THE STORY – A tiny woodland creature and a majestic bird suddenly swap bodies, forcing them to team up to survive the wildest adventure of their lives.
THE CAST – Michael B. Jordan, Juno Temple, Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, Justina Machado, Ambika Mod, Lolly Adefope, & Táta Vega
THE TEAM – Nathan Greno (Director), John Whittington, Christian Magalhaes, & Robert Snow (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 102 Minutes
Of the hundreds or thousands of animated movies featuring animals, Netflix’s new film “Swapped” features a unique quirk among its creatures. Most animated films flatten the animal kingdom into a single shared language, allowing all animals to speak to one another. “Swapped” instead treats each creature as a unique species, unable to communicate with other species. This simple but effective constraint perfectly sets up its body-swap premise, in which these creatures must learn to communicate and work together, rather than constantly warring and living in fear. Though this quirk stands out, sadly, not much else does in this well-meaning retread of familiar themes and tropes.
The Valley in “Swapped” is full of animals similar to those of our own world, but slightly different. Instead of a tiny mammal called an otter, our main character, Ollie (voiced by Michael B. Jordan), is a Pookoo, a group of small creatures who try to keep to themselves on their own island. Unfortunately, their food supply is dwindling after birds called Javans ravaged the island for food, threatening the Pookoos’ way of life. But Ollie feels responsible for all of this, after trying to befriend the birds as a child, and now tries to fend off the Javan as best he can to save his people. But that all changes when Ollie falls into a giant tree, encountering a glowing purple fruit that changes him into a Javan. Horrified, he encounters a group of Javan, convincing one, Ivy (Juno Temple), to help him.
Now, empowered with the ability to speak to all animal species, Ollie races across The Valley with Ivy to find more magical plants so he can revert to his Pookoo self. Of course, soon, Ivy finds herself changed into a Pookoo. So, it’s not technically a body-swap film, but close enough. Living as each other’s species helps them see The Valley from a new perspective. While not fresh, “Swapped” doesn’t shy away from depicting how easy it is for groups to fight to the death rather than work together to mutual benefit. The Javans nearly took over Pookoo Island and raided their food supply, but there could have been enough to go around if they had tried better to communicate. The forest needs to work in tandem to thrive as a community, not simply attack each other.
The themes may feel obvious, but the world-building elevates them in some ways. “Swapped” hails from Skydance Animation and director Nathan Greno (“Tangled”), who brings an extraordinarily detailed look to the flora and fauna of The Valley. Each leaf and blade of grass is lifelike, with even tiny hairs on a flower stem catching the light beautifully. Each animal species seems to be a blend of an animal from our world mixed with plant life. For instance, there are deer-like creatures who appear to be made from birch trees, and boulder-like bears covered in mossy fur. Though the film lacks the bold stylization in its animation that has made other movies soar, such as Netflix’s own “KPop Demon Hunters,” the blend of the natural and animal worlds makes for a pleasant surprise. The performances also work well alongside the animation. Jordan and Temple do a fair job in their lead roles, but it’s Tracy Morgan who steals the show as Boogle, a large fish who vows to help Ivy and Ollie. There’s an innocence to his performance that lets you underestimate Boogle just enough.
Ultimately, “Swapped” brings all the themes and lessons you can find in essentially every body-swap film. The characters see each other in new ways, finding deeper levels of understanding and cooperation that change their world for the better. Yes, it’s good, especially for younger viewers, to see how easy it is to separate ourselves from others just because we don’t understand them. It’s good to be reminded of the power of working together. There’s a lot of heart here, and the message is absolutely worthwhile in our divided age, but the story never breaks away from convention. We’ve seen this same story time and time again, and the world-building isn’t interesting enough to overcome its predictability.
“Swapped” is a perfectly serviceable animated film that younger viewers will connect with. Unfortunately, despite flashes of inspiration, it suffers from the dreaded forgettability; it’s too reminiscent of recent, better films with similar plots, tropes, and themes, and never quite finds the spark it needs to stand out.
