Honestly, the concept of a sports film called G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time) starring a goat was just begging to happen. I’m just surprised it didn’t happen sooner. All jokes aside, Goat is the latest film from Sony Animation, a company that has been on quite the generational run, might I add. (The Spider-Verse films, The Mitchells vs The Machines, and K-Pop Demon Hunters are all phenomenal.) This film follows a young goat named Will whose dreams of joining his favorite basketball team are fully realized, but not without its setbacks. (The sport is called Roarball in the movie.) The voice cast was absolutely stacked, featuring the likes of Gabrielle Union, Caleb McLaughlin of Stranger Things fame, and many others. In terms of animation, Sony Animation seems to be continuing its trend of using more stylized animation techniques that incorporate elements of 2D animation while lowering the frame rate, adopting a comicbook-esque aesthetic. I honestly don’t mind this animation style being repeated, though. Sony set a high standard for modern animation with the Spider-Verse films, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I will say that, while this style of animation make the action sequences that take place on the basketball court that much more entertaining, this film’s comedic gags seemed a lot less subtle and a lot more in your face that previous entries form Sony Animation. I didn’t mind it overall, but you can definitely tell that this particular film was made with a younger audience in mind. I did enjoy the story a lot, though. With this film being executive produced by basketball player, Stephen Curry, the story of this young goat seemed almost biographical in nature. Our protagonist not only has to deal with naysayers saying he’s undeserving of his spot on the team because of his small stature, which was an expected point of conflict, but he also has to deal with the star player of the team, a jaguar named Jett Filmore, refusing to literally and figuratively pass the torch in the face of public scrutiny. I really appreciated that added realistic layer of the narrative, as it really kept Goat from feeling like yet another underdog tale. All in all, I had a good time watching this film and I would say is most ideal for basketball fans and families in terms of the audience I would recommend. Score: 8/10
Noah Robinson 