Andy Serkis’ Final Film Before His LOTR Comeback Tanks On Rotten Tomatoes

Andy Serkis, best known for his iconic performance as Gollum, isn’t exactly getting a hero’s send-off before heading back to Middle-earth. His latest project, an animated adaptation of 'Animal Farm', has dropped into the wild—and the early chatter from critics is... well, brutal.

Critics Find Serkis' 'Animal Farm' Hard to Swallow

If you’re hoping this new 'Animal Farm' does justice to George Orwell’s famous novella, you might want to brace yourself. Reviewers are nearly unanimous on one thing: compared to the original book, this movie falls seriously flat.

Variety’s Peter Debruge didn’t mince words, saying the film's animation couldn’t hold a candle to what you’d get from DreamWorks or Illumination, and while it retains some of Orwell’s ideas, it’s way too messy to be a worthy adaptation. His warning to students desperate for a shortcut: 'Woe to the student who tries watching this toon instead of doing the reading.'

Over at The Daily Telegraph, Tim Robey was even less impressed, suggesting Orwell himself would have despised this version. He claimed the film somehow manages to make you 'feel trapped and punished' just by watching, and declared the animation 'so unremittingly horrid' that it becomes a slog long before the despot pig Napoleon gets rolling.

Liz Declan from ScreenRant hammered the same point home: 'Animal Farm' isn’t loyal to its source, and she saw zero value or insight in its adaptation. Her verdict? 'Some adaptations, it seems, are far less equal than others.'

Matt Neal at ABC Radio questioned if the movie even knows who it’s for, describing it as 'a dark tale that feels largely too dark for young kids, yet not actually dark enough to do Orwell’s story justice.' So, in other words, it’s stuck in the middle—too much for kids, not enough for adults.

Not every review was a total beatdown. Pete Hammond at Deadline went against the grain a bit, calling it a 'gorgeously animated version'—though he also pointed out it basically winds up being pretty relevant to America’s own 'drift toward authoritarianism', whether it means to be or not.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Not Pretty

Right now, the movie’s sitting at a measly 40% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and that’s after just 10 reviews. This number could budge as more critics chime in, but let’s be honest: first impressions matter, and these aren’t good.

Cast, Crew, and What Comes Next

• Directed by Andy Serkis
• Written by Nicholas Stoller
• Serkis pulls double duty, also voicing a character
• Voice cast includes Seth Rogen, Woody Harrelson, Steve Buscemi, and Glenn Close
• Set to premiere in theaters on May 1, 2026

So, to recap: Andy Serkis is getting ready to go back to the Lord of the Rings universe, but his pit stop at 'Animal Farm' isn’t giving him much momentum. If you were hoping for a modern classic or even just a solid take on Orwell, you might want to keep those expectations in check. Not every reboot is created equal—and apparently, this one’s a real clunker.