Expected more

An Exercise In Nonsense

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Recap: Roy Arnie recruits his small time crook friends to work with him at a rundown Russian circus touring in Norway. There all the animals are medicated with heavy drugs to get them to perform. Worst of is Jimmy, an elephant. Addicted to both heroin and speed he soon get to be the center of attention. A militant terrorist group of animal activists try to set him free and get him into rehab. Some mobster motorcycle gang Sami want to make money on him and a bully violent hunter want him as a trophy kill. Comments: An animated movie listed as a comedy. But don't get the wrong idea. This is certainly not for kids and not really funny either. Not unless you find drug abuse and addiction combined with violent battery and murder amusing. You need something else, some twisted extra scenes to make a comedy out of such a setup, Free Jimmy just doesn't have it. I read that the movie was an homage to the directors dead brother who lost his battle with drugs. If true, it is all very well. But it isn't enough to make a movie good or entertaining and has really no bearing on how it should be regarded.When I read the plot summation I thought it was a promising idea. But I imagined something else entirely. I expected a fast paced whacky comedy that centered on the animals at the circus and how they conspired to break free. Free Jimmy got nothing of that. The pace is slow and dull. Long stretches are focused on Jimmy and a moose, but since they are denied to communicate verbally the long scenes soon become pointless and boring. It is not whacky at all. At best it can be described as a dark comedy, but I think that is to stretch the truth a bit too far. It certainly is dark though. And the animals have no standing at all in the movie. The animation in itself is poor and in line with the rest of the movie it can be described as dark and gloomy at best. The words I would like to describe it is oily and rubbery. No texture at all (to costly is my guess) and hair and fur, when allowed, looks like the characters wear rubber wigs. Everything is bouncy as a rubber ball. It is not very realistic. It is not part of some humor and caricature. It is not cute or cuddly. It is just plain bad. Too much of what can be rendered on a home computer and not really worthy of a feature film.However, the worst mistake is the characters. There is not one that is in the least likable, even less one able to sympathize with. Most of them, all of the main characters, deserve lengthy jail times. Actually, it almost shames me to admit, that jail would be a fate too good for them, and some of them do get what they deserve.In all fairness, taste is personal. And obviously someone must have liked this so much they gave it an award. But to me that is a mystery. I can't see anything good in Free Jimmy.2/10

I got to see the British version of this film and yes it was very funny. Be warned though, due to the stereotype that obviously we London Cockney's have got is used to the full in this. The Facking (use a u instead of the a and you get what i mean, if you are a Londoner you will Definitely know what i mean) word gets used quite a lot in this film, nearly all the time. The cream of British talent is in this which was what stood out to me in watching it. Phil "Quadrophenia" Daniels plays a funny foul mouthed cockney junkie in this that really has to be seen to be believed. Simon "Hot Fuzz/Shaun of the Dead" Pegg is the other main characters in this and at times is virtually unrecognisable in this as he is doing a voice and you can only just get that it's him. The one who played the little guy of the group made me laugh the most as he was always doing things wrong. David "The Doctor" Tennant is also in this and made me laugh quite a few times as he uses his original Scottish accent to the full here. Woody Harrelson Plays the American junkie who dreams of having his own circus, Kris "My family" Marshall plays a animal rights crusader, so does Samantha "Band of Gold/Minority Report" Morton plays a emotional and clumsy animal rights crusader. Even Kyle "Twin peaks" Mclachlan turns up in this as the leader of the animal rights crusaders. This movie is a riot from beginning to end but also there is a message in it too. It may be hard to find under the language and the laughs but when the film is finished, it will hit you. There are some very touching scenes in it too. Free Jimmy is a film for Older kids because of the language but if you can by pass that then kids will love it and laugh with you at all the jokes.The story is a bit slow but the acting and the performances push it through and make it an entertaining movie to watch. Like i said Parents: It's up to you if you want to show this to your kids, mind you kids already know that kind of language nowadays so i don't see why not. It's the kind of cartoon Disney would make if they had the balls.

This film should be getting far more attention, as a warning to all who take an idea for a 10 minute short and stretch it until it snaps, leaving the original idea lifelessly limp. It's truly the Heavens gate of animation - A movie so loathsome it has coined it's own genre 'Uglymation'. There is not one frame that can be considered as anything other than repugnant. The characters, the plot and the direction, all repulsive. If it had either polarity of an underlying relentless nihilism peppered with humour or under the dirt a little bit of uplifting sentimentalism and a 'film with a big heart' approach, having either would have salvaged it. Unfortunately it's just inane drivel. Simple 'off-the-shelf' style models animated by hacks with no feeling for animation or talent for bringing life to vector graphics. The rot is indicative as with rest of the team - the texture mappers seem obsessed by scatology and grime.It is telling that as a cliché, Norway is seen as a mostly dark, cold and bleak country and if true that clichés have a glimmer of veracity about them then maybe it is a very informative film about living in Norway. As a nation Norway has the highest literacy, educational average per capita, income per capita etc, etc... in the world and their major animation achievement is this movie ? The peak of European artistry makes this ? Nine years in the making - must have felt like being imprisoned for a whole decade while working on this 'Uglymation' epic. Imagine the money wasted that could have driven other artistic projects.It's not funny, It's not been art directed and it is obvious that it was made by a group of mostly untalented nine to five artisans. Fine in a short, but as a cinematic statement of national identity or artistic expression - shameful. If you have a team of beginners 'don't start by making a feature' should be the only reason why this film is remembered.

First, I must warn non-Scandinavian viewers (primarily thinking of viewers who are neither Norwegian nor Swedish) as there are some jokes in the flick which allude to local stuff such as the 'Lappmafia'. Hence everyone may not understand all the jokes due to them being unknowing of the contexts of the jokes. At any rate, this is a hilarious flick! I think they nailed all the characteristics of the drug abusers, animal rights activists, the Russians and many more in a great ironic way (people who consider themselves to belong to any of these groups with a lack of self-distance might find this flick offending at times). Not to mention the animation itself which is simply awesome with its wonderfully depicted scenery whether the characters roam in the late-night city or take a hike in the mountains. I am impressed! I would not consider this flick to be much of a stoner movie, as a newspaper chose to put it, since there is a lot more to the flick than simple pot romance. Anyone who has a predilection for irony will probably find this piece entertaining! Lovely! 7/10