MICHAEL LOMAX: ‘Angry Birds’ satisfies the kids

When I found out they were adapting a phone app into a Hollywood movie, I can’t say I was that surprised. After plays and books and video games, it just seemed a matter of time before apps made the leap. The question instead quickly became: well, what are they adapting and how will it turn out? The app: Angry Birds. The result: The kids will enjoy it.

Based in part on the popular smartphone game of the same name, “The Angry Birds Movie” follows Red (voiced by Jason Sudeikis), a grumpy and flightless citizen of otherwise happy Bird Island. But when pigs from Pig Island start arriving in boats, suspicious Red enlists the help of fellow anger management students to find out what their new neighbors are up to. The answer is nothing good.

With a plot this simple, it’s hard to mess anything up, and to its credit, “Angry Birds” refrains from overexerting itself. What follows is a straightforward and simple children’s animated comedy that will likely prove the price of admission if you’re looking for an easy night out with the kids. But if you were expecting some generational new leap in filmmaking adaptation, here is not where you will find it.

Rather than provide any satisfaction on a filmmaking level, “Angry Birds” is a bit exciting for what it means going forward. Most of the apps we have are pretty functional. We use them to check our bank accounts, call cabs, take pictures and post them online. We also use them to play a whole lot of games. So while I don’t think a film based on the Uber app would make a compelling story, the possibilities really are endless depending on how creative you’re willing to get.

For now, it’s probably best to start small, and if you’re a Hollywood studio taking a gamble, something silly like “Angry Birds” is a pretty safe bet. As long as you spruce up the animation and cast the right voice actors, you can’t really go wrong with this story, even if Rotten Tomatoes and other critics have expressed mixed reception.

Much like the app itself, “Angry Birds” is a catchy kind of movie meant to pass time and distract kids, and if you go into the theater with that mindset, you won’t be disappointed.

Michael Lomax is a writer-filmmaker currently at work on a film script to be set and shot in Albany.