Movie Review: "GOAT" Brings The Inspirational Sports Story To The Digital Age

7/12 ForReel Score | 3/5 Stars

Inspirational sports movies have traditionally been the type of family friendly fare that requires the youngsters to put in more work to understand the story. When I saw Miracle with my dad at eight years old, the conflict between America and Russia was not even a partially formed construct in my mind. Yet, by the end we were both equally enraptured by the American team’s astonishing tenacity that led to their 1980 Olympic victory. The drive to achieve a physical feat of greatness to represent something bigger than yourself is innately human. It’s an ideal framework for kids to learn about the world. I watched dozens of these movies growing up. Coach Carter. Glory Road. The Greatest Game Ever Played. Gridiron Gang. My parents took me to a lot of movies they didn’t want to see, but this was one genre that allowed them to engage with my love of film and my growing understanding of the human experience on a more genuine level. In 2026, live action sports movies have become either streaming service fodder or occasional Jesus-y theatrical releases from Angel Studios. I wouldn’t want to drag a kid to one and they wouldn’t sit through the first ten minutes even if I did. Not since Space Jam have we had a basketball movie make a genuine effort to bridge the gap between kid-friendly fun and adult-appeasing entertainment like we see in Sony Pictures Animation’s GOAT. 

This Zootopian take on the classic underdog story is similar in spirit to Sony’s wildly successful Spiderverse franchise and K-Pop: Demon Hunters. Flashy animation that dips into a litany of different media influences. Characters whose widely expressive designs are balanced out by relaxed voice performances from a generation of actors who grew up respecting animation. An overwhelming fixation on modern technology, particularly social media, and the role it plays in our lives. However, GOAT is not as wildly innovative as its predecessors. This team knows that they’ve hit their stride and have started to churn out more complacent efforts with a winning formula. It’s the Over The Hedge to KPop’s Shrek 2. It is not going to tap into the zeitgeist as potently as before, but kids are going to love it, and that’s not nothing. 

We follow doe eyed Boer goat Will Harris (Caleb McLaughlin) as he follows his dream of becoming a player on roarball team “The Thorns.” He grew up idolizing star player Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union), a black panther who has since lost her command of the now struggling team. Will’s determination is unflappable enough to challenge professional hooper Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre) to a streetball game in order to secure some rent money and although he loses, a moment where he overtakes Mane by stepping on his hoof goes viral. So viral that The Thorns decide to sign him as a gimmick player, since their hopes of going to the championship with Jett at the helm are so slim. Or are they? 

The film’s strongest asset is roarball itself. What a sport - basketball with animals of different sizes throwing themselves at one another as the court crumbles around them. We watch the Thorns play on courts with falling stalactites, icy terrain and even lava. Every point is hard won and the animation is able to follow the players down court in ways live action couldn’t pull off even with plain humans. It has the same archaic chaos as Space Jam but because everyone on the court is a top level athlete who is in it to win it, there’s no corny jokes pausing the game. It is all out war. I imagine kids rewinding the highlights over and over while finding a new animal player to latch onto as their favorite. 

I’m less sure that they will attach themselves to the characters, though. Will is pretty well realized. Raised by his community after losing his mother young, his drive is rooted in the need to not let their faith go to waste. He’s earnestly performed by Caleb McLaughlin, who is clearly enjoying a rare chance to not be Lucas Sinclair. Yet, he doesn’t bring a ton of personality to the table. We root for him because it is the right thing to do, but beyond just being a good soul, Will doesn’t say or do anything particularly memorable. Nobody does. Every character and performance is a competent realization of a stock type. Jett is the gruff veteran who is resistant to change despite her heart of gold. There’s the Thorns Team: Lenny (Giraffe, Stephan Curry), Modo (Komodo Dragon, Nick Kroll), Archie (Rhino, David Harbor) and Olivia (Ostrich, Nicola Coughlan). I couldn’t tell you more than one very simple trait about each. We don’t really watch them train or endure any true struggles to grow their bond. Once they realize that Will has some skills, they go from “you don’t belong here” to “hooray we love our pal Will” and then become props for the roarball sequences. The only true drama comes from Jett’s animosity towards Will, but even that is pretty civil. 

GOAT is chronically online in a way that depressed me a little. There’s no real way to work around it anymore. Kids have become consumed by social media and in order to make a film that engages them, you have to meet them where they’re at. Yet, as this story constantly shows us, these animals’ phone screens, viral videos, social feeds and even diss tracks, I couldn’t help but wish that the film had dared to be more of a pallet cleanser. That’s before we even touch the obscene amount of product placement that isn’t even cleverly disguised with animal counterparts. Will has two friends who play Roar 2K on a Playstation 5 in their room. A BMW speeds down the road and the logo hugs the camera for a contractually obligated series of seconds. A giant DOORDASH ad lingers over one of the roarball stadiums. It is a film that is constantly selling. Fitting for a story dealing with the world of professional sports, but only slightly less bleak than the ads for different AI platforms that inundated the entire Super Bowl. 

My GOAT screening was full of parents and children who sat in rapt silence throughout the entire film. Not as much laughter as you’d hear during the gags in top tier animated films, but the attention spans of young and old audience members seemed satisfied. Perhaps that’s all that really matters. Families will go out to GOAT during the 4 day weekend and perhaps their most sports obsessed kid will have a new favorite movie. I worry about what it says about our culture that genres that were once proudly mature now have to shrink to a child’s level to be seen and enjoyed, but that isn’t a problem that GOAT can solve.