Review of THE STAR: A Donkey's Divine Destiny

December 15, 2017

The last mainstream movie I had watched about the first Christmas was "The Nativity" more than 10 years ago (MY REVIEW). This year, an animated film has been released to remind us again why we have Christmas Day in the first place. 

The major part of the story is about a donkey (Steven Yeun) who was yoked to work with his old Father (Kris Kristofferson) grinding grain all day at the mill, but he dreamed to do grander things outside. One day, he was able to escape and meet Mary (Gina Rodriguez), who lovingly tended to his injured leg. Much to her husband Joseph's (Zachary Levi) annoyance, Mary took the donkey in and named him Boaz, or Bo for short. 

Bo longed to be able to go join the Royal Caravan with all those elegant horses along with his best friend David the dove (Keegan-Michael Key). However when Bo learned about the plot of King Herod (Christopher Plummer) to kill Mary and her precious baby, he decided to chase after Joseph and Mary (who were then en route to Bethlehem for the census) instead in order to warn them of the imminent danger. 

This film remained faithful to the biblical accounts we know, starting from the Annunciation, Joseph's doubts and acceptance, the Magi's visit to Herod, the full inns in Bethlehem, the birth in the manger lit by the giant star. Into these events, additional characters like Herod's executioner-like Centurion and his tough dogs Thaddeus (Ving Rhames) and Rufus (Gabriel Iglesias) to add more elements of excitement and danger for the kiddie audience. 

Of course, all the animals around them were able to talk with and understand each other. From Abby the mouse (Kristen Chenoweth) who witnessed the Annunciation, to the three camels of the Magi namely Felix (Tracy Morgan), Cyrus (Tyler Perry) and Deborah (Oprah Winfrey), to Ruth the sheep (Aldy Bryant) who became Bo's friend on his search to find Mary. The barn with the manger had a cow named Edith (Patricia Heaton), a horse named Leah (Kelly Clarkson) and a goat named Zach (Anthony Anderson).

The animated visuals are very cute and kiddie, though the artwork was generic, nothing truly distinctive. It could in fact be mistaken to be an episode of "Superbook" or "Flying House" religious cartoons on TV. There were a lot of scenes with shallow humor and slapstick visual comedy, all for enjoyment of children of all ages.

For me personally, I liked very much how classic Christmas carols (like "What Child is This?", "Mary Did You Know?" and "O Holy Night"), as well as new ones (notably "The Star" by Mariah Carey) were beautifully included into the soundtrack for dramatic effect.  

Of course, the touchy topics about how Joseph found out about Mary's pregnancy were handled lightly but with care. The Bible never really told us exactly how this came to pass, so the film's writer gave it his own spin. Mary never got the chance to tell Joseph directly about her delicate condition until he saw the baby bump. Being a simple man in love with his wife, he simply and sincerely believed her. 

The target audience of this new film is aptly chosen. More than ever, our kids are inundated with secular traditions of modern Christmas -- Santa Claus, gift giving, Christmas trees, holiday pop songs. It is always very welcome and important to return their (and our) focus back to the very event for which we celebrate Christmas -- the birth of Jesus Christ. 7/10.