Similar to Looney Tunes’ The Road Runner, Feathered Fighters has two characters who repeatedly attempt to catch and subsequently eat three chickens throughout the movie. Slim and Glutton are weasels who want nothing more than a chicken meal so they continually try to capture Uncle Waddles, Free Range, and Small Fry. The weasels try to drop boulders and trees on them, and even fight them using varies weapons like knives, guns, cannons, bats and their fists. The chickens fight back using weapons and their smarts to outwit them. Fortunately, all of the weasels’ attempts backfire on them and the chickens safely get away.
The animated comedy includes several short stories of Slim and Glutton displaying their antics to try and catch the chickens but always becoming victims of their own demise. Although one of the stories strays from the usual when Glutton drinks what he thinks is chicken soup and starts acting like a chicken. The soup is actually transfixion potion which causes him to transform into the animal he was fixated on. Since Glutton thinks he is a chicken, he starts hanging out with the other chickens. At first they are reluctant to welcome him in, but soon show sympathy toward him and allow him to take shelter with them in their coop. However, when Glutton displays his namesake by eating all their corn and bothering them in other ways, they set out to turn him back to a weasel and succeed.
The movie includes plenty of fighting which does result in injuries (mostly to the weasels). The weasels are shown wrapped in bandages, with large bumps on their heads, and they even burn to a crisp and disintegrate into dust. However, no matter how badly they get hurt they are always back to normal in the next scene. Slim is the lead weasel and Glutton is the follower. Slim orders Glutton to do things and when they don’t go as planned he punches, kicks and verbally attacks him. He tells Glutton that “our failures are always your fault.” Slim never shows any sign of compassion for others or regret for his destructive behavior. Glutton, on the other hand, displays some compassion, like when Small Fry disguises herself as an old man to trick the weasels and Glutton tells Slim he doesn’t want to be mean to the old man.
The chickens are better behaved than the weasels, but they do their own share of fighting, trickery, and getting angry with each other. On several occasions Uncle Waddles tricks Free Range into doing tasks for him for his personal gain. Small Fry also shows poor behavior when she tricks the weasels and loses her temper. Additionally, she is frequently distracted by playing video games.
There is no faith elements included in the film, but it does demonstrate good versus evil, with good winning in the end. There are also moments of positive character traits in the chickens, like when Small Fry tells Uncle Waddles that no one will tease him if he is scared. She also apologizes and asks for forgiveness on a couple occasions. All three chickens show sympathy toward Glutton.
Feathered Fighters will likely make you laugh—especially if you are a fan of The Road Runner. The movie does kind of jump from one story to another and could be more seamlessly woven together. Even though it is dubbed in English, there are several scenes where Chinese writing appears on objects but the dialog helps to explain the scene. Overall, the movie is entertaining but even though it is animated it is not recommended for younger viewers. Due to violence and poor behavior, we are awarding our Dove seal at 12+ for the film’s positive elements.
The Dove Take:
While this animated comedy portrays some characters demonstrating positive traits, violence and trickery make it better suited for audiences 12 and older.