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Just last fall, a Yeti came down from the mountain to prove the existence of people in the playful but preachy .nightsandweekends.com/articles/18/NW1800120.php>Smallfoot. Earlier this year, a Yeti set out to find his family in Missing Link. Now, in DreamWorks Animation’s Abominable, a sad teenage girl sets out to return a Yeti back to his family, with much grander, more striking results.
Abominable tells the story of a lonely young girl named Yi (voiced by Chloe Bennet) who’s distanced herself from her family since her father’s death. Instead, she sets out each day to do odd jobs in hopes of saving up for a trip across China, to explore all of the places that her father promised to take her. One night, though, she discovers a gigantic beast in her rooftop hideout. And when she realizes that he’s a Yeti who’s being chased by a group of greedy scientists, she decides to return him to his home on Mount Everest.
As Yi and her big, furry new friend (and the boys from down the hall) set out on their dangerous adventure, they take with them plenty of laughs and all kinds of sweet, lovable drama. The Yeti (whom the kids name “Everest”) is fun and playful. He may seem big and scary at first, but that’s just because he’s vulnerable and scared. Once he realizes that Yi and her friends are there to protect him, he becomes fiercely loyal, using his mysterious magical abilities to bring them happiness and keep them safe. At the same time, Yi uses her own kind of magic with him, playing her violin to keep him calm and happy. They’re a lovable pair—each dealing with loss and heartbreak.
Really, Yi and Everest alone could make for a sweet and moving story. But the filmmakers added the two boys for laughs and the evil scientist storyline for action—to make it a more all-audiences kind of adventure. In the process, though, they made it predictable and formulaic. The story is nothing new—and it all feels rather random and haphazard. It seems to try to offer something for everyone. It wants to be action-packed and fun and eye-catching and dramatic. In the end, it doesn’t succeed in the way that the average Pixar movie does, but it’s still a worthwhile film for the family.
Still, Abominable is absolutely gorgeous—a striking animated film that will hold viewers’ imagination with the magnificent art and set design alone. That’s enough to keep grown-ups interested, while the lovable characters and their adventures will entertain the kids.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
