Over the last few decades, audiences have been subjected to animated films about talking toys, talking fish and even talking cars. But for the first time, one film is daring to explore a world with talking shoes. As silly as it sounds, it’s got a message that’s so simple and smart that you won’t realize you’ve been changed by it until long after the credits roll. It makes the film’s title, Sneaks, all the more fitting. 

 

Co-directed by Disney Animation veterans Rob Edwards and Chris Jenkins, Sneaks follows a high-end sneaker who scours the streets of New York City after his sister is stolen by a shady collector. Along the way, he meets some other pieces of footwear - some friendly, some not-so-much - that teach him that he can’t continue to live life in a box. 

 

The film boasts a stellar voice cast consisting of Anthony Mackie, Martin Lawrence, Chloe Bailey, Macy Gray, Rico Rodriguez, Keith David, and Laurence Fishburne. Hip-hop artists such as Swae Lee, Roddy Ricch, Kiana Ledé and Mustard lend their voices too. The latter also supplies one the most vivacious movie soundtracks since Kendrick Lamar’s work on the first Black Panther film. While the story could easily be written off as corny, everyone involved adds so much heart that it's impossible not to be sucked into this world about soles. 

 

That’s not to say the film is perfect. On the surface, the animation can be unsettling at times. But that has more to do with the Indian-based company that rendered the film than anything else. 

 

Despite a solid message, the script doesn’t always hold up. For example, dialogue occasionally feels very one-dimensional. There also isn’t as much creativity with the shoe names. For example, the shoe that Keith David’s character plays is brilliantly named O.G. Yet the main pair voiced by Mackie and Bailey are named Ty and Maxine. Although it sounds like a nitpick, it’s an issue that speaks to the fact that some of the rules of the world also feel undeveloped. For example, it’s never really explained if all pairs of shoes are siblings (like the main pair). There’s a sequence later on in the film where one shoe is reunited with its missing half. Even if it is a bit heartwarming, it also begs the question “what happened to the shoes with missing pairs we meet?”

Now, even with those issues, Sneaks is very easy to slide into because it's simply a film about culture. Yes, it’s a celebration of both the basketball and sneakerhead cultures, featuring members of the Black and Hispanic culture that propped them up in the first place. But even with its admittedly on-the-nose message about stepping outside your comfort zone and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, it’s playfully designed to resonate with anyone who enjoys movie culture. However, if you have ever spent more than $1,000 on a pair of Nikes, you’ll probably enjoy it a little more.