The reviews are in, and critics say βThe Emoji Movieβ is βa force of insidious evil,β a βgarbage fireβ and βone of the darkest, most dismaying films I have ever seen.β It is βself-evidently soulless,β a βsoul-crushing disaster,β a βtravesty, a witless wonderβ and βnakedly idiotic.β It is βdumb, flat, goofy, and obvious, and maybe a tad corrupt.β
The plot is βlaboriously literal,β βmore than a bit lazyβ and βentirely predictable despite making absolutely no sense.β Its characters are βexceedingly boring,β so much so that this could be βT.J. Millerβs ticket to oblivion.β
βThe only thing worse than the dialogueβ β which is βbraindeadβ β βis the absurd product placement.β
The film is βexactly what its posters would lead you to believe it is: an animated narrative film about emoji.β But make no mistake: βChildren should not be allowed to watch βThe Emoji Movieββ because ββThe Emoji Movieβ is βInside Outβ crossed with a Sony commercial and dunked in toxic oozeβ and a βcallous cash grab that fully understands what a parent circa 2017 needs to keep the kids contained.β
It βlacks humor, wit, ideas, visual style, compelling performances, a point of view or any other distinguishing characteristic,β including βlogic, or anything remotely close to heart.β In fact, the filmβsβ βutter awfulness,β βpervasive falsenessβ and βsloppily tied knot of faux-inspirational moralsβ make it βless of a movie and more of an insult.β
βAs creatively bankrupt a picture as can be,β βthis is nothing but shameless pandering to a demographic that really doesnβt know better.β
βA viewer leaves The Emoji Movie a colder person,β and βgiving money to a movie like this is only going to encourage more like it.β
βMake no mistake, βThe Emoji Movieβ is very, very, very bad.β And it has received a score of 0 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, too.