GOAT, a movie directed by Tyree Dillihay and produced by Sony Pictures Animation, the studio behind Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and the artists who made K-Pop Demon Hunters, was released on February 13.
GOAT takes place in a world filled with humanoid animals. The plot follows the protagonist, a goat named Will Harris (voiced by Caleb McLaughlin), who strives to become the greatest of all time at a sport similar to basketball, called Roarball, which is dominated by the biggest, fastest, and most vicious animals. Harris is a tiny goat, and all the odds seem stacked against him. His teammates (and even the one he idolizes the most) doubt him, but he wants to prove to everyone that he can become the GOAT.
At Cypress High, the film also received varied reviews. Sophomore Jonathan Nguyen said the movie was fine, but a bit tacky, with him feeling the animation quality has gone down compared to the other films produced by Sony, “Not sure if it’s just my expectations, but I feel like the animation quality has gone down compared to their older movies.” Nguyen thought that the overall theme of the movie was well-expressed, but he disliked the pacing of the film. His favorite scene of the movie was when the main character flew through the air, finishing with a slam dunk.
Student Damian Brambila thoroughly enjoyed GOAT, saying it was fun to watch. Brambila liked the film’s colors and action and had no negative feedback. His favorite scene from the movie was when the main character made the final shot to win in the finale. To him, the animation quality was beautiful. “I enjoyed how it would go from a calm and smooth scene to a really fast, action-packed one,” Brambila says.
On its opening day, the movie grossed $7.1 million and is expected to make $20-25 million during its opening weekend. Despite these earnings, many critics have mixed reviews about the film. Some say that GOAT is a uniquely animated movie with a fun, underdog plot, others see it as just another generic sports movie with a lazy and overdone plot.
