storks christian movie review

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DVD & Streaming
Animation , Comedy , Kids

Content Caution

In Theaters

September 23, 2016
Andy Samberg as Junior; Katie Crown as Tulip; Kelsey Grammer as Hunter; Jennifer Aniston as Sarah Gardner; Ty Burrell as Henry Gardner; Anton Starkman as Nate Gardner; Stephen Kramer Glickman as Pigeon Toady; Danny Trejo as Jasper; Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele as Alpha and Beta members of the Wolf Pack

Home Release Date

December 20, 2016
Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland

Distributor

Warner Bros.

Movie Review

Delivering babies is soooo 20th Century.

Oh, sure. Storks used to deliver babies, those analog balls of wailing flesh that, despite their lack of functionality and upgradable components, remain surprisingly popular amongst humankind. But let’s face it: There’s not much profit margin in delivering those. I mean, babies are built to last—ripening for as many as 70, 80 years or more under optional conditions. No, technology is where it’s at these days. I mean, you gotta get another phone every few months , right?

So Hunter, boss of Stork Mountain, decided to switch business models. Instead of delivering babies, his storks are now the primary shipping arm of the internet retail giant Cornerstore.com. The storks are like drones, only with more feathers and less need to recharge after short flights. “Always deliver!” remains the motto. They’re just delivering toasters these days, not tots.

Hunter is angling for a corner office at Cornerstore headquarters, and he’s ready to turn over the operation to someone else—a bird named Junior. But the job comes with one condition: Junior has to fire Tulip.

It makes sense from a purely economic point of view. For years, Tulip, the ginger-haired human, has been one of the main reasons why Cornerstore has fallen into (ahem) the red. She means well, but her inventions tend to set the shipping plant on fire.

But to turn around and fire Tulip … that’s pretty harsh. She’s an undelivered package herself, and Stork Mountain is all she’s ever known. So Junior decides to put her in charge of the letter-sorting department—what would’ve been a peach of a post back in the 1950s, perhaps, but not-so-important in the Instagram age. Junior leaves her with a pep talk and asks her what her motto will be from this point forward.

“Always deliver!” Tulip says.

“No,” Junior corrects. “Never leave this room.”

But then, as fate would have it, a letter comes in! A letter from a family asking for a baby boy with “mad ninja skills.” Tulip innocently walks it over to the long-defunct baby factory and fires the thing up.

Junior runs over to stop the cataclysm, but it’s too late. The machine spits out a baby. If Hunter finds out that there’s even one new infant pushed out by the baby factory, Junior’s chances of slipping into the big bird’s big chair will be toast. There’s only one thing to do: Deliver the infant and get back to Stork Mountain before anyone’s the wiser.

But here’s the thing: Junior’s wing is injured. There’s no way he can deliver the problem child on his own. And while Tulip has (as luck would have it) a flying craft stored away in her workroom, she’s not exactly the most reliable pilot herself. No one’s going to be calling her Sully anytime soon.

Seems that if the baby’s going to get to its proper home, Junior and Tulip will have to deliver it together.

Positive Elements

Storks is about more than where babies come from: It’s about where families come from—how delicate they are and how wonderful and foundational they can be. And in order to tell this very family-centric story, it gives us two of them.

The Gardner family is where the movie’s pink-haired baby is ultimately supposed to land. Prospective big brother Nate wrote the letter in part because his parents—go-go real estate agents—barely spend time with him these days. He’s lonely: A little brother, he believes, will be just the ticket.

As he begins to transform the family rooftop into a suitable landing pad for a stork-delivered baby, his father breaks away from his latest call to see what’s up. And instead of telling the kid to put away the paint, he finds himself helping. Even though he knows full well that storks don’t deliver babies—not anymore, at any rate—he realizes how fun it is to spend time with his boy and how quickly Nate’s childhood is slipping away. Soon, Nate’s mom is joining in on the fun. It’s heartening to see the Gardners begin to reset their priorities and revel in the joys of just being together.

