Animal Farm is a well-known book, for both adults and high schoolers who have had to read it for their English curriculum. Some expected the new film to have a modern take on tyranny, while others feared it would be a Hollywood film that might take away from the book’s original meaning and purpose.
Animal Farm, released on May 1 and directed by Andy Serkis, is a modern version of the book Animal Farm, by George Orwell, published in 1945. Serkis made this film to translate the old book to be better understood by the new generation.
The piglet, Lucky (Gaten Matarazzo), is considered the prodigy of the group since he is literate, unlike the other animals. Snowball (Laverne Cox), another pig, helped prevent the animals from being sent to the slaughterhouse and was the one who established Animal Farm. They go against the pig who acted as their leader, Napoleon(Seth Rogen), since he was trying to sell the animals off for money.
The idea of animalism (communism) is commonly brought up in both the film and the book, and in the animal’s seven commandments; however, the film portrayed it in a way different from the book, which I did not like.
In the book, the idea of animalism was to avoid a dictatorship, while in the movie, it was to go against corporate greed. Both concepts were shown in the movie and book, but it was clear that the book was more focused on the aspect of dictatorship than the movie.
The book also better shows the political warnings that Orwell was trying to explain. It shows a more totalitarian-based society where there is no way for the animals to get out.
While in the movie, the animals were not shown as being trapped. A piglet, Lucky (Gaten Matarazzo), was able to stand up for the animals in the movie, while in the book, there was no Lucky at all, making it hard to go against their dictator, Napoleon (who represents dictator Joseph Stalin).
The movie focused on how even the younger generation can break an unjust cycle, the same way the piglet, Lucky, did. Although this is an important message, many critics believe it takes away the anti-Stalinist message that Orwell was trying to spread.
I believe the production of this film is great, but I definitely enjoyed reading the book more. In my opinion, the movie is way too modernized, so I would not personally recommend watching this film if you have already read the book.
