Hello everyone and welcome to another review, this time of the latest film from Dreamworks Animation! Now when in comes to the studio in question I’m actually a fan of their works. I mean they are responsible for some of the best, and most successful animated franchises like Shrek (well quality wise 1, 2, Puss In Boots, and to a lesser extent 4 at least), Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, and Madagascar, as well plenty of good to awesome stand alone films (their Aardman films, Road to El Dorado, Over the Hedge, Megamind, Rise of the Guardians, etc.). Yet it seems that their always seen in a lesser light or not as talked as much as the likes of Pixar, or WDAS, and I’ve never really understood that. Sure they’ve had their share of missteps over the years, but for every Shark Tale they make, they’ve got a Kung Fu Panda to make up for it. Heck I’ve mostly enjoyed their films this decade with the exception of the disappointing Home, and would even defend some of them like the familiar yet fun Turbo, the oddly enjoyable Boss Baby, and the close to being great, Trolls among others. So with that said what can be said about their latest film, a collaboration with their China based production, Pearl Studios? Well I can happily say that I think it continues what has been a relative quality streak for them. So let’s go and take a look at Abominable!
After a brief prologue that shows a yeti escaping captivity only to find himself in the streets of Shanghai, we cut to our main character, Yi, a girl who lives with her mother, and grandmother, and has grown distant from them ever since her dad passed away. She even neglects to hang out with her friend, like the energetic Peng, and popular Jin, instead choosing to run errands for money. She does however secretly love to play her father’s violin at night on the roof, which shows how much she truly misses him. One evening however she find the yeti who escaped hiding on on her roof top, and while she panics at first she soon discovers that he doesn’t really mean any harm, and she begins to take care of him, giving him the name, Everest. She also helps him hide from the people trying to hunt him down to take to Mr. Burnish, a wealthy businessman who plans to use Everest to prove to the world that yetis do indeed exist with the help of zoologist, Dr. Zara. Yi then decides that in order to protect Everest she must get him home before he is found. Thus with the help of Peng, and (unwillingly) Jin who agree to tag along, they must set out on adventure across China to the take Everest back to his family in the Himalayas. But with Burnish’s men gaining on them, can the trio be able to get their unlikely friend home before it is too late?
If the plot synopsis sounds pretty generic, something you’ve seen a million times before, well you wouldn’t be wrong in thinking so. I will admit that this is probably one of the more conventional sounding films Dreamworks has made, which is weird saying, considering their concepts can be anything but conventional. It really just sounds like yet another mystical creature gets lost and a group of friends must get him/her home before evil forces try to capture this creature for their own needs, while also forming a strong bond with him/her, and in terms of the narrative it just about goes in the direction you would expect. However even if this is a story you’ve heard many times before that doesn’t mean it has to be poorly told and I am happy to say is that the execution here is where this film excels. Thanks to the refreshingly more relaxing pacing that never feels as frenetic as other family movies nowadays (save for a couple of parts in the second act), it is able to take the time to develop its characters, and the relationships they form that way we end up caring more about them as things become perilous. Another compliment I would give is that the story never bothers to drown us in expositional moments and just lets the story play out from the very first scene which something else more family movies should take note of. It’s also not too concerned with trying to be a laugh a minute joke riot as its more of a sweeping, adventurous melodrama with moments of comedy sprinkled throughout rather than being a full on animated comedy a la something like Angry Birds 2, with the comedy itself being pretty decent overall and the movie balances both the more poignant elements, and the comedic stuff very well (though there was this odd running gag involving snakes that just came out of nowhere yet got some good chuckles out of me). But what really impressed me the most was how well it handles dealing with the loss of a loved one and how that can affect your life and make you want to shut out the others in your life. Yet it argues that no matter how hard times may, there will people support you all the way and help make life an adventure worth living. This could kind of be Dreamworks’s Up (though very different still), yet nevertheless its a message that resonates greatly, and the film handles it beautifully. With its story Abominable is able to prove that a conventional narrative in the right hands can still be a journey worth taking.
