The Hero of Color City 2014

Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: This is a pretty lame computer-generated animated movie that will likely not engage kids much past the first grade. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: For parents of very young children looking for a weekend distraction, "Color City" is passable fare - and will at least inspire kiddies to finish what they start, coloring-wise. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times: "The Hero of Color City" cannily distills the children's movie to its lowest common denominator: bright colors flashing on screen. Read more

Geoff Berkshire, Variety: Cheerfully exhorting imagination, creativity and bravery in children while demonstrating none of those virtues itself, "The Hero of Color City" proves to be a dispiritingly colorless feature-length babysitter. Read more

Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: The problem, to paraphrase Samuel Johnson, is that most of what's good is not original, and most of what's original is not good. Read more

Maricar Estrella, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: It's a fun, fantastical tale for the toddler set but may not translate to older children who are too tied up with heady video games. For adults, it may take you back to a time when crayons were king. Read more

Charles Solomon, Los Angeles Times: The story and characterizations never get much deeper than "We're all special in our own way." At times, the five writers borrow a little too heavily from other properties. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: The songs, like the script and the animation, are unmemorable. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: A weak Toy Story-esque animated film for preschool kids made with little imagination, little art, and even less soul. Read more

Sherilyn Connelly, Village Voice: A perfectly pleasant pastiche of other movies, the most obvious antecedent being the Toy Story films. Read more