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Do you know how much easier headlines for reviews of The Sheep Detectives<\/a> would have been if the movie was baaaad? Instead, it is good, and that doesn\u2019t sound like a sheep\u2019s bah at all. Vulture\u2019s Alison Willmore says the film \u201chas no business being as good as it is, or being the kind of movie you can imagine living forever in young memories as something both lightly scarring and delightful.\u201d Lightly scarring makes sense to describe a kids movie written by the creator of Chernobyl<\/a> and the most heartstring-tugging standalone episode of television in a decade<\/a>.<\/p>\n Of particular note is director Kyle Balda (Minions, Minions: the Rise of Gru) turning from CGI to live-action. Or at least a 50\/50 split. The titular sheep detectives are animated as much as any minion. But the sheep are given weight, both physically and emotionally, within the film. Here\u2019s what critics are saying (bleating?) about The Sheep Detectives.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason the sheep are capable of conveying emotionally resonant experiences is because there\u2019s a tangibility to them onscreen that\u2019s not just about design but to how well they fit within the movie\u2019s slightly heightened reality \u2014 creatures that have rich inner lives but that, to the humans, are basically part of the background. Like children, they pick up much more than anyone expects them to, even if they don\u2019t understand it all in the moment.\u201d \u2014 Alison Willmore, Vulture<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAlternating a mellow storybook tone in the story\u2019s sheep-centered sections with jaunty Britcom-style humor whenever the focus shifts to human goings-on, the result comes about as close as any adaptation could to being all things to all creatures great and small.\u201d \u2014 Guy Lodge, Variety<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe Sheep Detectives brims with charm, wit, and a twisty murder mystery that can only be solved by the most endearing set of farm animals since Farmer Hoggett said \u2018That\u2019ll do\u2019 to Babe the pig. This film has a similar combination of idyllic country settings, an assortment of vivid characters, and meaningful stakes. Also like Babe, it is genuinely for all ages (except for the youngest children\u2014it is a story about a murder and acknowledges where meat comes from). It is accessible enough for younger viewers without condescending to them, yet complex enough to engage an adult audience.\u201d \u2014 Neil Minow, RogerEbert.com<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe great feelgood trick pulled off by this film is that the murder, involving a character we\u2019ve been encouraged to like and invest in emotionally \u2013 much more so than in traditional detective stories \u2013 doesn\u2019t get swamped with sadness and shock. The film scoots smartly past the death and brings us briskly on to the entertaining business of sheep-oriented crime detection. It\u2019s all very silly.\u201d \u2014 Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up for the Vulture Daily<\/p>\n An entertainment newsletter for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n