SPOILER-FREE PLOT SUMMARY
In a world where the biggest and tallest animals play roarball — a fantasized take on basketball — a young goat named Will Harris (voiced by Caleb McLaughlin) wants to be like his favorite player, Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union). The legend is nearing the end of her career and really wants to win a championship before she hangs it up. She begs the team owner, Flo (Jenifer Lewis), to do whatever it takes to turn the Vineland Thorns into a playoff team. Needing to fill the last open roster spot anyway, Flo sees a viral video of Will “breaking the ankles” of roarball MVP Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre) in the local park. The owner shows up at the diner Will works at to offer him a contract, something he’s waited his whole life for. He’s so excited for this moment — and shocked it’s even real — that he doesn’t bother looking at the terms of the contract and signs on the spot. Will becomes the first “small” animal to play professional roarball and is constantly reminded of that fact, the same way Jett is constantly reminded that she’s not getting any younger. All he wants is playing time, all Jett wants is to go out on top and all the team wants is to come together as an actual team. Everyone must pull together if they’re going to make the impossible run come true.
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
The brainchild of future first-ballot Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Steph Curry, GOAT is a run-of-the-mill, feel-good family movie for adult viewers. For kids, however, it could easily be the first movie they consider their all-time favorite.
The story is cute, the message is good, animals are always a winner and the relatability of sport is the perfect framework to connect with the audience. Add a star-studded voice cast as well as the promotional hype machine of one of the best basketball players ever to take the court and it’s no surprise that GOAT works.
But, at it’s core, we’ve seen all of this before. A small (literally) underdog goes up against much bigger and much stronger opponents, faces seemingly insurmountable odds and, thanks to the support of those close to them, prevails. RUDY, ROCKY, THE MIGHTY DUCKS, HOOSIERS, MIRACLE, THE KARATE KID, yada yada yada. All of those movies are cut from the same cloth and all of those movies — especially when watched at a specific time in a person’s life — are listed among favorites. GOAT is simply the latest addition to that list.
What it does deserve credit for, however, is the animation style. Taken straight out of the SPIDER-VERSE and KPOP DEMON HUNTERS playbook, Sony goes back to the well for GOAT. It keeps things visually interesting and engaging for the audience, even if it is unfortunately shot in that ADHD-style of filmmaking that’s grown ever more popular in Hollywood over the past decade or so.
If you have a young athlete in your family, this is must-see as it has the potential to make a lasting impression and a lifelong memory for them. If you don’t, but love sports, it’s still a worthy watch but waiting for streaming is more than acceptable here. Removing all the noise and just thinking about it as a film, it’s pretty cookie-cutter. It does a lot of nice things (animation style, inclusiveness, a handful of funny lines, imagination, etc.) but there’s really nothing special about it. Essentially, it’s a slightly above-average movie that will be this generation’s MIGHTY DUCKS.
JKG SCORE: 6.0
Untitled Film Project 