LogFAQs > #961829406

37. Ferdinand

Inviso: 19
Ermine: 22
Red: 23
Johnbobb: 33
Karo: 36
Evillord: 40

Total: 173

Inviso: This was actually the second time Id watched this, and somehow, I didnt hate it. It definitely has some dumb moments that feel like they were included solely to fill the runtime of the film (looking at the dance-off with the horses), but at the same time, its largely a sweet movie. John Cena does a good job of selling the character of a pacifist bull who just wants to sniff flowers and relax, and its interesting enough to me to have a large cast of characters who have their distinct personalities, and all slowly come around to Ferdinands way of thinking due to his shows of kindness. Even in the dumbest movies, if you give me a group of characters that I can distinctly separate, I will enjoy the film more, because that appeals to the categorical part of my brain. Now, maybe Im grading on a curve, but this was still nice enough to warrant this ranking.

Ermine: Definitely a mixed bag with this one here. I really wish that the movie focused more on the first quarter and dived into the relationships there. Like with the dog, Paco... who was one of the only interesting characteres. I think there could have been a fun and cool story there... but instead, our attention is turned to the most obnoxious goat character I've EVER seen. Thank god the rest of the characters treat her poorly because god she deserves it. Ferdinand himself is alright... and the story is how you would expect it to go, but man the supporting cast after the first like 20 minutes is just so lackluster. There are a couple of ridiculous scenes that actually do more for the movie than hurt it but eh, there's really not much here to care about.

Give me more Paco.

Red: Bull that really likes flowers has to come to terms with other bulls that no matter what they do in life they are destined to die. Characters are pretty generic and the movie is middling. Ferdinand goes on an adventure, had too many characters left at home to never return, and then is of course the bull chosen to fight because duh. This is pretty standard animated movie fair but on this list that is good enough to be middling by virtue of not being a crappy sequel.

Johnbobb: Why are the horses German? Why are the bulls American (except the one that is Scottish)? I know the real answer is that even in a movie taking place in Spain, the voice cast still needs to be mostly white for some reason, but it's just one of the many little things that keep this from being a better movie. Unfunny jokes (including a dance battle that goes on way too long and features dabbing stallions) fill a bland, by-the-numbers story that looks and feels like it belongs in the early 2000s despite coming out less than 5 years ago. It's inoffensive. It's colorful and has an obnoxious supporting character that squanders Kate McKinnon's comedic talents in an attempt to basically recreate the popularity of Dory in Finding Nemo, but without proper writing.

Karo: The story of Ferdinand comes from an old children's book (and subsequent disney short) about an effeminate bull who dislikes roughhousing and who would much rather just smell flowers. It was a sort of an 'it's ok to be gay' fable from a time where one had to be very cagey about saying those kinds of things.
So lets fast forward to 2017, where we get this new movie adaptation of the story. This is a time where gay marriage is legal in all 50 states, and LGBTQ representation in entertainment is fairly widespread, even now reaching into places such as children's cartoons.
So hey, what could possibly go wrong?
Well, lets start with the casting decisions. The lead role of Ferdinand is given to... wait for it... WWE superstar John Cena. Because when you think of a sensitive girly boy kind of character, the first name that comes to mind is clearly John fucking Cena. He makes Ferdinand come across more as a friendly doofus, and like pretty much every other character in the film he gets real irritating real fast.
They go in hard on pacifism being Ferdinand's chief motivation, along with some super safe 'just be yourself' morals to weave a toothless narrative that is sure not to offend anyone, not even if you are an inbred bible-humping troglodyte from Alabama.
I feel there was a great opportunity here to tell this story though a modern lens, but instead we just get this pitiful lump of bullshit. A mediocre dreamworks-styled movie full of uncharming characters and bull dance-offs that can find no real justification of its existence.

Evillord: I hated that fucking goat so much