THE STORY – When a designer sneaker unwittingly finds himself lost in New York City, he must dig deep into his sole to rescue his sister and return to his rightful owner.
THE CAST – Anthony Mackie, Martin Lawrence, Swae Lee, Chloe Bailey, Macy Gray, Ella Mai, Mustard, Roddy Ricch, Quavo, Young Miko, Amirah Hall, Kiana Ledé, Bobbito Garcia, Sam Jay, Sky Brown, Rayssa Leal, Rico Rodriguez, Keith David, Chris Paul & Laurence Fishburne
THE TEAM – Rob Edwards (Director/Writer) & Chris Jenkins (Director)
THE RUNNING TIME – 92 Minutes
“There’s nothing new under the sun,” so they say, and that’s especially true in animated storytelling. From the early days of film animation, many family-friendly animated films tend to resemble one another, either in story or animation style. That doesn’t inherently mean a movie is terrible. “Sneaks,” the directorial debut of “The Princess and the Frog” writer Rob Edwards (co-directed alongside Chris Jenkins), does indeed feature something new: talking shoes as the main characters. Sadly, what proceeds from that premise is anything but new. Ripping off the story of “Toy Story 2” and attempting to mimic the visuals of “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse,” “Sneaks” is a pale imitation of much better films that have come before it.
Edson (voiced by Swae Lee) could never really afford the best shoes. His sneakers fall apart when he tries to play ball. Fortunately for Edson, he wins a raffle at a sneaker convention, picking up the rarest, most expensive sneakers out there: Alchemy 24s (which the film bizarrely calls “A24s” for most of the movie). Unfortunately for him, The Collector (Laurence Fishburne), a famous sneakerhead and collector, wants the shoes and won’t take no for an answer. The real movie begins as we see these shoes, Ty (Anthony Mackie) and Maxine (Chloe Bailey), come to life as The Collector attempts to steal them, leading them on a journey across New York City to survive.
Already, it’s easy to see the “Toy Story 2” inspirations all over “Sneaks,” and it’s hard to shake those off. Ty needs to learn how to survive on a journey to rescue his sister and get back to Edson while trying to escape this collector, who would waste Ty’s potential by keeping him locked away. Much like the toys in Pixar’s flagship series, the shoes talk and interact with each other but hide their sentience from humans. This mostly works, as the story keeps the humans away from the shoes for much of the runtime. As Ty navigates the city, he meets many shoes along the way who try to help this coddled shoe return home, especially JB (Martin Lawrence), an older sneaker who knows his way around.
The biggest problem with “Sneaks” is the abysmal animation. Right from the opening credits, which look like a pre-vis sequence, the animation lacks depth and quality, making it tough to enjoy and even looks unfinished in some sections. The film attempts to replicate the drop-frame animation of “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse” but lacks the style to pull it off. This results in clunky movements that never come close to the comic book look that made the “Spider-Verse” films work. This movie, especially a film about shoe culture, truly needed a better style. The only exception is with The Forger (Roddy Ricch), the real villain pulling the strings. His character design is creepy and complex, a departure from the rest of the film’s bland style. It’s accompanied by an interesting techno-laced score from Terrence Martin, reminiscent of the score for The Prowler in “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.”
Perhaps to make up for that lack of visual style, “Sneaks” features an original soundtrack from Grammy winner Mustard, but the songs are mostly forgettable. For a sad song, Edson laments his prized sneakers being stolen, and the lyrics are as deep as: “How could someone just take something when it wasn’t yours? It’s so, so unfair, and no, they don’t care.” Or a song called “The A24s” plays while Edson celebrates winning his shoes and just repeats “A24s” over and over again. Were the filmmakers hoping this film would get picked up by A24 or something?
Even so, “Sneaks” does have moments that work. JB delivers some touching observations to the young Ty about how life can sometimes scuff us up. “At first we all crispy and new. But then life happens, and you get broken in. Before you know it, you’re just broke.” There’s still something to be said for an animated film that speaks to a culture like that of sneakerheads. Perhaps it will play better for that particular audience, but “Sneaks” unfortunately suffers from both low-quality animation and storytelling, which are challenging to overcome.
