Director: Chris Butler
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, David Walliams, Timothy Olyphant, Matt Lucas, Amrita Acharia, Zach Galifianakis
Screenplay: Chris Butler
94 mins. Rated PG for action/peril and some mild rude humor.
I loved Laika’s last film, Kubo and the Two Strings. I couldn’t praise that film enough, so when I heard that Laika was next tackling the yeti/Bigfoot myth, I was initially excited, even though every animation franchise is doing the yeti/Bigfoot movie in the last year with Smallfoot and Abominable both dropping pretty close to it.
Explorer Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables, The Front Runner) believes himself to be the world’s greatest at unearthing legends and myths, but when he is tasked by Mr. Link (Zach Galifianakis, The Hangover, TV’s Baskets), a Bigfoot, with finding his relatives, he takes it upon himself to track them down and earn his merit among his peers.
Missing Link was a disappointingly boring movie with a budget that could kill Laika. Being one of the few people who saw the film, I can honestly say that very little of it was actually retained in my memory not more than a few hours after seeing it. The voice acting was all nice and everything, but this movie cost too much money to not be enjoyable.
It was bright and shiny and the animation was great (from a technical aspect, the movie is quite well-made), but the story really lost me. I had no interest in the characters and their journey. I didn’t like Lionel Frost because he was an unlikable jerk. I didn’t like Mr. Link because he was annoying. I didn’t connect with any of them. Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana, Avatar, Star Trek: Beyond), Frost’s ex, was utterly forgettable and didn’t really contribute to the story. It just didn’t work for me.
Missing Link has some nice aspects, but with a disappointing screenplay and unlikable characters, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. It’s a shame, as I truly enjoyed writer/director Chris Butler’s previous film, ParaNorman. This is one Link that should probably stay missing.
2/5
-Kyle A. Goethe
GOAT Film Reviews 