The Boss Baby

****

Reviewed by: Angus Wolfe Murray

Boss Baby
"The script is hilarious and the CGI's lip-and-eye treatment positively perfect"

Where do babies come from? Storks have flown. This time it's mass production with quality control using the tickle technique to decide ultimate destination.

And then there are others who are created already grown. Not literally. They look like babies but have the minds of business executives. One such is Boss Baby.

Copy picture

Tim has been having it his own way for seven years, all the love, bedtime stories and favourite songs on demand. Now there's a newbie in the push chair, dressed for the City, which is odd, with the manipulative skills of an experienced con artist.

In secret, when Dad'n'Mom are out of the room, he makes sure Tim knows who's running things. Bye bye the special onesy routine - songs, stories, cuddle up cozy time. Boss Baby has highjacked the love.

Animation can be traditional and it can be off the wall. Which one? Wall Street?

Animation allows the imagination to rip out the old and reinvent the new. This baby talks. This baby has a team of talking babies. Tim is the interloper. They let him join sometimes if he's good and doesn't sneak to Dad'n'Mom.

Tim is the prince of Make-Up Island where dreams become real. Is Boss Baby part of this parallel universe so that Tim can avoid having to share Dad'n'Mom with a spewing, diaper leakable, wailing underthing?

It doesn't matter because the script is hilarious and the CGI's lip-and-eye treatment positively perfect. Alec Baldwin, who used to be the Colin Farrell of his day and now wins awards for 30 Rock and impersonates The Donald on Saturday Night Live, voices Boss Baby. It's a made in heaven laughathon.

Boss Baby cries Whaaa!!! and Dad'n'Mom come running. Boss Baby says, stay with the unit, we have work to do. Tim breaks ranks and pledges allegiance to The Boss.

Take the citadel! There's a vacancy for CEO of Baby Corp. Go or stay?

The suit is pressed. The shades are wiped. The shoes are shiny. He walks like a baby on a mission, bum cheeks controlling the wobble.

He looks back. He winks.

Reviewed on: 29 Mar 2017
Share this with others on...
The Boss Baby packshot
Some babies are pukealots. Some babies are squeeze-me-cutsies. This baby has the mind of a merchant banker and the skills of con artist. He takes no prisoners.
Amazon link

Director: Tom McGrath

Writer: Michael McCullers, based on the book by Marla Frazee

Starring: voices of Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, Tobey Maguire, Miles Christopher Bakshi, James McGrath, Conrad Vernon, ViviAnn Yee, Eric Bell Jr., David Soren, Edie Mirman, James Ryan, Walt Dohrn, Jules Winter

Year: 2017

Runtime: 97 minutes

BBFC: U - Universal

Country: US

Festivals:


Search database: