Review Summary: Unique and diverting, but not quite epic.
There's something to be said about Laika's films. They carry a quirky sense of humor and sophisticated stories. Most importantly, however, they are the only real studio pioneer today for stop-motion and clay animation. They continue to produce fresh and unique ideas that seem counter-cultural to the attitude of Hollywood today. Of course, that means business isn't easy to bring in.
And, Missing Link follows that mantra very well. There's enough unique and quirky elements here to make this an overall fresh and interesting movie. It's not a risk-taker like Kubo and the Two Strings nor is it as exciting and clever as fellow stop-motion flick Isle of Dogs. But its' a fun enough ride that its' still definitely worth the watch.
The film does get off to a bit of a slow start. After an opening action scene, the film's pace lacks a bit of oomph. The characters start out a bit unlikable as well. Sir Lionel doesn't exactly stand out, and Adelina Fortnight seems a bit too mean-spirited to be likable at first. As for Mr. Link himself, he's pretty charming and keeps things together. It's when he and Lionel begin to more develop their friendship that things begin to really gel.
However, the voice actors grow into their characters as the film moves. Despite being a bit bland at first, Hugh Jackman becomes more personable. Zoe Saldana starts off having a little too much of an attitude (not too different from some of her other roles), but she later becomes more of a fun character. Zach Galifianakis is the best of the cast, however, lending a memorable charm and charisma to Mr. Link. Sometimes the film gets a bit out of focus with his character, but not too much. Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry give solid performances in limited amounts of dialogue.
The animation, however, is the stand-out. The film feels like a children's book come to life in many places. The characters are nicely cut-out, the backgrounds are terrific, and there's a few nice visual effects thrown in. The cinematography (particularly in the action scenes) are nicely-done as well.
The film's pacing picks up in the second two-thirds, and there's a couple of nicely-done slowdown moments (as well as a very strong ending). The plot has a couple of interesting twists, and they work very well in bringing the overall moral of the story full circle. The jokes don't always hit their target, but there are a few towards the middle and end that work pretty well.
Unlike previous Laika efforts, Missing Link doesn't feel like an effort to push the envelope for animated fare. And that's for mostly a good reason. This is, instead, a fairly simple (yet thoughtful) story that works pretty well - especially in the last two-thirds. And while it's no classic, its' still entertaining enough for kids and parents to watch.
My Score: 7.2/10
Content Concerns for Family Viewing: Missing Link is rated PG for "action/peril and some mild rude humor". It's definitely a lighter movie than most of their films, so I think ages 7 and 8 on up should be fine, but parents should take into consideration the content I mention. Younger kids may be frightened by some moments of animated slapstick violence (including gunshots, a bar brawl, and a villain threatens others with an ax in one scene). Characters are shown hanging perilously from an icicle at one point. An assassin is shown with a few scars on his head. There's a few mild inneundos (a horse bites Mr. Link's rear end to him saying "I barely know you!" and Lionel saying "hold me tightly!" to Mr. Link saying "Are you sure? Adelina is watching!").
In a head-scratching moment, Mr. Link decides to rename himself "Susan" after an explorer he met. Lionel is puzzled by this, but the creature doesn't seem to care (it could be taken as a transgender joke). The top of a background character's backside is seen briefly. There's an incomplete s-word ("my cave smells like shhh..."), one use of "oh, g**" and one of the British crudity "bugger". A few bathroom jokes include a comment of someone turning underwear inside out, Lionel asking for feces as "physical proof" of the Sasquatch's existence, and Mr. Link eating yak dung (and enjoying it). Evolution is mentioned, and the people that are trying to come after Lionel could be seen as representing an opposing ideology (though there's no clear answer as to what they exactly stand for).