The second family is comprised of the makeshift clan of Junior, Tulip and the little bundle of joy they’re toting (which Tulip temporarily names Diamond Destiny). Though the delivery adventure itself only takes a couple of days, we see a microcosm of the joys, sorrows and tensions that families naturally face over much longer durations.

Sometimes the conversations Junior and Tulip share mirror difficult real-world situations. “This single package can ruin what I’ve been working for my entire life!” Junior laments, echoing what many a career-minded soul might feel when confronted with an unexpected pregnancy. Later on, Tulip says, “The only good thing that ever came out of this was this baby!” Again, the movie gives voice to the kind of arguments stressed and conflict-riddled families might engage in. That said, Junior and Tulip are determined to stick together and do what’s best for their temporary child, sacrificing their needs and safety again and again for their little charge. Eventually, they realize that they have indeed become something of a family. Not a traditional one, but a family nevertheless.

Throughout these and other situations, we see the strange, domesticating influence that children can have. Selfish beings begin thinking of others. Moms and dads fall head-over-heals in love with these demanding little creatures. Storks is all about the curious power of family, how the love that its members have for each other can be one of the strongest forces in the world.

One other theme of note: Though there’s some talk about Tulip trying to find her “real” family (a desire that eventually hurts Junior’s feelings), you could argue that Storks also gives a positive portrayal of adoption. In this animated world, after all, it’s suggested that children are still conceived and born the “traditional” way, which means that every child delivered via stork is not a biological son or daughter, but an adopted one.

Spiritual Elements

Sexual & romantic content.

When Nate suggests to his parents that they contact the storks so he can get a baby brother in the house, and then asks where he came from, his parents laugh knowingly and with some embarrassment. Storks don’t deliver babies anymore in part, they say, “because there are so many other ways to get babies.”

In a brief montage of sorts at the end of the movie, we see storks drop babies off to different sorts of families, including some with (apparently) two moms and two dads.

We see, on occasion, some bare animated baby bums. An animated bird drops a towel that had been wrapped around its waist: The camera pixelates the bird’s animated rear.

Violent Content

Diamond Destiny, like many a child, loves slapstick humor and violence. She likes nothing more than watching people hit each other—and the harder the better. As such, she giggles as Tulip thwacks Junior with planks of wood, as wolves beat each other up and during a host of other physically painful hijinx.

The wolves, incidentally, were planning to eat the child (as well as Tulip and Junior), and we hear them describe just how they’re going to consume it before the kid charms their lupine socks off. But as they pursue the child (whom they now hope to raise to be an “independent woman”), the pack winds up crashing into things and falling from great heights.

Storks smash into glass repeatedly. Hunter keeps a bevy of tiny birds at his disposal, which he squeezes, beats and uses as golf balls. A helicopter explodes. Birds apparently fall to their doom (though, given they have wings and we don’t see them hit ground, that fate isn’t altogether certain). A factory is set on fire. A wing gets injured in a bevy of sharp gears. A building falls from a great height. There’s a violent-but-quiet fight (so as not to wake the baby up) between Tulip, Junior and a pack of penguins, during which someone gets stabbed in the chest with a fork. Babies pull feathers and poke at the eyeballs of longsuffering storks.

Crude or Profane Language

Several uses of “of my gosh” and “heck,” and one of “jeez.” Someone says, “Suck it, wolves!” We also hear an the incomplete exclamation, “What the …” There are also some moments when indistinct language can sound like harsher profanities.

Drug & Alcohol Content

Other noteworthy elements.

Junior and others sometimes sniff diapers to determine whether they need to be changed or not. Junior, complaining of internal bleeding, seems to vomit off-camera. He talks about how he urinated on himself during a moment of peril.

Cartoons these days seem to be made as much for adults as children, if not more so. So while kids will laugh at Storks ‘ slapstick antics, their parents may be more prone to sniffle a bit. Juxtaposed against the promise and joy of new life, the movie reminds us that these babies eventually grow up. That the time we have with them is fleeting.

