Historians will be confused as to why Native Americans have been suddenly sidelined in one of American's most famous stories, but this time-travel turkey comedy just manages to steer past the same old-same old accusations whilst making a case for vegetarianism. Kind of.
Wilson voices Reggie, a turkey who has always felt different from the flock, suspecting humans to be fattening his buddies up just to eat them come Thanksgiving. Spared by the president during his yearly pardoning, Reggie is whisked away to the good life at Camp David. However, he is abducted by delusional turkey freedom fighter Jake (Harrelson) and, stealing the government's top secret time machine, travels back to 1621, just days before the inaugural Thanksgiving feast between the pilgrim settlers and the Native Americans. If ever there was a chance to stop the traditional killing of turkeys it's here…
We're looking at a Dances With Wolves/Avatar rip off here but that's okay as the kids won't have seen either of those. The plot is a busy thing, bouncing here and there during a somewhat messy set up, and while it might later confuse itself in its time travel mechanics, Free Birds keeps the jokes simple and broad so as to not to lose the young audience it is pitched at. This means there is little here for the adults who will be all too familiar with how this is going to turn out. Some of the gags happen adjacent to the plot, parachuted in to keep the gag quota up, and they can be distracting.
But just as suspicions that this below average animation is just a simple pay cheque for Wilson, Harrelson et al - Meaney is in fine form as bad guy Standish, the settler's enforcer, and Takai is deliciously camp as the voice of the time machine - director Jimmy Hayward saves the day when he treats us to a wonderful edge-of-your-seat chase sequence. The 3D is a misnomer again, however, as even this great action moment fails to feel anything above two dimensional visually.
Familiar but occasionally fun.