GOAT Review
Fast paced, engaging and undeniably cool, GOAT is a slam dunk.
Will Harris (Caleb McLaughlin) has always dreamed of playing Roarball, but as a ‘small’ - a smaller animal species - he has never been afforded a chance. With the local team on track for crushing season, despite the presence of all time great Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union) on it, the owner brings in Harris as a wildcard pick. The first small ever to play the game, Will has to fight for his chance to not just be on the court, but to show what he can do - changing the opinions of the crowds and his hero Jett, as well as making his Mom proud.
GOAT is a film for the basketball fans and the young kids keen on sports, hip hop, and fun. It’s an exciting, thrill a minute ride that captures the energy and excitement of an NBA game in every frame.
Telling the story of a ‘small’ taking on ‘bigs’, the film never plays with too much in the way of new or boundary breaking, but it definitely has a tone and edge that feels fresh and new. The language can at times be difficult to understand, rapid fire delivery and endless basketball jargon flying thickly amongst any moment of speech. But ultimately, the structure of the film is so classic for an underdog sports movie its easy to gloss over anything you miss.
Visually, the film is a delight. It’s great to see such a wonderful looking animation, thankfully shirking the current bean mouth trend of Disney Pixar to bring the exciting look of a Spiderverse film here. It’s all the better for it, and there are so many absolutely gorgeous frames that outstrip anything we’ve seen from that rival studio in a decade.
The characters also sing, with a big diverse range of fun personalities. Will Harris is an undeniably likeable hero, but the two standouts for me were Jett Filmmore (and fantastic to have the actual GOAT in this story be female, that felt very fresh), and Modo. Modo was such an out there, balls to the wall character that you just felt like one person on the creative team was absolutely obsessed with making him as weird as possible.
GOAT perhaps ran a little long, with some of the kids in our screening getting up about three quarters of the way through and running around, or starting to make noise, which is usually a sign that it is running a little long for younger attention spans. But it was also a very energetic and fun film, and I think can lay some claim to justifying its runtime given the expansive array of characters and the nuances on display.
By the final buzzer, GOAT settles in as a chest thumping testament to the power of the team, the importance of not underestimating the little guy, and the joy of making animations that actually look good.