Nate goads his parents with such reminders, telling them that he’s only a couple of years from his teens. “Blink and I’ll be in college,” he warns. It’s meant as a joke, and it is funny, but for parents of pint-size children, it may also be a poignant reminder: No matter how much time we’re able to spend with our kids growing up, it never feels like enough.

Given those tender and poignant themes, it’s deeply frustrating to report that this often delightful film concludes with another nettlesome reminder as well: Even in films otherwise chockfull of uplifting, pro-family messages, parents have to stay vigilant to the very end. Shortly before the credits, there’s a montage of babies being delivered to couples of all kinds, including same-gender partners. It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, one so short that it might tempt us to minimize the worldview statement being affirmed there.

But make no mistake: There is a worldview being delivered in that scene right along with those cute and cuddly babies. And even though it’s very much in sync with where mainstream culture is at these days, that message remains decidedly at odds with a biblical understanding of family as God designed it.

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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"Where’s God?"

What You Need To Know:

(Pa, H, BB, PC, Ho, V, N, M) Mixed pagan worldview with light pagan and humanist elements (including some pagan superstition about storks and babies taken to comical extremes for laughs and comical adventure but with no references to God) mitigated by strong moral, pro-life, pro-family elements extolling fulfilling one’s purpose, but with some politically correct homosexual content briefly showing at least two same-sex couples receiving babies from storks in a short montage clip, and two alpha male wolves want to lead a wolf pack in raising a human baby, a plot development that appears same-sex in one scene; no foul language; light slapstick comedy with falls, two storks fly into a large window, wolf pack chases stork and girl with baby, and wolves are at first scary and consider eating baby but become comical and fall in love with the baby in a parental way; no sex; images of bare-chested babies; no alcohol; no smoking or drugs; and, villain is deceitful, and wolves take baby.

More Detail:

The legend about storks delivering babies comes from pagan superstition and folklore. Because they mate for life and care for their young, storks were considered signs of good luck and fertility. As a result, if a stork made a nest in your chimney, it was a very good sign.

The new animated comedy, STORKS, takes this pagan legend into modern times, in a story about a talking stork and a human female, who try to deliver a new human baby to a boy and his parents, against the wishes of their boss. It’s a funny adventure with some pro-life and pro-family messages, but it also contains some politically correct references to same-sex couples.

The story opens in the present day. The storks have gone from delivering babies to delivering packages instead. That’s because years ago, a stork named Jasper, became attached to the baby girl he was delivering and broke the homing beacon which could direct him to her parents. So, the storks decided to stop delivering babies to deliver packages instead, and the girl, whom the storks named Tulip, grew up with them. However, now that Tulip’s grown up, she’s turned out to be a klutz, who ruins every delivery job on Stork Mountain.

The Boss orders his best delivery stork, Junior, to fire Tulip, but he can’t do it. Meanwhile, a little boy with inattentive parents has written to Stork Mountain asking for a baby brother. Junior and Tulip accidentally put his letter through the unused magical baby-making machine, which pops out a baby girl. Now, they have to find a way to deliver the baby to the boy and his family without their boss knowing.

STORKS has some very funny, hilarious moments. Some of the best ones come when Junior, Tulip and the baby encounter a large pack of crazy wolves. There are also some heartwarming moments, especially between the boy and his father and mother, who begin to realize what they’ve been missing when they start paying more attention to their son. Also in the movie, the search for the baby’s mother and father inspires Tulip’s search for her own mother and father.

STORKS doesn’t do much to dispel the superstitious, pagan nature of the legend about storks delivering babies. Thus, God doesn’t enter the picture when it comes to the baby-making machine run by the storks. Most of the movie, however, has strong moral, pro-life and pro-family elements. Having babies is extolled, and characters want to be involved with their mothers and fathers. Despite this, there are two brief politically correct images showing storks delivering a baby to same-sex couples, one image composed of two women, and another composed of two men.

MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution because of these mixed messages.

Slice of SciFi

This is How We Geek Out: Interviews, Reviews & More

Reviewing “Storks”

September 23, 2016 By Andrea Rittschof Leave a Comment

Find your flock. The tagline tells you everything you need to know about the theme of this movie. It is about finding family, no matter who they are, whether they are yours biologically, through adoption or friends of the soul. That is the heart of this movie and families watching it will love that message.

