“Spider-Man: A New Universe” was a real game changer for animated films: This can be seen not only in the fact that the Sony title won the Oscar for Best Animated Film in 2019 and was even able to outdo the supposed over-competitors Pixar (“The Incredibles 2”) and Disney (“Ralph Enough 2”). In the years that followed, the other major animation studios also noticeably oriented themselves towards the comic-like, flat look and the deliberately less fluid animations of the “Spider-Verse” in films such as the Disney anniversary celebration “Wish” and the “Shrek” spin-off “Puss in Boots 2”.
Sony itself has also remained true to the style-defining visual flair – from “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” to “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse”. And so the sports animation film “GOAT – Want to make big leaps” comes unsurprisingly in the “Spider-Verse” style. But there are clear models not only visually, but also thematically: there are parallels to the animal metropolis from “Zoomania” and the crazy basketball variant from “Space Jam”. However, that's not a criticism, because the mix works: “GOAT” is visually great, wonderfully over-the-top and extremely entertaining for long stretches!
Goat Will trains for his dream of becoming a Roarball star.
Ever since he was a little kid, Billy Goat Will Harris (voice: Caleb McLaughlin) has dreamed of playing for the Vineland Thorns, the Roarball team in his jungle-filled hometown of Vineland. The squad, led by veteran Panther player Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union), has never won the coveted Claw Roarball trophy, but that doesn't bother Will and most of the other animals in Vineland.
When Will ridicules superstar stud Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre) from rival team Lava Court Magmas at the local Roarball training ground, a video of it goes viral. As a result, he receives a contract from Thorns team owner Florence Everson (Jenifer Lewis), who is under pressure because of the series of defeats, and believes he has already reached the goal of his dreams. But can Will, who is talented but far too small for the physically demanding sport, actually assert himself as a professional? And will it be possible to form a real team again from the discouraged Thorns team around Jett, who are initially not at all enthusiastic about the new addition?
Well-known dramaturgy, unique style
Anyone who has already seen a handful or more sports films will have a very good idea of how the film ends – including the obstacles that arise in between, which disappear a little too easily. But a certain degree of predictability is simply part of the genre – and fortunately it doesn't change the great entertainment value of “GOAT”. Because even if the authors Aaron Buchsbaum and Teddy Riley – based on the children's book “Funky Dunks” – clearly follow the role models, director Tyree Dillihay (“Bob's Burgers”) always gives the event a very own spin that doesn't just copy the “Spider-Verse”.
Vineland, populated by anthropomorphic animals, is basically reminiscent of “Zoomania”, but the overgrown, run-down jungle metropolis looks more like the abandoned cities from post-apocalyptic films such as “The Last Of Us”. The only difference is that Vineland is extremely lively – a truly unique aesthetic! And later we see that for teams in other climate zones, stalactites fall from the ceiling or the playing field breaks into ice floes. There is also a lot of variety in the Roarball games.
“GOAT – Want to make big jumps” has a lot of visual flair.
In addition, Dillihay and Co. take the game of animal size differences known from “Zoomania” to the extreme. Similar to rabbit cop Judy Hopps, Will is (supposedly) too small for his dream job, which is further emphasized by camera angles, the constant use of the distorting fish-eye effect and collisions in super slow motion. The over-the-top visual style also benefits the film's humor. For the most part, “GOAT” is really very funny, for example when Panther Jett listens to pop ballads to switch off, the lyrics of which only consist of meowing…
… or the twins of Will's rhino teammate Archie (David Harbour) play a really bad prank on the proboscis monkey coach Dennis (Patton Oswalt). And Komodo dragon player Modo (Nick Kroll) steals every scene, whether he's throwing his freshly shed skin into the audience instead of a jersey – or doing a truly insane dance with a Fabergé egg.
Komodo dragon Modo delivers some of the biggest laughs in the film.
With its omnipresent animal puns, the film as a whole goes way over the mark – and so, to stay in tune, it doesn't get away completely unscathed. Following the example of the German subtitle “Bock auf great Leaps”, the audience is constantly being hit with sayings ranging from “in the turn of a hoof” to “that has paws and feet” to “I just know what everyone is thinking”, but this wears off pretty quickly.
And the less said about the very offensive product placement (and not just for Sony products) and the sometimes embarrassing attempts to portray German youth language, the better. (K) A good idea for a drinking game: a shot every time someone in the film says the youth word 2025 (namely “das crazy”).
Conclusion: Better to steal a good thing than to make a bad one yourself! The role models of “GOAT – Want to make big leaps” are clearly recognizable, but thanks to the high gag hit rate and its very own visual flair, the film is still a lot of fun.
PS: Unfortunately, I couldn't take my daughter with me as planned, but the children present at the press screening of “GOAT – Want to make big leaps” always laughed loudest when it came to memes and Internet videos – and there was applause at the end.