Don Reviews "GOAT"

What do Nathan Patterson, Johnny Fisher, and Skateboarder Nargie Didal have in common?  They are all professional athletes who became famous from viral videos.  Whether it is author Shawn M. Warner signing at a grocery store or a list of others in this category, we have seen both success and failure as a result of those instances.  With a film like GOAT, this plays a role in its overall story.

This animated film is co-directed by Tyree Dillihay (Weather Hunters) and Adam Rosette (Harvey Girls Forever!) and has a voice cast that includes Caleb McLaughlin, Gabrielle Union, Aaron Pierre, Nicola Coughlan, David Harbour, Stephen Curry (yes, THAT Stephen Curry), and Patton Oswalt.   Taking place in a world where animals are like humans in the city of Vineland, the most popular sport is called Roarball, which is like a extreme version of basketball.  The local team, The Thorns, has been on a slump led by a panther named Jett Filmore (Union), a veteran whose days are numbered in the league.  A young goat named Will Harris (McLaughlin) has dreams of playing in the league one day, and after video showing him playing against another of the league’s stars in Mane Attraction (Pierre), Will is given a spot on the team.  As the season grows on, Will deals with trying to fit in while they try to figure out why Will got this “shot” (ya get it? Intentional pun there).

The animation is GREAT, using a very effective contrast and style, especially given the dark tones it tends to use (and that is not a bad thing).  The voice cast does feature a number of well-known actors alongside athletes and even musicians, and that also works well to the point that the casting didn’t have me visualizing the people behind the characters but to the characters themselves.

The story is good overall and great for the entire family.  The real young viewers may find the plot hard to follow, but with the sports scenes and action (a couple of points reminded me of Major League), they should still stay interested.  There are some darker moments for a film like this, but sometimes that is not a bad thing.   At just over an hour and a half, this film is about the right length with maybe a few scenes that could have been cut.  This may not get any award nominations next year for best animated feature, but overall I did like it, so I am recommending GOAT to be seen in a theater on a Saturday morning.