The Emoji Movie

For technology luddites and anyone left without a smartphone, “emoji” are pictographs and ideograms often used in electronic text messages. Originating on Japanese mobile phones in the late 1990s, emojis were popularized by Apple's iPhone and quickly adopted by Android and other mobile operating systems (their addictive popularity even led to inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary). While their meanings can be culture specific, their use is now almost universal. This animated feature co-written and directed by Tony Leondis is set in Textopolis, a fanciful workplace within an adolescent boy's smartphone. The story revolves around Gene (voiced by T.J. Miller), an emoji created without a filter, meaning that he's a nonconformist who is able to express multiple emotions. Gene's task is to be the “meh” (or disinterest) symbol, but he aspires to be more, which leads to his being terminated by his sinister supervisor Smiler (Maya Rudolph). Unwilling to accept his fate, Gene and his once-popular buddy Hi-5 (James Corden) search for help. Eventually, an error involving a punk hacker dubbed Jailbreak (Anna Faris) catapults Gene on a life-changing trip. Product placements abound, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Candy Crush, Just Dance, Spotify, Dropbox, and the Cloud, while esteemed British actor Sir Patrick Stewart disgraces himself as the poop emoji. Mind-numbing cinematic malware, this total time-waster is not recommended. (S. Granger)