While Norm and his friends are preparing to celebrate his grandfather’s wedding, trouble is stirring in Misty Mountain. There, Norm meets an archaeologist named Jin and learns that a priceless Chinese artifact has been stolen by Dexter, Jin’s old partner. With the help of his lemming friends, Norm must embark on a journey across the world to help recover the artifact and return it to its rightful place. Can Norm keep his word to his new friend Jin and return home in time for his grandfather’s wedding? Only time will tell.
Why, oh, why are they still making Norm of the North movies? It’s as if someone got bored and decided to ride on the coattails of “Madagascar” and then flopped. Not once, not twice, but now three times. The only good thing I can say about this third installment is it didn’t seem to have a political agenda like the sequel. My son said to give the movie two stars. Seemed a more than generous rating.
On to the rather plain plot. Norm is now the king which is a big deal and mentioned somewhere around a hundred times, give or take. As the king, it’s his majestic duty to perform the marriage ceremony for his grandfather and fiancée. As is consistent with the series, one plot isn’t sufficient so they added in a second one as the wedding was highly unexciting. The second plot centers on an archaeologist, Jin, who attempts to keep an antique Chinese figurine out of reach of a thief hoping to sell it in Beijing just in time for a cultural event.
Jin ends up injured and Norm needs to get the figurine to Jin’s grandson. They, of course, team up to fight the thief together and end up in a ton of bungled messes. Lots of flying, kicking people out of airplanes, lemmings cleaning windshields, etc. Basically, the movie stole a bunch of action scenes from popular movies like “Tomb Raider” and Indiana Jones and tried to make them believable with a polar bear. Right…
The ninety-minute movie may entertain kids but parents will end up screaming into the couch cushions. It takes dumb to a special level. Not only is the movie not educational it may dumb kids down with the repetitive nature. One chronic theme was the King of the North’s (no, not Jon Snow, he lost his title to both his Queen and now a pathetic cartoon bear) son Quinn, bossing everyone around while daddy was away fighting thieves and saving an antique statue that meant nothing to his culture. The whole Arctic was in an uproar over the pushy would-be king.
The kids will find a few random spots to laugh at but seriously moms, go clean the kitchen. Trust me. You will definitely prefer switching laundry, washing dishes, deep cleaning the carpet, sorting kids winter clothes from summer clothes, and even mowing the lawn more than this movie. I hope directors Richard Finn and Tim Maltby and writers Daniel Altiere with Steven Altiere move on to anything else. Can’t we just re-watch “Madagascar” or “The Secret Life of Pets”? I highly doubt even children will request watching this movie a second time. Rent this on Redbox or wait for it to land on Netflix.
Available on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack (plus DVD & Digital), DVD, Digital, and On Demand June 11th from Lionsgate
