By Logan Meyer, A&E editor
In typical DreamWorks fashion, “The Boss Baby” is an adorable, feel-good animated film fit for the family. Also in DreamWorks fashion, it is largely lacking in cinematic merit.
From the get-go, the story’s narration incites confusion. Constantly jumping between his imagination and reality, Tim (Miles Christopher Bakshi), the narrator and 7-year-old older brother, presents an ambiguous basis for the story. While it’s obvious that his use of hot sauce to make a shark vomit is a work of his imagination, Tim’s account of his baby brother’s arrival is less clear.
When Boss Baby (Alec Baldwin) enters the story, he steps out of a taxi dressed in a three-piece suit, briefcase in tow. The audience is left with two understandings of this account, neither of which is necessarily positive for the filmmakers. Option one: Assume the account is representative of reality, and, in doing so, render the entire exposition irrelevant. The second, and arguably more severe option, is to assume the account is imaginative. That, however, negates the remainder of the film.
Such ambiguity pales in comparison, however, to what is perhaps the film’s greatest mistake: A war on puppies. The basis for the entire non-plot is that the world has started to love puppies more than babies. That’s a problem for the capitalist institution Baby Corp., the organization which profits on the production and delivery of babies. Twisted, right?
Apparently that’s not enough. Boss Baby’s entire reason for leaving Baby Corp. is to stop Puppy Co., the company which profits off of puppies, from producing an even more lovable version of the already popular puppy.
Who do these people think they are, comparing the lovability of babies and puppies, arguably equally adorable beings? Perhaps their point is to argue against capitalism. Who’s to say? “The Boss Baby” would hardly be the first piece of media to try to influence the impressionable minds of children.
Those viewers in search of works of dense, cinematic genius will have to keep searching. Those looking for lighthearted entertainment without thought need look no further.