In the past I have stated many times that one of my favorite things about Dreamworks Animation is how they don’t have a consistent house style with all of their films having a unique look to them, and each not looking similar to each other. Heck, this even applies to their lousy flicks and this flick is no different. Since this was a co production, and was out sourced it a much more cheaper ($75 million) compared to some of their other films (they really loved to throw money at their movies, which was probably one of the reasons some of their films ended up being huge bombs despite decent enough grosses) yet it ends up being one of their prettiest looking projects to date. Since it takes place in China we are treated to backgrounds of some beautiful scenery that capture the beauty of the country in places as varied as the bustling, neon lit Shanghai, the more nature filled ares of the Sichaun Region, the snowy landscapes of the Himalayas, and more. They are able to strike the right balance between looking more realistic, with some touches to make it have some impressionistic with a deluge of bright colors to make them even stand out even more. Speaking of which that aforementioned balance applies to both the character designs, and movements which are also done very well (the designs especially), feeling more natural but still having enough exaggerated qualities to make them stand out. The stand out moments, however, are whenever Everest uses his mystical powers like flying on a giant dandelion, creating an ocean of flowers, or controlling the weather among others as they make for some effective imagery, are directed very well, and take advantage of the limitless potential of animation. I also quite liked the soundtrack, and there are times where the movie would use music, and sound in interesting ways like with Yi’s violin, and Everest’s humming. My only complaint for the visuals would be that it isn’t as visually interesting as some of the studio’s more recent works, but that doesn’t detract from what the animators, and director Jill Culton were able to pull off here.
As mentioned before the movie makes sure to develop the characters, and make us care about them and it succeeds pretty well in that regard. What’s even more impressive is how each of the big characters gets an arc, and a good amount of development as well. There’s our protagonist, Yi, who at first glance seems like the rebellious teenager who shuts herself out from her loved ones, yet she’s actually a lot more that cliche. She’s not very angsty, and is very responsible working hard to make money, and forms a sweet relationship with the titular yeti (who, yes is very adorable, and makes for strong comic relief when needed). Plus Chloe Bennet of Agents of Shield fame, does a good job with voicing her actually sounding Yi’s age (a common annoyance when it comes to adults voicing children in animated movies). Then there’s her two friends, Jin, and Peng, voiced by Tenzing Norgay Trainor, and Albert Tsai respectively. The former got on my nerves at the beginning as he was mostly just the cool kid whose always complaining and just wants to get back home (its doesn’t help that unlike with Bennet, I found Trainor’s performance to be grating at times), but as the movie goes along, he gets better as he starts to care more for his friends and he gets one of the biggest laugh out loud moments in the movie, while the latter is a lot of fun, and has some sweet interactions with Everest since they both seem to be the same age (and act similarly), and are both young energetic kids (impressive considering he could’ve easily been an annoying character). As for the villains, Eddie Izzard has a lot of fun voicing Mr. Burnish (the third time he’s voiced an evil billionaire in animation after Sir Miles Axelrod in Cars 2, and Mr. Snerz in the Green Eggs & Ham series) who has a lot of funny moments, and a pretty compelling arc (slight spoilers but he’s like Charles Muntz if he chose to do the right thing for Kevin) while Sarah Paulson gives in an equally enthusiastic performance as Dr. Zara, and there is a twist involving the character that I don’t see too much of nowadays even if the character herself is pretty standard. I also really enjoyed Rich Dietl as the captain of Burnish’s hunting squad who (along with his goons) makes for amusing comedic relief. Like I said about the story the characters on paper don’t sound like a lot, yet they manage to leave a good sized impression and make the story more investing.
While not one of the studio’s absolute best work, Abominable is still a more than worthy edition to the Dreamworks Animation library. Despite it’s conventional narrative, it works mainly due to the strength of its tone, pacing, animation quality, and character work, making it yet another great example of execution making something familiar still be entertaining. I am kind of surprised this wasn’t as leggy a hit as I thought it would be, given how superb the word of mouth from audiences was (the crowd in my theater quite enjoyed it), but hopefully people will come to discover it through home media. In terms of the animated films that revolve around yetis that have been released recently I’d still prefer WAG’s Smallfoot, but they are still both very good family entertainment (haven’t seen Missing Link yet, but I’m sure it’s just as good too). I’d say its one of Dreamworks’s best non franchise films in awhile, and it does make me eager to see what other original projects they have coming down the pipeline.
Rating: B+
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