This is a sweet movie where our hero, Junior (played by Andy Samberg) and heroine Tulip (played by Katie Crown) come together to help deliver a baby. The storks used to deliver babies but due to an incident in the past, have since moved on to delivering packages, with awesome customer service. “Always Deliver” is their motto. Junior is the best and brightest, has an opportunity to be promoted. The only catch, he has to do something about Tulip, who is incredibly helpful and incredibly destructive. The storks have raised her but she causes too many problems for the boss of Cornerstore.com, Hunter (played by Kelsey Grammar).

Junior has difficulty managing to get rid of Tulip, probably because he’s really a nice guy and this causes a chain reaction where one last baby is spit out by the baby making machine. Junior is desperate to deliver the baby so he doesn’t get fired and recruits Tulip to help him. There are many obstacles, one of which is a wolf pack of one hundred wolves, run by Alpha and Beta (played by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele). The wolves manage to keep Junior and Tulip busy with their ability to form themselves into objects, for example, a submarine. Junior and Tulip also encounter Jasper (played by Danny Trejo) who is an important figure from Stork Mountain.

Pigeon Toady played by Stephen Kramer Glickman who works on Stork Mountain, is trying to incur brownie points so he follows Junior and Tulip and discovers the baby delivery. He takes the information to Hunter who puts into motion a plan to stop the pair because Hunter doesn’t want the storks to go back to delivering babies. He wants the company making money and he attempts to stop Junior and Tulip using the company helicopter and penguins during the yearly company convention.

Interwoven with Junior and Tulip is the story of the baby’s family, a mother and father who are too busy for their only child, Nate, played by Anton Starkman. Lonely, he wishes for a brother but his parents say no. Exploring in the attic, he discovers a book about storks delivering babies and writes a letter, ordering up a brother with super ninja skills. This letter causes our baby to be ordered up in the first place. He manages to convince his mother played by Jennifer Aniston and father played by Ty Burrell to spend time with him and by spending time together, all of them end up waiting eagerly for the new arrival.

The baby is an overload of cute with ninja skills as specified by her brother and the wolves stole the show with their creative ability to shape themselves into different objects. The writers have an interesting subplot surrounding Tulip and her family. And the penguins seem to be a subtle joke on the penguins from Madagascar . And at the end of the movie is a beautiful montage to families highlighting all the different types of families you can imagine. It’s a straightforward story with the humor being slightly silly but it is a movie children will like.

If you are looking for a funny movie to take the little ones to, this is warm and appealing for any age child but especially for your youngest ones. Parents won’t get as much out of it but they will like the idea of spending time with their children. It is a bit simpler than some of the other summer movies but the wolves will make you laugh. It is wholesome fun for the whole family.

Rating: 3 stars

Masters Lego Short The chicken made both my husband and I crack up laughing and I think it was a wonderful addition to the main movie. It is inventive and is a bit of a parody of Kung Fu movies. And is as engaging as the original Lego movie compressed into a short film.

In addition to the movie, we received the bonus of two movie trailers. One was for Fantastic Beasts set in the Harry Potter universe without being about any of the Harry Potter characters. The imaginative creatures and engaging characters seen in the trailer make me want to fight to see this movie. The other trailer was for the Batman Lego movie which shows a tongue in cheek version of Batman’s Dark Knight Persona with a broody Batman talking to pictures of his parents and Alfred showing us a montage of ALL the Batman movies and the 60’s series. I was laughing just at the trailer and I am certain the other reviewers at Slice of Scifi will all be vying to see the screening for this movie.

Reviewing "Storks"

About Andrea Rittschof

Andrea is a native Arizona girl who loves scifi, fantasy, gaming, and comics in all their forms. When not working a corporate job to pay the bills, she is pursuing her writing career by sticking her butt in her chair and writing what her characters tell her to write. With what little time she has left over, she spends making her husband jealous by drooling over Dean Winchester and Wolverine.