With a basketball-inspired framework, “Goat” draws heavily from the sport and pays homage to the NBA. The animated film premiered on Feb. 13 in North America, followed by a release in Korea on April 17.

“Goat” unfolds in a modern animal society where roarball, a basketball-like sport with shifting terrains, dominates the culture. Will Harris, a small goat, dreams of becoming a professional player in defiance of the sport’s preference for larger animals but struggles to gain recognition. After a video of his matchup against a professional roarball player goes viral, he earns an unlikely spot on the Thorns and begins a journey of growth.

Despite its promising premise, the film’s 100-minute runtime proves insufficient for the story it’s trying to tell. What might have been a layered sports narrative instead moves at a pace that leaves little room for the plot to breathe, producing abrupt transitions that feel more managed than earned.

For example, Will’s roarball video gains massive attention within minutes of its upload, and Florence, owner of the Vineland Thorns, arrives to recruit him all within a single day. These scenes feel inserted out of necessity rather than arising naturally from the story’s progression.

The rushed pacing weakens character development, and the film never gives the audience enough time to form meaningful connections with the people on screen, which undercuts its emotional impact.

Komodo dragon Modo Olachenko, the Thorns’ small forward, is defined almost entirely by his frantic yet cunning personality. The film never explores his backstory or motivations — a gap that extends to nearly every character. This lack of emotional payoff is where the movie falls furthest short of what it sets up.

The filmmaking process involved active collaboration with Stephen Curry, the four-time NBA champion and Golden State Warriors point guard. The storyline loosely parallels Curry’s career, and the animators worked closely with him to ensure that the roarball movements reflected their real-life inspiration.

Curry also voices giraffe Lenny Williamson, the Thorns’ center. Animated productions have faced recurring criticism for celebrity casting that reads as stiff or detached, but Curry sidesteps this — his performance feels relaxed and sits comfortably alongside the rest of the cast.

Caleb McLaughlin, by contrast, delivers a subpar performance as Will Harris. Despite prior experience across several major productions including Stranger Things, McLaughlin’s monotone delivery struggles to convey Will’s joyous personality. The stronger work from the supporting cast makes the contrast more noticeable rather than smoothing it over.

Where the voice acting falls short, the visuals hold up. Flashy colors and heavily rendered textures create a comic-like aesthetic that captures the youthful energy of the genre, and dynamic camera movements showcase the animals’ athleticism in a way that’s genuinely fun to watch.

“Goat” earns a 2 out of 5. The art style and cinematography elevate individual scenes, but the plot moves too fast to leave much of an impression, and the lead performance doesn’t do enough to carry the emotional weight the story asks of it. The roarball sequences are entertaining on their own terms — just don’t expect much beyond them.