Exclusive to Peacock TV (and in the theaters too I guess) starting today it’s The Boss Baby: Family Business. Our review team consists of one grown adult that watches grown adult movies and somehow missed the first one, and another grown man that claims to love The Boss Baby (2017).
Plots and schemes, Amy Sedaris, and a wild ride for our heroes to save the day. Tristan and Cole bring you the review of The Boss Baby: Family Business.
The Boss Baby is Back
Tristan: Now Cole, I know you didn’t see the first Academy Award nominated Boss Baby. What did you expect for The Boss Baby: Family Business?
Cole: Jokes? I expected a funny family movie. I was disappointed. So what did I miss?
T: When I watched The Boss Baby, I was pleasantly surprised. Tobey Maguire was the narrator, that was nice. Alec Baldwin voicing the baby brother who secretly worked for Baby Corp., it was perfect. Jimmy Kimmel voiced the dad, Lisa Kudrow the mom. Steve Buscemi. STEVE BUSCEMI. It was wacky, it was toilet jokes, but it was the Dreamworks brand of fun comedy that worked. The sequel was definitely a return to tried and true animated family storylines.
C: Was Steve Buscemi the bad guy? Because he couldn’t have been better than the Jeff Goldblumiest of Goldblum voice as the big bad in this sequel. And then everyone else returns to the cast except for the Old Sport narrator who they recast with Cyclops. Probably for the singing scenes.
T: Yeah Buscemi was the big bad. The first one focused on Baldwin’s Boss Baby teaming up with his older brother Tim to defeat Buscemi’s Francis Francis. The message was reminding older siblings that they could share the attention of their parents if they learned to love and appreciate each other. (Audience: AWE). This one picks up with Tim’s family, and a father struggling to stay connected to his daughter who’s growing out of being daddy’s little girl. Different dynamic, different stakes, different feel. The Boss Baby: Family Business carves a new path, but stays true enough to keep fans of the original along for the ride.
Animation Contemplation
C: Without having seen the first, that lesson sounds similar to one of The Lego Movies. SPEAKING of The Lego Movie (great segue self) I was constantly distracted by how no character animation in this movie can sit still for more than two seconds. When they are Lego stop motion style designs, it makes sense. And kids playing with Lego signify talking by moving their little Lego figure back and forth. But these are just people. And everytime they are talking, they are moving. Or spinning. Or swinging their arms. Not every movie needs to be made for ADHD brained children.
T: There was an erratic feeling the whole movie. I wonder if it was a budget deal, a data-based decision, or if it was just so much story to tell in such a short amount of time that they just couldn’t spare an extra second of Tim connecting with his daughter Tabitha onscreen.
C: And yet it still ran 107 minutes. An important 17 minutes longer than the arbitrary hour-and-a-half cut off my attention can give animated movies. But wait, I can name drop one more better animated movie (even from earlier *this* year) that does the chaos modern animation better, The Mitchells vs. The Machines. Not my cup of tea, but competently done. More than I can say for The Boss Baby 2.
To Stream or Not to Stream – The Boss Baby: Family Business?
T: Good point, and honestly this felt like a great movie for rewatchability for a fast-paced generation with shorter and shorter attention spans. The fact that The Boss Baby: Family Business will hit Peacock the same day as theaters is a testament to that. Watch it at the theaters, go home and watch it again soon as the family wants to.
C: Or don’t go to the theater with the whole screaming family in the first place? What is the incentive here? Kids movies can make BANK during the summer because it’s 90 minutes of baby-sitting you don’t otherwise have to do, but now all it takes is a Peacock Premium membership. AND I get 9 seasons of The Office while I’m at it? I’ll just never go to the theaters again.
Sorry I just enjoy typing out my worst fears sometimes.
T: Peacock is providing options. That’s a good way to say it, right? Options. Not everyone feels safe going back to theaters. This Delta variant has case #’s in flux in the U.S. and it may be a good move letting it stream and keeping the fam at home on a Friday night. And again, this isn’t Frozen, this isn’t The Incredibles, it feels like they had a fun story to tell in the Boss Baby world and they did something fun.
C: Neither of us loved this movie, but much worse animated movies have made much more at the box office during non-COVID summers. Will the spike in Peacock streaming numbers be worth those forfeited ticket sales?
T: Well Trolls…
C: Woah woah woah. There will be NO Trolls World Tour slander in this review.
T: You mean the most controversial film of the pandemic box office and streaming era: Trolls World Tour? I would even say, THE MOVIE to spark the streaming vs box office discussion. I think it’s finally pitting studios versus the theaters in a big way. They way to justify higher subscription rates or PVOD releases as opposed to theater releases, sharing revenues, and hoping to get butts in seats. Unless the now-expired Paramount decrees lead to studios purchasing theater chains, I’m thinking we’ll see more Streaming/Theater releases or straight to streaming releases like The Boss Baby: Family Business.
C: Turns out the business of streaming was The Family Business all along.
T: I see what you did there. You know, The Boss Baby: Family Business featured some different storylines and roles, but the themes were familiar enough to feel right at home. Tim is a stay at home father who is the creative, fun, wacky dad. With so many oaf and doofus fathers in much of film and television, it was nice to see a dad who was trying to connect and stay involved in his kid’s lives.
C: And Tim’s super power wasn’t strength or a silver tongue. It was love for his family and creativity. His time spent helping his daughters with their homework with Diet Coke and Mentos saves the day. And music personifies his care in the climactic moment.
T: The film really drives home the idea that to love your family is to understand each of them, not live their lives for them. Appreciate their journey along their path, and stick together through all life’s challenges and changes. Whether it be a brother or a daughter, there’s always a chance to gain some perspective. In the end, like another franchise with a movie recently released reminds us, it’s all about family.
C: Salute mi familia.
The Boss Baby: Family Business is in theaters this weekend. And check it out on Peacock Premium along with three out of ten Fast and Furious movies. Hey. Speaking of The Fast Saga there’s a new one of those. Check out our review for that here.
Wait, you’re still here? Check out more articles from Tristan and Cole before you leave.