THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE
These birds can’t fly but can sure get angry.
Should You Watch It?
The Angry Birds Movie is a colorful, funny animated comedy with some genuinely touching moments. Its strongest message is positive: anger can be destructive when it grows from selfish frustration or pride, but it can be rightly expressed when defending a loved one or responding to grave injustice.
The movie also explores sadness beneath anger, along with the dangers of adulation and materialism. Those themes give the simple story more moral depth than its video-game origins might suggest.
Still, the humor includes toilet jokes, rude comments, innuendo, and some rude language. The cartoon action is frenetic and often destructive. The practical answer is simple: older children and adults may enjoy it, while parents should use discernment for younger children.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESRed is an angry, shunned bird living among a colorful community of flightless birds on a remote island. After his temper gets him sentenced to anger management class, Red meets other birds struggling with anger.
When green “piggies” arrive from a neighboring island promising friendship, fun, and prosperity, the other birds welcome them. Red suspects the visitors have another agenda and tries to warn the community before the celebration becomes a fight for survival.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means a colorful, entertaining film with real strengths and some clear limitations. The animation is smooth, state of the art, and very colorful. The actors’ voices are well suited to their characters, and the movie contains several funny moments and a few tender ones.
The story is uncomplicated but has enough plot elements and twists to sustain interest across its 97-minute running time. Its satisfying moral themes add depth. The 3D, however, is overrated, and the destructive action can become frenetic.
The Worldview
The film’s primary message is that anger should not control us. Red’s anger grows from deep sadness after being shunned because he was an orphan with no parents. The story presents self-control, getting along with others, protecting innocent life, and standing against grave injustice as moral goods.
The movie also warns against adulation and materialism. The birds’ desire for praise and new gadgets makes them vulnerable to deception. Parenthood and protecting the helpless are treated positively, and the film resolves both major themes in a morally inspiring way.
The worldview is not explicitly Christian. The island’s only “Supreme Being” is Mighty Eagle, who is as flawed and moral as the other birds. The anger-management leader seems devoted to Eastern mysticism, while a student mentions being in a Zen-like state; the film treats this content partly as a joke.
The film recognizes that anger can be wrong and that injustice may rightly provoke action. Scripture similarly urges self-control: “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong moral worldview extolling parenthood, appropriate self-control, not letting your anger get the best of you but letting your anger express itself when you come across a grave injustice, getting along with other people, and protecting innocent life, marred by some rude comedy and undeserved hero worship, plus the leader of an anger management class seems to be a devotee of Eastern mysticism and one of her students mentions being in a Zen-like state but this content is also treated like a bit of a joke; a character several times says what sounds like “Oh my Gosh” or “Oh my God” (it’s hard to tell, though the last time it definitely sounds like “Oh my God”), plus several uses of the word “butt” and a large eagle character is shown urinating in a lake with the urine stream clearly depicted for many seconds; although no character dies, there’s a lot of destructive cartoon violence such as angry bird kicks an annoying small bird, angry bird smashes cake into face of another bird, much property is destroyed, explosions, characters fall, and characters launch themselves against the enemy as flying missiles, which results in massive, but instantly self-healing, injuries; some innuendo includes bird jokes that the anger management class is a vehicle for finding sex, a reference to female breasts, and a character says the female birds better “get busy” making more eggs after a bunch of pigs steals all the unhatched eggs from all the birds in a bird village; no nudity but a bird character mentions that all the pig character are naked with no clothes; no alcohol; no smoking or drugs; and, lying, deception and theft.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Red’s anger grows from sadness and rejection. How can understanding someone’s hurt change the way we respond to their anger?
James 1:19–20 · Ephesians 4:31–32The birds are drawn to praise, celebration, and new gadgets. When can admiration or possessions begin to control us?
Matthew 6:19–21 · 1 John 2:15–16The film says anger may be rightly expressed when a grave injustice occurs. How can we oppose wrong while still practicing self-control?
Micah 6:8 · Ephesians 4:26–27The birds must protect innocent life and care about their families. What does Scripture teach about defending and caring for those who are vulnerable?
Proverbs 31:8–9 · James 1:27The Final Word
The Angry Birds Movie offers bright animation, well-matched voices, funny moments, and a strong moral message about anger and protecting others. Its rude humor, innuendo, and destructive cartoon violence call for discernment. For older children and adults, it is WORTH THE TRIP — OLDER CHILDREN AND ADULTS.
