Goat

Sony's latest animated movie, using a similar style as seen in the Spider-Man films and KPop Demon Hunters, brings to life the expression 'GOAT', or Greatest of All Time, for a story about a goat who dreams of becoming a basketball player. Not directly affiliated with the NBA, this is nevertheless the equivalent of the F1 movie for basketball fans, but especially aimed at younger audiences also dreaming of becoming great basketball stars in the future (or whatever they dream of)... and are more used to the hyperactive and overstimulating style of storytelling of the TikTok generation, with constant visual gags popping out of the screen, loud noises, and screams.

The script basically writes itself: a kid (pun, intended) dreams of becoming a basketball star after watching a game with his mother, who urges him to dream big. When he grows up, struggling to make a living, he realises that fulfilling one's dreams isn't as easy as it sounds, especially with factors that escape our control... like the fact that he is a goat, and in this universe every basketball star is a bigger animal: rhinos, buffalos, giraffes, bears, pumas...

Eventually, an opportunity arises for the young goat, voiced by Stranger Things' Caleb McLaughlin, to prove himself. The story develops in the most predictable ways, with some forced plot points and not much depth for any of the side characters, but one thing the script really nails is understanding the power that sports have not only on those who practice them (teamwork, fulfilling one's goals and all of that), but also the effects of sports on a collective level. The communities that are built around a local team, the unity and feeling of belonging to a shared identity, the bonds created between fans that stick together regardless of the sporting results, and how sometimes all we need to overcome our obstacles is the support of others.

Visually, the film is stunning, as we have come to expect from Sony Pictures Imageworks. It features the same style of mixing 3D animation with a traditional 2D feel, but the good thing is that it doesn't feel like a copy of Spider-Man, The Bad Guys, or KPop Demon Hunters, but stands on its own: it's a bit less flat and smoother than other similar movies, which sometimes feel too stylish for their own good and are exhausting to watch.

The designs are also excellent. We have had too many modern, futuristic, and pristine cities populated with anthropomorphic animals, and sometimes it's hard to differentiate The Bad Guys from Zootopia. Goat's human-like cities, instead, are completely eaten by nature and vegetation everywhere, almost looking like abandoned, post apocalyptic cities... but it makes sense, because they're animals, after all.

The basketball games are a particular highlight: thankfully, the movie is not directly affiliated with the NBA, so they have more freedom to go nuts with fantasy courts that would fit right at home in a Mario Basketball game (we haven't had any of those in a few years, what's going on Nintendo?), with courts filled with vines, melting ice, and lava rivers.

The only (but noticeable) stain on the fantastic visual design is the egregious product placement of a car brand I'd rather not say, with close ups of photoreal cars looking completely out of place... and of course, being a Sony movie, there are PlayStation 5 (Slim model) consoles everywhere.

Overall, Goat is not a revolutionary film by any means, and it's far from Sony Animation's more audacious and ingenious films. But it's a solid and stylistically very original retelling of a classic underdog story, which has been told hundreds of times, exactly the kind of narrative every sport fan loves, and the kind of story that inspires us, with the film also wisely putting the focus on the power that sports have in a local community: more than a team to support, a family to belong.

It would have been brilliant if that aspect was explored with a little more depth, instead of rushing a very undercooked third-act plot twist that also feels incongruous. But Goat always remains entertaining, charming, funny (if perhaps a bit tiresome with the accumulation of gags and Gen Alpha references), and visually gorgeous. Younger audiences, especially those fans of basketball, will probably leave the theatre in awe and inspired, and that's the most important thing for a movie like this.