The Emoji Movie (2017)

The Emoji Movie Poster

Gene, a multi-expressional emoji, sets out on a journey to become a normal emoji.

Intro to "The Emoji Movie"
"The Emoji Movie" is a 2017 animated comedy film directed by Tony Leondis, who co-wrote the movie script with Eric Siegel and Mike White. The motion picture was produced by Sony Pictures Animation and was released on July 28, 2017. Though it dealt with wide important derision, being berated for its plot and viewed lack of creativity, it offers an attempt to take advantage of the digital zeitgeist of the 2010s by bringing to life the emoticons used in daily texting and social media.

Plot and Setting
The story of "The Emoji Movie" unfolds within the digital city of Textopolis, a busy world inside the smart device of a teen named Alex. Textopolis is populated by emojis, who live in the hope of being selected by the phone's owner. Each emoji has only one facial expression, other than for Gene, a multi-expressional emoji who is capable of making several faces. Gene is supposed to be a 'meh' emoji like his parents, but his capability to make more than one expression causes him stress and anxiety as he makes every effort to be "normal".

Throughout his first day on the job in the text app, Gene stresses and inadvertently sends a complicated emoji to Alex's crush, which prompts Alex to consider wiping his phone. Suddenly, Gene becomes a breakdown that needs to be erased, so he starts an adventure to become a regular emoji. Together with the savvy, codebreaker emoji called Jailbreak and the once-popular, hand emoji Hi-5, Gene goes out on an app-venture to find the code that will fix him.

Main Characters and Themes
The film includes the vocal skills of T.J. Miller as Gene, James Corden as Hi-5, and Anna Faris as Jailbreak. Other significant characters consist of Smiler, the seemingly friendly however in fact antagonistic emoji played by Maya Rudolph, and Alex, the teen who owns the phone, played by Jake T. Austin.

One theme of "The Emoji Movie" is self-acceptance, highlighted through Gene's journey of embracing his individuality rather of conforming to resemble other emojis. There's also an underlying commentary on the over-dependence on smart devices and the public opinions of digital interaction, as seen in the experiences of both emoji and human characters.

Critical Reception and Impact
The film got widespread unfavorable evaluations, with criticism aimed at its perceived lack of creativity and originality. It was identified by some as a crass effort to cash in on the appeal of emojis in modern culture. Regardless of the crucial panning, "The Emoji Movie" earned approximately $217 million around the world against a $50 million budget plan.

In spite of its bad crucial reception, "The Emoji Movie" has actually had a place in pop culture as a regularly cited example of a film thought about to be overtly business or a low point in animation. Among its distinctions, it received 4 Razzie Awards, including Worst Picture, in 2018.

Conclusion and Legacy
"The Emoji Movie" attempts to weave a story of experience and moral lessons within the confines of a digital world that parallels our smartphone-dependent reality. While it was financially successful, the film's tradition is undoubtedly stained by the overwhelmingly unfavorable action from critics and audiences alike. It incarnates the risks intrinsic in constructing a film around a popular digital trend, and its reception serves as a lesson in the difficulties of translating modern digital culture into engaging cinematic stories. Despite its ambitions, "The Emoji Movie" ultimately functions as cautionary tale about the obstacles of adapting certain aspects of pop culture into other mediums.

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