DVD Reviews

Chicken Little

• Rating:
• Director: Mark Dindal
• Starring: Gary Marshall
• Details: US, 81mins, G.

After making a fool of himself by ringing the church bells to warn the town that the sky is falling down, young Chicken Little (Braff) tries to keep a low profile. But one year later the sky is at it again: a small hexagonal-shaped device falls from the stars and lands in Chicken's room. Not wanting to cause a scene, he confides in his friends - Fish, Runt (Steve Zahn) and Abby (Cusack). They find that the object in question is a mechanical device that floats and when Fish jumps on it, it takes him back up to the sky. With no one to turn to, the friends decide to solve the mystery themselves. Clues lead to a spaceship, which the reluctant heroes board; there they find plans of an alien invasion, but their warnings fall on deaf ears until it is far too late.
Since they haven't had a real hit in years, Disney's merger with Pixar should rejuvenate the once great animation company. And how they need it, judging by the animation on show here; if Chicken Little achieves anything, it will be to demonstrate how far the genre has come since Toy Story 10 years ago. For all that, Chicken Little is aimed squarely at the kids and as such it hits the mark. From the opening panic sequence, the movie rarely lets up; as everything happens at such a rapid pace, no one has time to scoff - and even if Chicken himself looks like the kid from Jerry Maguire, Zach Braff's (Scrubs) cutesy voice keeps the audience from wanting to punch him in the back of the head.

Review by Gavin Burke