We Bought a Zoo but not the Critics

            I think what drew me to We Bought a Zoo is, sadly, the fact that it had Matt Damon in it. I mean I also got a kick out of the trailer for the movie, but a bit of me just wanted to see Matt Damon in another movie. Of course I was not disappointed at all by this film. It’s just a happy, feel good film all around.

            We Bought a Zoo is based on real life events that happened back in 2006. Benjamin Mee, Matt Damon, loses his wife to sickness and decides that it is time for a change of scenery. So after a long day of house hunting he comes across the one he loves, but there’s a catch that comes with it. It’s a zoo. So even though common sense, along with his brother, is telling him to keep looking he decides to take on the challenges that come with owning this house.

            Let me start by saying that this was not a bad movie, which is basically what all the critics said. That is the best praise about the movie as a whole that the critics seem to be saying. No one gave it a bad review (Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 66%, IMDb gave it 7.1/10, and Metacritic gave it a 58%) but the reviews weren’t great either. The common complaint is that the movie is long and slow and I can sort of get that. But, when you watch the movie you see that everything they had in it they needed for the story. All those little details on the side really helped show just what they were going through as a family to do this. Another complaint I found was that Rosie Mee (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), Benjamin Mee’s daughter, was too annoying and too cute. Umm since when has this been something to complain about? This is a child actress playing a child, even real life children can be annoying and too cute sometimes. That should just be considered a complament to her in the end, because she did such a good job pretending to be this character that people hate her for it. The last complaint I’d like to address is the one that says there is way too much swearing in this movie. Now before I just recently watched We Bought a Zoo, after reading that, I never noticed the swearing really. There is one big argument that happens where there are a few four letter words exchanged and you can’t help but notice them but other than that it seems to keep well within the confines of its PG rating. A lot of the people that saw this movie and complained about the swearing probably assumed that PG meant any age can see this without problem, however if we look at the rating system it shows that with a PG film parents should use “parental guidance” and it may contain some material that parents might not like for their younger children. So let this movie be the warning, check the box (http://www.filmratings.com/). With all the complaints out of the way allow us now to move on. The story of this movie was very accurate to the actual event it was based on, except of course with one minor detail, the real zoo is in the UK. But that is kind of minor considering that no one watching the movie noticed. Heck even I thought I could go check out this zoo the next time I was in California. But it still doesn’t matter, because the story tells the same way, whether it’s in England or California. The actors really fell into their roles and you could almost believe that they, themselves, had gone through this whole ordeal. So basically what I’m getting at now is that you need to give this movie a chance and watch it for what it is. Sadly, Matt Damon does not kick anyone’s butt in this movie but he sure does get you, the viewer, in the gut in the end.

To see if this movie is for you click this link to check out the preview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STXvAhrVP0U
Also come back for my next review. Here's something to wet your appetite https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbP5MbzZ_VI

Now I bet you think you know what I'm going to say here, don't you? You think I'm going to tell you to sign up for e-mail notifications about my blog, but you're wrong. I was just going to tell you to eat your veggies. They're good for you after all.