Directed by Anthony Silverstonand and co-written by Raffaella Delle Donne, is the story of a half-striped zebra who tries to regain his stripes.
Set in South Africa is the tale of a young zebra called Khumba, born with only half his stripes he is blamed when the tribe’s water begins to dry up so sets out to find a magical waterhole. Along the way Khumba befriends a free spirited wildebeest called Mama V and an insecure ostrich called Bradley, all the while, being hunted down by the ferocious Leopard Phango.
The voice performances are well delivered, from the earnest Jake T. Austin as Khumba, Loretta Devine’s maternal Mama V to Richard E. Grant’s whacky Bradley, along with the villainous Liam Neeson as Phango.
As well as the main cast, the film boasts performances from Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne and Catherine Tate, all of whom are very charismatic actors. It’s a shame then that the cast are given such bland characters to portray. From Khumba to the cult worshiping Dassies, all these characters have been done before in other films and done better.
The story too is just as indistinct and unfocused. A hodgepodge of other films like Madagascar, Ice Age and The Jungle Book, this is filmmaking by numbers. Adding to problem is the film’s two plots that are separate from each other. The first is Khumba’s mythical quest to regain his stripes combined with a strange prophecy that obsesses Phango. The second plot is the straight forward tale of the herd of Zebras leaving their home to find water. The problem is Khumba is unaware his herd are in such dire straits, disconnecting the two stories. The end result is a film where the main character doesn’t know what the main story is.
The film also lacks jokes, with none of the main characters being sufficiently funny enough to raise regular laughs. The only characters that do bring some genuine chuckles are the rugby obsessed Springbok, not knowing who is who or even who has died because they are simply incapable of telling each other apart.
It’s great to see such a visually well made film coming out of South Africa. But, it’s a shame a story about individuality was made by people trying so desperately to be like someone else. Next time they should follow the example of Khumba and create something that’s distinctly South African.
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