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Leo Movie Review

Leo is a 2023 animated musical comedy film directed by Robert Smigel and starring Adam Sandler. It is a solid, but far from great flick.

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“Change is a beautiful part of life“

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A 74-year-old lizard named Leo and his turtle friend decide to escape from the terrarium of a Florida school classroom where they have been living for decades. This Netflix animated movie was a huge hit, dethroning ‘The Sea Beast’ as the most popular animation on the streaming service. But when all is said and done, it’s a fun and charming enough flick that won’t stick with me afterward.

Much has been said about Adam Sandler’s voice role here and I have to agree that he was just born to voice cartoon characters. Yes, at first his voice on the titular tuatara was grating, but eventually he grew on me to the point that I came to fully appreciate his vocal work. Others also did a good job.

Leo is a fun character. I did find the eventual twist that he will live longer than expected a cheat as the movie could have been much more existential with a more mature approach to storytelling. But his dynamic with the kids was so endearing and it’s difficult not to love this guy. Squirtle as his turtle friend was quite funny and I wanted more of him. That drone was also hilarious and the scene with those two uniting to save others was the comedic highlight.

The kids fared worse. They were fine as a group, but individually they were underdeveloped. The teacher character got a good arc and I loved her, but the kids were too boring at the end of the day. The movie never quite decided the right tone for this story, making for a movie that cannot really appeal to adults and is more suitable for children.

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Leo has standard animation that is not particularly exciting or artistic with the sole exception being the school album scene that was so well done. The soundtrack is quite mediocre. The songs range from forgettable and fleeting to annoying and dull. I would have cut all of the songs and the movie would have not lost anything. The dialogue and humor could be pretty good at times with the emotional engagement being evident, but the film lacked the sophistication and the memorable animation, characterization and story that would make it an animated classic.