GOAT Review: Cute… But Very Far From The Greatest Of All Time

To the great credit of director Tyree Dillihay’s GOAT, the film opens with a dynamic that I’ve never seen portrayed before in any film. Set a decade before the main narrative, the prologue sees its protagonist as a young kid – pun most definitely intended – brought to an arena where his idol is getting set to play: the female star Jett Fillmore (voiced by Gabrielle Union). In our world, professional sports are bifurcated based on gender, and cinema traditionally maintains that split in reflecting fanhood, but that depicted segregation doesn’t really match reality, and the fact that the new animated movie shows that upfront is unique and instantly refreshing.

What’s unfortunate is that energy proves to be extremely temporary. GOAT begins by upending gender norms and introducing a world where animals compete in a wild sport called roarball… but that sport ends up basically being basketball played on wild terrains, and the story doesn’t really aspire to much more than being a classic underdog tale (though I suppose I should note that there aren’t any dogs). The animation is splashy in both style and design, and there’s enough humor and action to satisfy audiences of all ages, but it’s a film that’s hard to really love because so much of it is too familiar.

It’s a narrative every fan of sports movies has seen; the details are different, but the core elements are all there. Will Harris (Caleb McLaughlin) is a young goat who is a skilled athlete dreams of playing professional roarball, but his dreams are always dismissed because he is one of society’s “small” animals and can’t compete with the larger species. His aspirations also don’t pay his rent, and things go from bad to worse when he loses all of his money he has betting on himself in a one-on-one street game with visiting roarball superstar Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre).

Will loses, but he does manage to score a couple points, and when video of his performance goes viral, it gets the attention of Florence "Flo" Everson (Jenifer Lewis), the owner of the local Vineland Thorns. Flo, looking to sell the team, is regularly criticized by Jett Fillmore, considered to be the best player in the league, for not giving her enough support on the court, and Will is signed as a publicity stunt in response. While Jett battles her own ego while still trying to lead her team to a championship, Will does what he can to earn the respect of his idol and prove that he belongs.

As a sports movie, GOAT is way too familiar.

If that reads like an amalgamation of a dozen sports movies you’ve seen over the last 40-plus years with a splash of Zootopia energy, you understand pretty much everything that GOAT has to offer without even seeing a single frame – and you can probably make several accurate guesses about the various narrative developments in the second and third acts. Obviously younger audiences, a.k.a. the biggest targeted demographic with the movie, won’t recognize all of the cinematic echoes that the film is harnessing for its story, but parents, guardians, and the plenty of adult fans of animation won’t find much to latch on to or appreciate beyond aesthetics.

There are open doors to try something new, but opportunities whizz by. The most obvious of these is the creation of roarball: I get that the movie specifically wants to attract basketball fans (Steph Curry is part of the cast and a producer, and there are a number of voice cameos from other NBA stars), but it’s a bummer that the filmmakers didn’t consider going the extra mile creatively in creating the original game beyond the aforementioned wild terrains. The supporting cast is another arena that could offer something new, but the movie is weirdly firm in doling out only one character trait each for everyone – with Will’s teammates on the Thorns including stressed rhino dad Archie (David Harbour), the confidence-lacking ostrich Olivia (Nicola Coughlan), a rap-loving giraffe Lenny (Curry) and the wild and weird Komodo dragon Modo (Nick Kroll).

GOAT does have something positive to say, albeit entirely explored via cliches.

To the film’s credit, these characters are used effectively in sharing what is a collection of positive messages. GOAT stresses the value of teamwork, the wonderful award of pursuing your passions, and the power of not letting others define your limitations. These morals are clear and well-established throughout the story… but the sheer number of tropes that carry them through do have an impact on the emotion in the delivery: you respect the movie for what it has to say without ever really feeling swept away by it, and it keeps it locked in “good, not great” territory.

The animation style provides the energy that the story lacks.

Cliches slow the movie down, but Tyree Dillihay, making his feature directorial debut after spending most of his career in television, keeps the work amped up with energy via bold style. The world isn’t as rich in detail as what audiences find in the Zootopia films (it can be noted that the release date proximity to Zootopia 2 doesn’t do GOAT a ton of favors), but there is a fun exploration of a society with animals that come in all shapes and sizes. And while roarball is far from a unique sport, game sequences are bold and exciting, from the ankle-breaking action of one-on-one streetball to characters getting posterized in the pro league.

In a modern pop culture landscape that offers a lot of animated films with impressive complexity and deep emotion, GOAT is best approached with mild expectations: it’s not a movie that does anything badly, but it’s also not a movie that strives to do anything particularly exceptional. The acronym/pun that is the title is ironic in that sense, as it’s not a work that seems to strive to really be “the greatest of all time,” but it’s a satisfying enough diversion that should get plenty of love from its young, core audience.