THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Sometimes, we love animals too much that we don't think about what they want, freedom.
PLOT
Based on the children's book by K.A. Applegate, The One and Only Ivan follows the titular silverback gorilla. He was raised by the human Mack since he was a baby. As he got older, Mack was always forgiving of his animalistic behavior but it cost him the relationship of his wife Helen (Hannah Bourne). Ivan would become a headlining circus attraction to Big Top Mall, bought by his owner. The other circus animals include: the silkie chicken Henrietta (Chaka Khan) who plays tee ball, a white rabbit Murphy (Ron Funches) who plays on a toy fire truck, a sea lion named Frankie (Mike White) who balances a ball, a macaw named Thelma (Phillipa Soo), and the African elephant Stella. Since Ivan lives at the circus/mall with the other animals, Mack has a house pet, a poodle named Snickers (Helen Mirren). The gorilla however has extra company as a stray dog later named Bob who secretly lives in his enclosure. The story starts with the fact that the mall is losing business. However, Mack believes that it will pick up due to purchasing a calf African elephant named Ruby. He depicts her to be the new headliner which makes Ivan jealous. Overtime, he does accept her and encourages her to take the crowd on her own when she's frightened. He even chooses to tell her how Mack had adopted him. Stella eventually becomes ill and before she passes, she has Ivan promise to free Ruby from captivity. As Mack starts training the calf for the circus, it displeases the gorilla and motivates him to break her free. Julia, daughter of the janitor George (Ramon Rodriguez), occasionally visits him and offers him crayons. He does draw and when she shows them to Mack, he attempts to make a new out of it. Despite the hype, Ivan refuses to cooperate. One night, he and Bob trick the guard Costello (Owain Arthur) and free the animals to break out. Mack is alerted and is able to stop them all leaving any further. He does fire Costello for failing to keep the animals together and requests George to keep this secret or they will be shut down. Continuing their stay, Ivan shares his past to Ruby. He used to live in the jungle and was named 'Mud' by his family. Their time together abruptly ended when they were taken by poachers. That would be the last time he would ever see another one of his kind. The following morning, Julia would give Ivan finger paint and he uses it to make a mural around his glass wall, which amazes Mack and the attending audience. Julia thinks he wants to be free and her dad allows her to talk to reporter Candace Taylor (Eleanor Matsuura) about it. The day after that, protestors surround the mall, demanding all the animals to be free. Mack gives in and decides to shut down the circus. As the animals get separated, taken to separate facilities, he is able to say his goodbye to Ivan. The gorilla would be taken to Zoo Atlantic where he would reunite with his kind. The film ends with him noticing Ruby at an elephant enclosure, relieved that he was able to keep his promise. As the credits roll, we see a glimpse of the real Ivan who had been away from the wild for 27 years and his painting led to him living in Zoo Atlanata. We would then see a post credit scene of Ivan being visited by Mack, George, Julia and the newly adopted Bob.
THOUGHTS
In all honesty, this movie almost slipped under my radar as I was clueless of its existence. Since I got Disney+, I was lucky enough to check it out when first released on the said streaming service. I'm not so sure if I ever would see this in theaters had the COVID-19 pandemic wasn't a problem. That doesn't really matter because in the long run, I really enjoyed this movie. Director Thea Sharrock succeeded in making this film as heartwarming as the book was. This movie is heavily implying how animals don't really belong in cages. I am on board with this because while it is amusing to see these creatures, it doesn't feel right. We see a positive message of animal treatment as the animals in this movie were never mistreated, but that doesn't change the main theme. Since I understood this so well, I feel like this movie deserves credit on exploring these ideas and showing how animals are just as much of individuals as we humans are. The visuals that were used are actually not that bad, I gotta accept that not every studio will use real animals at this point in cinema so I appreciate it in the long run. I mean there were scenes where I thought the dogs and birds were real. To keep kids invested, there is a unique voice cast to play the animals. Sam Rockwell was great as the titular character because he was able to display everything that made him as lovable as he was in the book: While he was happy for a long time, he was also stoic and sympathetic, which made him determined to do what he felt that he had to. The fact that he succeeded, it makes you feel as happy as he was. Danny DeVito surprised me a lot with the role of Bob because he pulled off expressing the stray dog's free spirited attitude. It's very iconic how this isn't the first time he voiced a dog, as the last time he did so was in Look Who's Talking Now. I loved Angelina Jolie as Stella because she has a majestic voice and that alone was able to embody the character's wise, soft spoken personality. Brooklyn Prince made Ruby as adorable as she is in person, due to portraying her as adventurous and innocent as possible. While the animals were the best part, that doesn't mean the humans didn't shine. Breakout Ariana Greenblatt was great as Julia because she made her the compassionate and loving to Ivan. You can make the argument that she loved him more than Mack because she had his full attention and knew from the beginning he wanted to be free. The fact that she got his story on the news proves that your voice can be heard no matter how old you are. Bryan Cranston was the only reason I chose to watch this movie once I found out about its existence, and he delivered in his part. The actor succeeds in making Mack one who is devoted to animals for so long, his passion slowly disappears. He is not the villain at all, he is someone that is trying to make ends meet. Letting Ivan go was not easy for him at all because he was the closest thing to raising a child in his case. It was hard not to choke up when he says goodbye because when the two have their heads together, that was the moment he knew it was over. When he visits him in the end, he seems to find relief that he was happy and that mattered to him more than ever once again. I give this movie more credit where it's due but no matter how much I've enjoyed it, there will still stuff that bothered me. Mack makes many mistakes throughout the movie and it's surprises me a lot that it's only one character in this movie to make not bright decisions. First off, why does he expect Costello to get a stray dog out of a gorilla cage when he isn't trained for it? If he wanted Bob out of there so bad, he should've had George do it from the beginning. I also think he should've bought another adult elephant instead of a calf. He had no idea what would happen to Stella but it would've been a way to be prepared for it. And if he was gonna buy a calf like Ruby, he should've trained her from the beginning rather than wait until Stella died. The only other thing that bothered me that wasn't a mistake on Mack's account is Ivan's first drawing. I'm not trying to criticize an animal's drawing but how does Julia knew he drew a beetle? I have paused on that picture so many times and I am as clueless as Bob was because I don't see it. Ignore all of these flaws and I am certain you will enjoy this movie as well as I did. In short, The One and Only Ivan is one of the most heartwarming movies we needed in the crazy year of 2020. If you have Disney+ and love animals, this is the one for you.
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