Movie Review: Abominable

Abominable *** / *****

Directed by: Jill Culton.

Written by: Jill Culton.

Starring: Chloe Bennet (Yi), Albert Tsai (Peng), Tenzing Norgay Trainor (Jin), Joseph Izzo (Everest), Sarah Paulson (Dr. Zara), Eddie Izzard (Burnish), Michelle Wong (Yi's Mom), Tsai Chin (Nai Nai).

 

There’s no real point in trying to claim that DreamWorks latest animated product for kids – Abominable – really does anything to break the mold in terms of children’s animation, nor DreamWorks own model, which is to make charming films like this, and then stay out of the way of Disney and Pixar, to make money off them, while creating characters that will make adorable plush toys your kids will bug you for. That is pretty much precisely what Abominable is. What it also is though is charming and funny and heartwarming, and doesn’t feel like the warmed up leftovers that films like The Secret Life of Pets 2 or Angry Birds 2 did this summer, nor like the cheapie, cynical cash grabs of things like Ugly Dolls or Wonder Park. DreamWorks hasn’t found their latest How to Train Your Dragon – this isn’t (or at least, shouldn’t be) a massive franchise starter here – but it reminds you that they can make sweet and charming little films.

 

The story is well-trod territory. Plucky outsider Yi (Chloe Bennet), sad over the recent death of her father, meets an adorable child Yeti, that she names Everest, because that is clearly where he is form. Everest had escaped from the clothes of a greedy millionaire, who wanted to show him off to the world. Yi decides to try and get Everest back to Everest, from the Island (almost definitely Hong Kong, although that is never stated) and starts a cross China journey to get there – along with her adorable pal Peng (Albert Tsai) and Peng’s image obsessed cousin, Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor) – all the while pursued by that millionaire and his minions.

 

Yes, you know where this movie is going from the start – and the film doesn’t offer a lot in the way of narrative surprise along the way. And yet, director Jill Culton has crafted a sweet, funny little film here – one that doesn’t just use its Chinese locale as a cynical attempt to tap into the lucrative Chinese market, but does give the film a unique backdrop along the way on this journey. And Everest is, of course, absolutely adorable – basically a giant, slobbering puppy with magical powers that we discover along the way (as we discover those powers, you may ask why he doesn’t use them from the start of the journey to make things easier – but don’t ask such silly questions that would negate the movie).

 

Sometimes, clichés are clichés for a reason – so even if plucky outsider, who puts on a hard exterior to mask the pain they feel inside, is a cliché – for Yi here, it really does work. She misses her beloved father, who always wanted to take her on a trip like this, and now her doing so allows herself to reconnect to him – and with the other things he loves, like the violin, which she plays beautifully. Peng and Jin are basically there for comic relief – and they work fine for that. The greedy millionaire (voiced by Eddie Izzard), and his lackeys (led by Sarah Paulson) do have at least a surprise or two up their sleeve as the film movies along.

 

Sure, Abominable is a corporate product – one that is designed to sell toys, along with tickets, and its easy to be cynical of films like this. But perhaps just because I really was almost irrationally annoyed by films like Pets 2 and Angry Birds 2 and Ugly Dolls and Wonder Park, but Abominable hit that animated sweet spot for me – allowing me to enjoy a film like this with my kids on a lazy Saturday afternoon, without feeling as if I am pledging allegiance to a massive corporation intent on brainwashing my kids. Abominable does nothing new, but everything well – and sometimes, that’s enough for films like this.