Missing Link, Laika's new adventure

[bcrombar]

No love for Missing Link in theaters this weekend?

Am I missing/just not seeing the post about the new animated feature Missing Link? I was able to see it Thursday evening and I have to admit it is much funnier than I expected. Zach G. and Hugh J. are surprisingly entertaining.

Looking forward to reading the review on Animated Views.

I'm working on my review as well...https://featuredanimation.com/missing-link/3679

Did anyone else enjoy Laika's new movie this weekend?

[Randall]

I love Laika, and look forward to the film, though the trailers failed to excite me. I'm sure it's "good," but don't see it being "great."

[Ben]

Brit reviewers are raving about this. Seems it has a very Aardman-esque sensibility about it, backed up by the Brits' love of stop-motion. It’s already on my list of discs to pick up.

[EricJ]

I love Laika, and look forward to the film, though the trailers failed to excite me. I'm sure it's "good," but don't see it being "great."

It would take a LOT to get me back into a "See it because LAIKA made it!" movie after the sheer insufferable onslaught of "Paranorman"--And I wouldn't describe "Kubo & the Two Strings" as a "lot".

But at least I was aware those movies were coming out:
Right now, as the annual April showers bring May flowers, we're into traditional Cannon Fodder season (which also explains the "'Little', not 'Big'!" black-girl comedy and the Lionsgate Hellboy reboot), where a minor animation studio dumps "Ratchet & Clank" or "Sgt. Stubbs" into theaters for the last two weeks of April, since the idea is for the first May blockbuster--usually Marvel--to sweep house. And if there aren't any foreign or indie studios to try their (snicker!) "luck", Laika or Aardman gets a chance at it.
In this case, they had to bump it up to the second week in April instead of the third, since Avengers: Endgame decided to rush the May opening. Threw the whole traditional schedule off.

[Ben]

Yeah...those pesky Marvel movies. Taking up the end of May that’s traditionally been a big blockbuster weekend slot since Star Wars opened around the same date some 42 years ago.

[EricJ]

Er, nooo...Taking up the beginning May 1-5 blockbuster weekend slot that's been traditional since 1999's "The Mummy" tried to get the jump on SW:Episode I's end-of-May opening some 20 years ago. (The Lucasfilms felt Memorial Day was "sacred".)

As a result, first-May's become one of the most in-demand opening weekends in the industry, and gun-jumpers are now experimenting with the last weekend in April to get the jump on that.
At this rate, April Cannon-Fodder season will be pushed back to the end of March Madness--It's still hard to tell which one "Wonder Park" was aimed for.

[Ben]

You didn’t specify. May's "first" blockbuster could easily still come at the end of the month. They usually do.

I have literally no idea what Wonder Park thinks it’s doing by even existing! Welcome to Skydance, JL!

[EricJ]

You didn’t specify. May's "first" blockbuster could easily still come at the end of the month. They usually do.

And in the case of Detective Pikachu and the live-action Aladdin vs. the Godzilla sequel, probably will.
Or maybe even the end of June, with TS4.

As it is, we've got "Ugly Dolls" lined up for the sweet May spot, and the only thing worse than an obscure delusional indie animated movie that got buried in April Cannon-Fodder week, is one that ended up with a major wide-release week all to itself--after the other big movies vacated the area--thinks "Cool!...This is my BIG CHANCE!!" and hypes up a major wide-release saturation.
(Legends of Oz, Delgo, Oogieloves, take your pick.)

[Ben]

I’d pay to see Aladdin Vs Godzilla!

There’s too much product out there, simply put. And it’s not about competition because everyone basically wants to see the same handful of movies, so the big ones win big and the smaller ones don’t even stand a chance of making even half their money back.

[droosan]

Nearly all of the movie theater chains in the Los Angeles area switched to a 'reserve your own seat in advance' business model, about a year ago .. and it kinda killed the spontaneity of heading out for a night at the movies, for me. I did want to see Missing Link, though .. and finally took the opportunity to book a screening time today.

I'm rather in awe of how good it is, actually. It's a shame the movie is performing so poorly, box-office-wise.

There is confident storytelling on display in every scene, in both the characters and their lushly-realized environments. The overall plot is straightforward and spare .. but there are several fantastic action set-pieces along the way, and much to like about each of the characters (even the villains). I especially liked the fact that

Lionel does not 'get the girl' in the end .. Adelina simply walks away from him in the final scene, "to have her own adventures." (this conceit kinda ruined the ending of DreamWorks' Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, IMHO .. and I applaud Laika's bold choice to avoid it, here).

Sir Lionel Frost is basically Indiana Jones mixed with Phileas Fogg .. and compares favorably with both of those famous characters. The opening sequence with the Loch Ness Monster is breathtaking .. his chase/fight with Stenk aboard an ocean liner on a stormy sea must be seen to be believed .. and there is a literal 'cliff-hanger' climax for our heroes, which does a neat job of bringing all three of their character arcs to a satisfying conclusion.

The movie was already moved to the very smallest screening room of the cinema I saw it in (which is not a good sign for it remaining in theaters, for long ) .. so definitely go see Missing Link soon, if you want to see this animated gem on the silver screen.

[Randall]

We gave this a watch last night, and now I feel a little bad that I didn't splurge on the cinema ticket. I certainly feel bad thinking now that it could be Laika's last film. Hopefully the disc sales have been robust, but Laika's films have seen steady declines in box office terms, and that's not a good sign. And so disappointing, as the last couple of films have been so interesting.

I was so impressed with the fluidity and skill of the animation in Missing Link. There are SO MANY "how did they DO that?" moments--- puppets swimming, flying, soaring, all manner of actions. And those beautiful, expansive CGI-aided sets. Wow, just very impressive. And it all got quite a few laughs from me and the kiddos. At the end, my 12 year old son said, "This film was indeed gold!" Yes, a spare story, but perfectly fine, as it still held laughter, a few surprises, and fun characters. It felt very much like an Aardman film, in all the best ways.

Even if Laika never makes another film, I will always treasure their output as representing a very special period in animation history.

[droosan]

I'm glad to hear your family enjoyed Missing Link. I certainly did, when I saw it in theaters (twice, thankfully!) .. though, I only got around to buying the Blu-ray just yesterday.

Out of curiosity, I just clicked the 'quote' button for my earlier post, in this thread .. and discovered that I could then read the spoiler paragraph (which I had marked with the 'hide' tag) within the 'post reply' window.

So -- for those curious to see what I'd said, there -- that seems to be a way around the 'hide' tag's malfunction, until that code gets fixed.

But, fair warning: there are SPOILERS hidden in there.

--------------

addendum: Carter Burwell's score for Missing Link is among my favorite soundtracks -- animated or live-action -- released this year. It's a solid adventure score, IMO, with some memorable character-based themes.

[Ben]

The kicking myself over hoping that that Rand and I had gotten around to running this in our cinema when he was over just stepped up a few notches. Really need to get around to seeing this!