This animated version of Roald Dahl's classic story about the Twit couple turns out to be only slightly more tolerable grueling than eating wormy spaghetti or discovering a toad stuffed at the bottom of your bed.
The original tale about perhaps the worst marriages in fiction isn't exactly loaded with storyline: the short book basically is made up of a series of mean pranks, all badly mangled here and painfully added to.
Americanization and Storyline Changes
A number of audience members have voiced displeasure over the Americanization of the story, but that is the smallest of this movie's problems.
In the imaginary city of the story's setting, Mrs. Twit comes across as a Southern figure in cowboy-style boots, unhappily married to Mr. Twit, who retains his Northern English accent.
The couple have built a shaky amusement park named Twitlandia, with attractions constructed from bathroom fixtures and old mattresses, all powered by the magical tears of the Muggle-Wump monkeys.
When authorities shut down the amusement park on public safety reasons, the gruesome couple go to war with the municipality.
Narrative Weaknesses and Production Errors
The plot is flabbier than Mr. Twit's tummy, which is a shame since it was made, helmed and co-written by Phil Johnston, whose past credits include smart and creative family animations such as an acclaimed Disney movie and Zootopia.
In an shocking distortion of Dahl's story, the Twits inundate the city with spoiled hotdog meat before opting to run for mayor.
And everyday working people are suckered in by the Twits' promise to make their city great again, in a frankly unsuitable for children satirising of the current state of politics.
Loss of Original Spirit
All of the author's gruesome sense of fun is wiped out by a bulldozing message of compassion and kindness, thanks to a plucky orphan a young heroine and her friends uniting an resistance to the Twits.
This is vile and revolting in all the wrong ways.
