If we're living in a world where a movie about Lego is one of the best
things of this young year, then why shouldn't a 3D adventure based on
Rocky & Bullwinkle characters also be a goddamn delight? If Frasier
Crane were a dog he'd be Mr. Peabody, voiced by Modern Family's Ty
Burrell, an orphan who was never adopted because he wasn't like other
dogs. To combat his lack of a family, Peabody became an expert in
academics and athletics, making him exactly equipped to deal with the
time-travelling shenanigans of this movie. When his human adopted son
Sherman (Max Charles) is bullied at school by Penny (Ariel Winter),
Peabody tries to smooth it over with a truce-making dinner, fending
off her angry parents as well as a social worker hellbent on removing
Sherman from this snooty dog's house. Then Sherman and Penny break
into Peabody's time machine and end up in Egypt. Sherman is smart and
talented, but he lacks his dad's confidence and has been stunted by
their emotional distance, so every new era is a teachable moment. Like
The Lego Movie, Mr. Peabody and Sherman is a story about learning
to be your best self, and it's nearly as sharp and just as funny. —Tara Thorne