone by experiencing a simple yet profound story.