*Sigh* I had no interest in watching this Netflix animated flick but a “friend” said it was better than expected. And, yeah, I guess technically it’s better than I expected… and better than some other really crappy animated flicks released this year… but it’s not good.

Shocking, I know.

So Thelma the Unicorn is about a drab miniature farm horse who dreams of stardom. When an accident leaves her covered in pink paint with a carrot on her head, people confuse her for a real unicorn. Now she can sing her own songs and become famous! <inserts life lesson here>

I laughed on occasion as the film worked its way to its inevitable conclusion. And that’s not nothing for a super generic, low budget Sing knock-off. And when you’re knocking off Sing, you’re knocking off a knock off of a knock off. It’s animated inception all the way down.

The flick opens with a couple of song covers that made me think the producers were gonna throw me a bone. But then it drops most of the familiar music for its own “meh” original songs. So it doesn’t even do the lazy but entertaining thing Sing does: mine nostalgia to keep adult butts in seats.

I guess maybe the flick does a decent job of its “just be yourself” moral message. It’s trite but its conveyed reasonably well. Also, it teachers our youngsters to not trust musicians because they are probably fake… and maybe don’t trust the music industry either. You are product, not a star. You know, since that’s a useful life lesson for every child.

Thelma the Unicorn – which is a movie that sells itself on having a unicorn while being a movie about how you shouldn’t sell yourself on your image – isn’t a particularly good movie. But it isn’t a particularly bad one either. I mean, there’s worse out there? Yay.

Score: 68