Movie Review: Homeward

Copyright: The Asylum

Knock-off products died out years ago, so a shameless grab of Disney’s Onward is a tremendous surprise. I’m more impressed than anything else that Homeward is a piece of film that a group of individuals came together to make. A clear waste of resources, but perhaps there would be a silver lining. A gem amongst the muck of what this year has to offer to cinema. Homeward is not the answer we were looking for, but I don’t think anybody in their right mind was expecting anything more than a complete disaster.  

Although it’s a knock-off product, there are usually merits to be found within. Whether or not the merits are intentional or not, Homeward has only one thing to offer. It’s a late-night movie, for drunken teens looking for something short and stupid. This film should never see the light of day. Animation from the lowest rung of all, an asset strip that lacks any merit whatsoever. A completely cookie-cutter storyline makes for an excruciatingly dull movie. What did you expect from a film based on Disney’s Onward? If you go into this movie expecting anything whatsoever then you’re a fool. The closeness of the title is merely to fool those who don’t pay enough attention. 

Perhaps the most surprising aspect is that the differences between Onward and Homeward are rather frequent. It rips off the story and characters, but not the plot. I’m still not quite sure what happened, because although it does take aspects of conventional storytelling, on the whole, it just becomes so generic and boring. Animation that makes Foodfight feel like a genuine effort, the one-man show of director and animator Michael Johnson makes me hope that this is his first and last piece of film. He clearly doesn’t know what he’s doing, there are independent films made with no budget whatsoever that have more talent on display.  

Why Tom Green appears in this is beyond me. Between this and Iron Sky 2: The Coming Race, he’s had quite a strange year. But the difference between the two is that Iron Sky 2 has its appeal to small pockets of movie-goers. Homeward is a project that is obviously below everyone involved, but Green sticks out like a sore thumb. If I’m honest, his inclusion in the project is strange, and the prime reason I was so interested in watching this piece of animation. It wasn’t worth it, and for the few scenes he appears it’s a clear phoning in of the predictable and perplexingly poor dialogue.  

Unfortunately for those looking to lose themselves with giddy laughter, Homeward can offer up very little in that department. Never quite making its way into the territory of “so bad it’s good”, Homeward becomes rather boring. According to the credits, the director also animated the entire film on his own, and that there is where the problems become extremely obvious. Homeward has no second within it that would feel enjoyable at all, even watching with a group of friends will truly try the patience of everyone involved.