Honestly, there may be no point in reviewing this since the show is just five shorts about Groot, but since this is part of the MCU, I might as well review them. Welcome back to MCU Marathon, and we are now going to take a look at a series of shorts involving the young and adorable Groot called I Am Groot.
Pros:
1.) If you love Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) as a child, you are definitely going to love this series of shorts. He is just as adorable as you have seen him in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and he reacts to many shenanigans as it happens to him. He is already a good appeal to family and children due to his cute appearance, so if you love child Groot, you can see more of him here.
2.) Occasionally, these shorts will have some funny moments here and there. It is not the most impressive comedy, but I do like that many of the comedic moments are just visual instead of dialogue since there are little to no lines (besides “I am Groot”). It may be Groot just accidentally doing some damage or intentionally causing it. Either way, Groot can be pretty funny at times.
3.) The CG animation is not too bad. As far as I can tell, there is no live action at all with maybe one small exception, so the VFX artists have full control here, and they did a good job. Realistic interior and exterior areas alongside Groot and other alien wildlife make the CG look great…
Cons:
1.) …There is one exception to the CG animation, and just in case, I am putting a SPOILER WARNING here. Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) appears in the last episode, and he looks a little off. His appearance is fine, but his movement seems robotic. He does not move as naturally as he does in other appearances, so I do not know why he is like that here. Maybe the CG animators ran out of time, but regardless, Rocket moves a bit unnaturally.
END SPOILER WARNING
2.) If you are hoping for some creativity here, then I am sad to say that this show will not fit into Pixar’s more clever shorts. Not much happens here other than Groot has to deal with some shenanigans (i.e., encountering a small civilization, bathing in a hot tub that makes him grow leaves) and that is it. Honestly, the best episode in my opinion is episode 3, “Groot’s Pursuit,” because he has a foe to face despite it being an odd enemy. There is not much appealing plot in these episodes…
3.) …What hurts it a bit more is that it is over soon as it begins. These shorts last around three minutes each. I know these are supposed to be shorts but combined with less-than-compelling plots in each episode, it feels shorter than usual. Let’s compare that with a Pixar short, Luxo Jr. That short is only two minutes long, and despite a simple narrative that only has one shot, it was more interesting than any of the I Am Groot shorts. With weak narratives or stories that are delivered better in other shorts, the runtime kind of hurts this show.
Overall:
I wonder who has been asking for this: a series of shorts involving child Groot. I really do not have much to say about this other than it exists. It is not offensive nor does it really stand out that much unless you are a huge fan of child Groot, which I know he has so many fans. That is the only recommendation I can make for this series of shorts: if you love Groot as a child, you will definitely love this series (and apparently more of it is coming as the MCU progresses). Otherwise, I cannot really see what this adds to the MCU other than fluff, which is probably what it is in the end.
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