Movie Review: Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Mr. Peabody & Sherman 2014 movie review

Mr. Peabody & Sherman is based on a pair of characters from the 1950s/60s TV shows Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show; however, in those shows, they were recurring characters, and now they have their own movie. I was surprised by how many jokes in the film were more for adults, since the movie focuses on historical periods, but kids will like this film as well, especially the 3D, which was fantastic.

Mr. Peabody (voiced by Ty Burrell) is a dog, but has accomplished many academic and important things in his lifetime. When Sherman (Max Charles) was a baby, Mr. Peabody found him in a box in an alley, and petitioned the court to let a dog adopt a boy; since then, Mr. Peabody has been raising Sherman. Mr. Peabody invented a machine called the "WABAC" (pronounced "way back") and they use it to travel across time, although they can only travel to time periods in which they didn't yet exist. When Sherman has trouble with a girl at school, Penny (Ariel Winter), Mr. Peabody invites her and her parents to their house to make amends, and Sherman isn't supposed to tell Penny about the WABAC machine, but of course does ... and then chaos ensues.

The voice cast was spot on in this film, and it was fun to try to figure out who was voicing what character. I did recognize Allison Janney as Ms. Grunion, a "child services" type person who wants to take Sherman away from Mr. Peabody, and Dennis Haysbert as "The Judge" in one court scene, but I didn't recognize Ty Burrell as Mr. Peabody throughout. Stephen Colbert and Leslie Mann also voice the Petersons, Penny's parents, whom I didn't recognize either.

Yes, see this movie, and see it in 3D, as the 3D effects were awesome. This movie almost doesn't really seem geared to kids, because they aren't going to know about Marie Antoinette, Egypt and the pyramids, and all of the other historical time periods that Peabody and Sherman travel to - I found myself laughing a lot at the "let them eat cake" Marie Antoinette jokes, and later we see her on the back end of a Tastee Cakes truck, which was also funny. Mr. Peabody & Sherman is a good film for the whole family, since it has some "adult humor" as well as good/colorful graphics for the kids, and I'd recommend it for anyone to see.

Mr. Peabody & Sherman is in theaters today, March 7th, and is rated PG with a runtime of 92 minutes. 3.5 stars out of 5.

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