The One And Only Ivan (2020) Review

So far Disney+ has had few exclusives to its name but today the film The One And Only Ivan came to the streaming service and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a gorilla try and help him and his animal friends to get out of the life of performing and into the wildlife. 

Main Character

Sam Rockwell voices Ivan and I thought he did a really good job here. His voice really complimented the role well, his soft spoken nature for a gorilla really does work in an interesting way. You also care about Ivan and really want him to succeed, he is just really likeable and a nice lead character. 

Supporting Characters

Bryan Cranston plays the person in charge of the show and he is really good here too. It would have been really easy to portray him as a pure villain but the film does a better job with that and he is actually quite likeable, despite the fact he is clearly taking advantage of the animals you can tell he does care about them and the film does a good job in portraying that. The film also has some great actors in voice roles such as Angelina Jolie, Danny Devito & Helen Mirren which adds to the legitimacy of the film and they all do good in their roles. 

Story

The story has some good emotion to it, you care about these animals and want to see them happy. Though this film does something really clever, most films to do with animal captivity make the one in charge an evil brute of a man but this film doesn't do that and adds more character to Cranston which makes this feel a more interesting story. Though this film doesn't always convey that well, it seems a bit rushed, I am not sure if that is just to do with the length of the film but Ivan changes his motivations incredibly quickly without much explanation. 

Script

The script has some okay emotional moments and humour, I think it is mostly made better due to the quality of actors involved. It does some interesting things with the drama but mostly it feels like your typical Disney script that doesn't go as far as it could and a little bit of childish humour for the kids who watch this film.

Style

The style of the animals is very good, Ivan himself looks fantastic and really fits the screen incredibly well. But this film struggles due to its length, with it only being 90 mins long it rushes certain aspects of the plot and even wastes a few of the characters in terms of development. 

Overall

Overall, I liked this film. I think this is an easy watch and good for families to watch, not one to rush to see but it is one I think people will enjoy. 

Rating - 7/10