Co-writer and director Andy Serkis took Animal Farm, one of the totems of classic literature, and woke-warped it into something unrecognizable.
George Orwell’s 1945 novella Animal Farm is a scathing reenactment of the 1917 Russian Revolution brilliantly told through talking farm animals.
Overworked animals on Manor Farm overthrow the humans and put two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, in charge of ensuring everyone is equal. Eventually, just like the Soviet Communists, violence and terror are used to enforce equality as the pigs enjoy all the luxuries and privileges that come with running a communist system.
In 92 pages, Orwell eviscerates and exposes the horrors of “equality,” which is, of course, the ludicrous promise of all leftist authoritarians; the dreaded collective where individualism — including individual achievement, ambition, and desire — is crushed under a jackboot of violence, hunger, and poverty.
Well, Andy Serkis felt he could do better. Have you ever heard such arrogance:
Serkis approached the adaptation by asking himself what Orwell would write about if he wrote “Animal Farm” today. He didn’t want it to be a story about Stalinist Russia. Instead, he gravitated toward themes of capitalism, wealth, and overconsumption. The billionaire antagonist, Pilkington (Glenn Close), drives what closely resembles a Cybertruck.
Did you note the Elon Musk reference?
In addition to fart jokes, Serkis tacked on this ending….
“Animal Farm,” classically, is a story without a happy ending. But Serkis’ interpretation gives viewers closure. The film adds an entirely new third act: Lucky has a change of heart and apologizes, the animals take down Napoleon and the evil capitalistic Pilkington. Lucky tells the cautionary tale for a new generation.
If you’re wondering about the anti-Trump angle, Serkis attended the movie’s premiere wearing a red “Make Animal Farm Fiction Again” hat.
Well, I have good news… Like everything woke, Animal Farm looks like another humiliating flop.
Despite the star power and voice work of Seth Rogen, Glenn Close, Kieran Culkin, Steve Buscemi, and Woody Harrelson, this $35 million movie is expected to open somewhere between — lol — $2.5 million and $7 million. Keep in mind that on top of that $35 million production budget, you can add another $25 million for promotion. That puts the total Animal Farm bill at right around $60 million. The accepted formula is that a movie must gross double its production and advertising costs to break even, and Animal Farm will not get anywhere near $120 million.
How bad is Animal Farm?
Well, it must be pretty bad. As I’ve said many times before, you know a movie sucks when it holds the “correct” politics and still gets hammered by critics.
Despite being anti-free market and anti-Trump, Animal Farm earned a pathetic 23 percent rotten at Rotten Tomatoes.
I can guarantee you that watching this movie flop will be more entertaining than the movie itself.
Hollywood hates us. Please feel free to hate them back.