Two doughnut-shaped siblings called Ed and Op travel to the future and realize their species, known as Flummels, went extinct due to a volcanic eruption. Now, it’s up to them to travel back in time and save their kind from dying out. The only problem? The two are known to be troublemakers, and nobody might believe them, even if they did find a way to go back.
Directed by David Silverman and Raymond S. Persi, “Extinct” is a quick, cute kids’ movie written by Joel H. Cohen, John Frink, and Rob LaZebnik. The character design for the new species called Flummels is a little like Studio Ghibli’s iconic character Totoro: Flummel is just as round and cute, but smaller and with a circular hole in the stomach, making them seem like animated donuts. The animation isn’t stunning, but it’s colorful and engaging enough to keep things interesting.
Adam Devine and Rachel Bloom lend their voices to protagonists Ed and Op, respectively. Op is the more energetic sibling, always coming up with bright ideas that eventually lead to disaster, while Ed goes along with whatever his sister says. Thus, the two of them are best friends, but also perceived as weirdos by the rest of their community. The story follows the brother-sister duo in their time-travel adventures and explores the dynamics between siblings.
The writers of “Extinct” make the time-travel aspect of the story simple, without dwelling too much upon the ripple effects of small changes in the past. A magic-mystery flower serves as tool for time-travel and said to exist across the world to facilitate time jumps, although one cannot be sure what year they will end up in. So, Ed and Op use a lot of different flowers, ending up in different years, which provides a lot of comedic moments. For example, they travel to ancient China and bring back fire-crackers, steal Cleopatra’s crown from Egypt, so on and so forth. introduce a few other interesting characters, the most significant one being an adorable fluffy dog called Clarance, voiced by Ken Jeong. Clarance becomes Ed and Op’s guide in the future and helps them find a way back to their timeline to save their species.
The film does have a few twists and turns, but overall, it’s just a goofy story about two siblings making new friends and learning the importance of friends, family, and having a laugh. With a runtime of only 1 hour and 24 minutes, “Extinct” is paced well and will keep younger viewers entertained. Older viewers who like animated films might find the movie to be a little too childish and generic for their liking.
Rating – 6/10. Stream “Extinct” on Netflix.
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