{"id":175771,"date":"2026-02-13T00:37:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T00:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/175771\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T00:37:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T00:37:11","slug":"goat-review-young-viewers-deserve-more-inspiring-sports-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/175771\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Goat’ review: Young viewers deserve more-inspiring sports movies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We\u2019ve seen animated animals belt out tunes in the \u201cSing\u201d movies. We\u2019ve learned about \u201cThe Secret Life of Pets\u201d (twice). And we\u2019ve visited them in \u201cZootopia\u201d (also on two occasions). Now we get to see them play basketball. \u201cGoat,\u201d produced by Golden State Warriors prodigy Stephen Curry<\/a>, is yet another underdog story about following your dreams wrapped in a by-the-numbers sports movie. It feels utterly unoriginal on multiple fronts.<\/p>\n

Taking the popular acronym GOAT (Greatest of All Time) to its most literal form, the first feature by TV animation veteran Tyree Dillihay \u2014 from a screenplay by Aaron Buchsbaum and Teddy Riley \u2014 follows an anthropomorphic young goat who aspires to become the GOAT.<\/p>\n

A lifelong fan of roarball (this film\u2019s version of basketball), Will, who is voiced by Caleb McLaughlin, dreams of playing for his hometown team, Vineland. His admiration for the sport is embodied by Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union), Vineland\u2019s most accomplished player, who carries the entire team on her back \u2014 she wants all the glory of victory for herself.<\/p>\n

The world of \u201cGoat\u201d is divided between \u201csmalls\u201d and \u201cbigs\u201d (unlike \u201cZootopia\u201d where the separation is between predators and prey). Will considers himself a \u201cmedium\u201d but in the eyes of professional roarball players, he\u2019s tiny. Still, after going viral for bravely challenging Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre), one of the sport\u2019s major stars who is double his size, Will lands a chance to play in the big leagues.<\/p>\n

To the credit of the writers, roarball is a rather inclusive sport. There are no gendered teams, nor any discrimination based on species. Will might be the first \u201csmall\u201d to make it big, but that stems from the public\u2019s prejudice, not from rules that ban animals like him from playing.<\/p>\n

Desperate for instant relevancy (like plenty of animated features these days), \u201cGoat\u201d is steeped in vapid internet references, from crypto to online memes. Sports fans, however, will find specific allusions, like contentious press conferences and even the kiss cam. Rowdy and kinetic from start to finish, \u201cGoat\u201d does in fact reflect the fast-paced dynamism of basketball, but it soon reveals itself a sugar rush without much substance.<\/p>\n

Once Will joins the team, a \u201cnever meet your heroes\u201d lesson ensues, since Jett feels like he\u2019s usurping her position. Animosity on her part creates tension until Will opens up about his personal reason for playing. The emotions are not complex here, but they are heartfelt, thanks to how McLaughlin and Union conjure up larger-than-life personalities via their voice performances.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Will\u2019s other teammates \u2014 a rhinoceros, a giraffe (played by Curry himself), an ostrich and a Komodo dragon \u2014 don\u2019t feel distinct enough from the ensemble casts of other animated projects like \u201cSing.\u201d Each member of the assortment has their quirks, some of which occasionally yield a chuckle: Archie (David Harbour), the rhino, has two comically violent kid daughters.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no denying \u201cGoat\u201d has a vibrant aesthetic, but that alone can\u2019t overwrite its defects. Back in 2018, Sony Pictures Animation dazzled the industry when \u201cSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse\u201d<\/a> introduced an approach that mixed 3D CGI with traditional hand-drawn animation. This combination of techniques doesn\u2019t make \u201cGoat\u201d particularly unique anymore.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s most impressive, visually, about \u201cGoat\u201d is the way the natural world blends with the urban settings. Vineland, Will\u2019s neighborhood, is indeed covered in vines and yet the vegetation appears organically integrated into the infrastructure. Each game takes place in a different ecosystem. The finale, for example, unfolds amid cracked volcanic rocks and lava. There\u2019s visible handcraft and care in creating these backdrops for the action.<\/p>\n

A mixed bag of eye-catching imagery and formulaic writing, \u201cGoat\u201d disappoints because it follows every expected path toward a triumphant conclusion. Its premise could have offered up a kid-friendly reading on failure that doesn\u2019t simplify a way out of adversity. If talking animals will continue to be used as surrogates for human experiences \u2014 especially for young viewers \u2014 some nuance would be appreciated.<\/p>\n

‘Goat’<\/p>\n

Rated: PG, for some rude humor and brief mild language<\/p>\n

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes<\/p>\n

Playing: Opens Friday in wide release<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019ve seen animated animals belt out tunes in the \u201cSing\u201d movies. We\u2019ve learned about \u201cThe Secret Life of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1592,2454,46981,83781,83782,83778,42577,83780,48,52,51,47,50,49,83779,7496,83777,83776,8843,21654,56590],"class_list":{"0":"post-175771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-animal","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-big","11":"tag-caleb-mclaughlin","12":"tag-first-feature","13":"tag-gabrielle-union","14":"tag-goat","15":"tag-jett-fillmore","16":"tag-la","17":"tag-la-headlines","18":"tag-la-news","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","21":"tag-los-angeles-news","22":"tag-roarball","23":"tag-sport","24":"tag-sport-movie","25":"tag-vineland","26":"tag-way","27":"tag-will","28":"tag-zootopia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}