Hi everyone!
Welcome back for another week of reviews, and it’s going to be an exciting week here at One Movie Punch. This week we’ll continue our Golden Globes nominee and winner coverage, with four additional reviews. Ryan L. Terry will be back tomorrow with his review of WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE? BiCurean returns for Takeover Tuesday with their review of FROZEN II. And I’ll be picking up THE TWO POPES this coming Saturday, along with today’s review for surprise winner, MISSING LINK. We’ll also have a review for Johnny Daggers’ NOCTAMBULIST from last year for Indie Wednesday, another Fantastic Fest review from Andrew Campbell on Friday, and the exciting premiere of Christina Eldridge, aka Durara Reviews, with her review of WEATHERING WITH YOU from GKIDS. A super-exciting week on the main feed.
Over on Patreon today, we’ve posted our full interview with filmmaker Robbie Walsh. You can catch last week’s review of his microbudget feature EDEN (Episode #679), then head over to patreon.com/onemoviepunch where the full interview will be publicly available for a limited time. You can also sign up to become a sponsor at any level, which will maintain access to all our exclusive content when it disappears behind the paywall. You’ll also be eligible for Sponsor Sundays, where you get to force me to review a film of your choice, as long as we haven’t reviewed it, with just a few exceptions. More information will be available in the promo before today’s review.
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Here we go!
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Today’s movie is MISSING LINK, the Laika Entertainment animated adventure written and directed by Chris Butler. At the turn of the 19thcentury, Mr. Link (Zach Galifianakis), the last of the Sasquatch in the Western United States, recruits aspiring explorer Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman) to transport him to Shangri-La, the mythical home of the Yeti in the Himalayas. They are joined by Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana), who has the map, but also pursued by rivals intent on making sure they fail in their quest.
No spoilers.
As one might imagine from someone who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, I was a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, or MST3K. I wasn’t able to watch it regularly, a combination of early bedtimes and intermittent access on our local television channels, but every episode was pure magic. The recent reboot with Jonah Ray has been equally enjoyable, although it’s been tough to get through the immense number of episodes they’ve released. However, one of my favorites from Season 11 – The Return was for an absolutely bonkers, but sasquatch-laden environmental film called CRY WILDERNESS. And Jonah cracks a joke when they show a picture of a missing link character, labeling him Australopithecus Galifianakis. So, I guess MISSING LINK was an inevitable pairing.
I’m not actually sure how I missed seeing this film in the theaters. As you might guess, and can verify in my review for last year’s THE MAN WHO KILLED HITLER AND THEN THE BIGFOOT (Episode #533), I’m a huge fan of cryptozoology, and for Bigfoot in particular. Mr. Link is voiced by Zach Galifianakis, one of my favorite comedians. It is produced by Laika and is an epic adventure set at the turn of last century, written by Chris Butler, the genius behind PARANORMAN and the story for KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS, one of my favorite films from 2016. Pretty much everything I could ever want from a film, and I missed it. Along with everyone else, apparently, because MISSING LINK bombed at the box office, but did end up taking Best Animated Feature at this year’s Golden Globes, shocking pretty much everyone but those who saw the film.
Laika is one of my favorite animation houses, specializing in a combination of stop motion and CGI, starting with their breakout cult favorite, CORPSE BRIDE with Tim Burton, then following up with 2009’s CORALINE, based on Neil Gaiman’s story. In fact, Laika’s filmography is a triumph of placing story first in such a way so that the delicate and detailed animation never has to compensate. The story for MISSING LINK is above average, melding together a bunch of awesome and intriguing ideas and characters, playing very well with emotional content and a genuine sense of comradery among the adventurers. I also love the larger lore suggested about the sasquatch/yeti/missing link that gets developed.
The real star is the animation, which is top notch, especially the amazing series of long-takes that will leave you questioning whether it is still being captured frame by frame. Stop-motion animation doesn’t get nearly the credit it deserves, an art form that takes patience and precision. Every film usually includes some behind-the-scenes footage during the credits to show just how intricate the process can be. In particular, everyone should be astounded by the adventurers riding through the Indian jungle on an elephant, as I was equally astounded by some of the incredible sequences in KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS. Everything has a sense of plasticity, despite being a stop-motion picture at its core. Could this film have the same impact being 100% CGI? Perhaps, but Laika’s animation and process is hardly a gimmick, specifically because of their commitment to story.
The voice work is pretty good, with Hugh Jackman, Zach Galifianakis, and Zoe Saldana handling the lion’s share. Galifianakis takes the gold with a nice melding of his natural expressiveness, combined well with the character’s animation, as well as the general demeanor of the character. Jackman and Saldana struggle with two relatively shallow characters, who have predictable story arcs. The rest of the cast is a combination of characters and caricatures, which may delight or anger depending on the viewer.
In fact, I really wish MISSING LINK had the same courage as KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS to really deal with complex emotions and feelings, particularly about identity and place in society. We learn pretty quickly that MISSING LINK is a journey story, both externally towards Shangri-La, and internally for each character. Whereas KUBO had a depth to the lead characters, particularly the title character, MISSING LINK feels like it’s... well, missing something in most of its characters, perhaps confusing detailed characters with complex characters. I like the whole film. I even love some parts of it. In a particularly weak year for animation, MISSING LINK only barely stands out, but is still quite worth a viewing.
MISSING LINK is a fun animated adventure from Chris Butler and Laika Entertainment. Using an incredible stop-motion process, viewers are treated to a fun journey set during the turn of last century, with a relatively safe and predictable story along the way. Despite its box office troubles, everyone who enjoys animation should absolutely check out today’s film.
Rotten Tomatoes: 89% (CERTIFIED FRESH)
Metacritic: 68
One Movie Punch: 8.0/10
MISSING LINK (2019) is rated PG and is currently playing on Hulu.
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