A willing suspension of disbelief (and a high tolerance for fart humor) comes with the territory. Humans conversing with upright anthropomorphic animals or creatures clad in civilian garb? No problem. Hell, I’ll even buy the Flintstones celebrating Christmas before Christ. But you will never convince me that a shark and piranha can peacefully coexist out of water let alone pilot an automobile. If nuances such as this stick out, it’s simply because first time director Pierre Perifel tends to pay more attention to dialog (note the Tarantino-esque diner discussion that opens the show) than he does the antigravitational ethos that go into making a cartoon. The endless chase scenes occasionally slow down long enough to elicit a titter — Shark in drag feigning pregnancy and breaking water to distract a crowd’s attention is a highlight. The fuzzy, garishly-lit backgrounds lighting is forever at odds with the hard-edged character design making it rough on the eyes. This might have been tolerable had the character design not been hewn from the same cookie-cutter. Per usual, the term Dreamworks Animation is an oxymoron. Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, and Anthony Ramos voice the leads. (2022) — Scott Marks
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