Dreamworks has created the b*stard child of Pixar's Luca and Turning Red. And it falls somewhere in the middle of those two film's quality.
It mercifully has far less annoying characters than Turning Red, and handles its near-identical adolescent themes of family loyalty, self-actualisation, and trust with far more tact and nuance than that film did.
But it borrows the other half of its concept and plot from Luca, and it lacks the genuine heart and soul that was the one saving grace of that film.
There's a lot to like about the implausibly gonzo concept and over the top elements and characters. But the generic, conveyor-belt-produced story is hard to look past, as there really is not a single aspect of what I just saw that has any staying power. I'll forget this quickly.
It mercifully has far less annoying characters than Turning Red, and handles its near-identical adolescent themes of family loyalty, self-actualisation, and trust with far more tact and nuance than that film did.
But it borrows the other half of its concept and plot from Luca, and it lacks the genuine heart and soul that was the one saving grace of that film.
There's a lot to like about the implausibly gonzo concept and over the top elements and characters. But the generic, conveyor-belt-produced story is hard to look past, as there really is not a single aspect of what I just saw that has any staying power. I'll forget this quickly.