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Years of slinging feathered creatures at rickety pigpens doesn't feel like as much of a time-waster as the 90-plus minutes spent watching "The Angry Birds Movie," an aggravating animated comedy based on the popular smartphone game.
On Bird Island, all the birds live in blissful harmony, believing they are the only creatures in the world. The exception to this happy land is Red (voiced by Jason Sudeikis), a short-tempered fowl who's sentenced to anger management courses, where he meets the motormouthed Chuck (voiced by Josh Gad) and the explosion-prone Bomb (voiced by Danny McBride). When a ship of party-hearty pigs, led by Leonard (voiced by Jason Sudeikis), arrives at Bird Island, Red suspects the green porkers are hiding a sinister motive, but no one believes him until it's too late.
Directors Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly take forever getting to what the movie promises — birds being fired by slingshot at pigs, as in the game — and load up the first hour with inane filler. There are a few laughs (like Peter Dinklage's funny turn as the voice of a legendary eagle), but mostly parents will be wincing at the crude humor, such as the introduction to their kids' vocabulary of "plucking" as an adjective.
'The Angry Birds Movie'
Opening Friday, May 20, at theaters everywhere; rated PG for rude humor and action; 97 minutes.