Summary:
Slow start and stellar finish with some interesting moral questions thrown in.
As much as possible, I go into movies without expectations. I was totally prepared to be underwhelmed here, yet I received a pleasant surprise. Migo (Channing Tatum; a yeti) starts to question when a chance encounter with a smallfoot (a human).
Additional Comments:
– Humor 4/5: They found a few comic relief moments for the mountain yak/goat.
– Moral Questions/ Messages 5/5: Is there every a “good” reason to lie to your people, your friends, or yourself? The moral messaging got a tad heavy-handed at times, but they found a way to sort of lighten the touch at the end of the movie. It’s got a decent “can’t we all get along” sort of message.
– Characters 4/5: Some of the side characters were kind of forgettable. Not sure I even remember the father’s name. Migo’s the main character. Meechee’s (Zendaya) the primary female character. Percy (James Corden) something or other is the human (smallfoot).
– Family friendly?: Yes. It’s geared towards kids, but there are a few lines that adults will get and kids probably won’t. Biggest laugh from the kids was that part from the trailer where Migo gets crushed between the halves of the rock mountain.
– Story 4/5: Not going to lie, the beginning had some seriously slow points. I want to say roughly the first third of the movie had pacing issues, but after the midpoint, things picked up nicely. Even though the story’s somewhat predictable, they threw in some twists that totally worked. Sorry I can’t be more specific in a spoiler-free review.
– Songs 3/5: The lyrics have deeper meanings that fit the story perfectly, but they’re not exactly catchy, sing-in-the-shower songs. First song was this movie’s version of “Everything is Awesome.” Second gave off some serious Pocahontas vibes (“Colors of the Wind”). Third was forgettable. The most powerful line of song probably came from the Stonekeeper’s main one (“Now you know”).
Conclusion:
Worth seeing with friends and family. Probably good for 2-3 viewings, but perhaps not ones in theaters. I didn’t see much that demanded a big screen to be truly impressed. Probably wouldn’t have even bothered with the movie if I didn’t have A-list.
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Spirit’s Bane: Two guardian angels get on Satan’s bad side.
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