There’s something about stop-motion animation that I find incredibly appealing. I mean, just the effort should be enough to make you appreciate the end product, but the very idea of creating something with your hands, filming it and still managing to be competitive in today’s CGI world is truly a feat worthy of admiration. Coming to us from Laika studios (Corpse Bride, Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls), Missing Link is a continuation of their work that features “adult” themes. And before your mind goes to porn (I guess it’s too late already), what I mean by this is that it features story elements and content that adults should find intriguing and worth thinking about. And as far as kids are concerned what they will see is one really cute and interesting adventure featuring heroes, jobs and quests that we cannot find in today’s, modern world (did someone say it was aliens). This is a story about an explorer on a mission to reclaim his glory and reputation that will take him around the world. From Loch Ness monster yo Bigfoot and ultimately Shangri-La, we will meet strange creatures and go through all sorts of funny situations. Everything feels authentic and original, something that’s quite rare in today’s world of reboots and remakes, without being overly melodramatic.
Meet Sir Lionel Frost, an explorer and adventurer always on a lookout for a new sighting of a strange creature or phenomena. We find him trying to capture the famous Loch Ness monster, without much success. And this lack of success has prevented him from being accepted into a “Society of Great Men”, a prestigious group of world-renown adventurers. Just as Frost was starting to lose hope, he receives a letter about the mysterious creature better known as the Sasquatch and he immediately sets out to find it…
Set in 1886, in the middle of the Second Industrial Revolution, the world we’re about to see is an almost romanticized version of reality. Missing Link is in no rush and it revels in magnificently sculpted locations from our past, taking its time and carefully developing the story and characters. Voiced by Hugh Jackman, Stephen Fry and Zach Galifianakis, our heroes are very likable and engaging. You can still feel that it’s 2019 with a certain selection of themes and general vibes concerning current trends of “woking”. Still, this is not was not intrusive and only the harshest critics will be “triggered”. The rest of us will be finally able to enjoy some animation that doesn’t feature any modern gimmicks to appeal to their younger audience. A definition of old school and a sign that I am getting older. With a very exciting atmosphere and a bit slower pacing that enables the viewer to really take in the scenes and characters, you will be glued to the screen ’till the end of this beautiful movie. Actually, after it was over, I had this urge to watch something similar and my mind immediately went to all the great adventure movies of the eighties that all involved a lot of traveling around the world and concepts that are less explored nowadays. It’s nice to see that Pixar still has some competition, especially when it comes to character development, now check out this charming movie and prepare to be amazed.
Director: Chris Butler
Writer: Chris Butler
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Stephen Fry, Zach Galifianakis, Zoe Saldana, Timothy Olyphant, David Walliams, Amrita Acharia
Rating:
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6348138/
