“Gracie & Pedro: Pets to the Rescue” is one of the worst animated movies of the year and is frightening and ugly to look at. It is not simply one of the worst animated films of 2023, but one of the worst films altogether.
It is unfortunate that I have to write like this. “Gracie & Pedro” was clearly made just for toddlers, right? Right. There is no way real-life adults are supposed to watch this. And yet even attempting to use it as a way to keep children aged four and above to sit still is not advised, because the film from Kevin Donovan and Gottfried Roodt makes utterly no sense. This also means that there is an utter lack of inspiration, wonder, and lessons that can be drawn from it. But rather, young children will be frightened by the grim, rubbery character design of the skeletons with mouths that are completely out of sink with their words. The same goes for every other human not so delightfully scary as the talking animals. I’d rather stare at a blank screen.
But let’s say for the sake of argument that you just so happen to be trapped in a room with your kids watching this.
At the beginning, you might be inclined to think: How bad can it be when it has a celebrity voice cast such as Susan Sarandon, Danny Trejo, Brooke Shields, and Bill Nighy? But these talented actors are seldom featured, and even when they are, they are usually far removed from being understandable.
Not to forget, it will be exceptionally difficult to overlook the fact that the event that sets the main characters on their road trip journey is incredibly unrealistic. Unwavering realism is without a doubt not a must in a movie featuring talking animals, however, this is just strange.
With show dog demands, Gracie is a glamorous Spaniel who adds a pink bow to her furry mane for a touch of class. Show doggies are oh-so high maintenance. Pedro is a sassy and irresponsible cat who is always looking for new trouble to get into, and a few shenanigans to pull. Their friendly banter is just like cats and dogs fighting, which means they are swapping lousy sitcom insults. But once the family they are living with relocates from LA to Salt Lake City, they squish both animals into an undersized cage and make them fly in the cargo section.
Seriously? Not even the most second-rate religions offered by airlines would permit this type of practice.
Couldn’t they have gotten each pet on the plane in their own carrier? And who are these moronic caretakers who thought this could work out? The idea is humorous, considering these conflicting beasts are wedged inside a confined spot and are compelled to coexist; however, it is absurd and simply inhumane.
At the end of the day, Gracie and Pedro start fighting so violently that they begin to destroy the complex cargo conveyor belt system. They do not get on the plane and end up having to trust strangers with directions towards Utah via bus and then train. There are some characters that do want to offer assistance, like Sarandon’s Shades, a rabbit in a magic show on her way to Las Vegas. (Yes, she is wearing sunglasses that’s why she has been given this name. This is how much creativity the screenplay has, which for some reason needed three writers). Some characters have motives to consume them, for example, the nighy voiced condor is a towering shadowy figure that might dread the target audience of the movie.
At the same time, back in Salt Lake City, the daughter, Sophie Along with her younger mute brother Gavin panics at the realization that their pets are missing.
They attempt to catch and record them in a music video, which surprisingly gains enormous popularity. Sophie’s utterances are the most feeble and irritating among all others, and we get to hear a lot of her as she is the one with a setup while all the adults surrounding her are trying to get their act together.
Just when the Condor star was horrifying enough, the major ending occurs in an eerie derelict theme park, which is enhanced with a malfunctioning roller coaster that places the children’s lives at peril – cheers!
If your search is for an animation film that is suitable for all and where animals get into amusingly ridiculous situations, may I mention any of the charming and witty Wallace and Gromit shorts, or even the features, or frankly anything other than this one?
Watch free movies on Fmovies.
