When you’re writing a story of the “lonely child befriends a misunderstood lost creature” variety, you still need some extra aspects to make it stand out, which is something Dreamworks’ new film Abominable (a collaboration with Pearl studio) has plenty of. It’s not unlike other kids’ movies like Big Hero 6 or Coco in how its story themes explore heavier ideas like grieving and/or mortality, and it does so a slick and consistently entertaining manner. One can tell this is a movie that’s specifically designed for the Chinese market, but the characters and style of humor still feel universally relatable.
Said griever is Yi (Chloe Bennett), a teenage girl doing odd jobs around her Shangai neighborhood in the hopes of funding a trip across China, who won’t slow down for family time to the chagrin of her mother (Michelle Wong) and her sassy but sweet grandmother Nai Nai (Tsai Chin). She’s a wizard at playing the violin but hasn’t felt comfortable playing in public since her father passed, so she performs solos on the rooftop by herself- until she encounters a child yeti in her spot, hiding from Burnish, a rich eccentric hunter (Eddie Izzard) and his zoologist partner (Sarah Paulson).
The yeti has a strange power that allows him to affect matter around him in strange ways when he hums a song, causing a strange blue aura to surround him, and Burnish is determined to prove to the scientific community that these creatures actually are real. Yi gets the help of her two friends, the goofy and gregarious basketball fanboy Peng (Albert Tsai) and the cool, vain medical student Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor), on a trip across the country to bring their Yeti friend- who they name Everest- back home to the snowy mountains.
Not only does Yi always feel like a grounded and genuinely engaging protagonist (director Jill Coulton avoids stuffing her into a “generic girl power box”), but Peng and Jin prove to be great characters in their own right outside of simply serving as typical sidekicks. Peng’s interactions with Everest will charm people of any age, and Jin gets has some of the film’s funniest moments (some including dodging a wave of giant berries that Everest conjures, and an attempted motorcycle ride gone wrong) as his armor of coolness is constantly destroyed.
Yet there’s real thought and pathos written into his and Yi’s relationship, with emphasis on how losing her father has impacted how she relates to others around her. Heck, even Mr. Burnish (voiced well in a good performance by Izzard) has more layers to his character than the audience initially expects.
Abominable isn’t quite as ambitious as some of Dreamworks’ catalog, as it sticks within its lost lovable monster conventions fairly hard and has some lowbrow kiddie humor. But it makes up for that somewhat in terms how much affection is given to the cast and themes of the story, and if you’re looking for animation eye candy then this film more than has you covered.
All of the characters are nicely stylized and are extremely expressive. Expect a few moments of great beauty when Everest (whose design is incredibly fluffy and cute, resembling a plush Pokemon toy more than a fearsome beast) shows off his abilities, like when they surf down a wave of yellow flowers escaping the bad guys or fly on top of clouds, or Yi and Everest performing a poignant duet atop a statue as a garden blossoms to the tune of Coldplay’s “Fix You”.
Although I do have to admit at some points I chuckled to myself at how Everest seemed to have a new humming ability for nearly any situation. Nothing too bad, but I could hear the late wrestling announcer Bobby Heenan in my head yelling “How can they do this, just make up the rules as they go?!?”
Even though Abominable utilizes familiar story tropes, there are still some legit good messages to be found about teamwork and how friends can help one manage through tough times better. It’s not the most original thing in the world, but it’s just a very kind and sweet film that families will certainly get a kick out of. Not to mention how it proudly wears its Asian origins and influences on its sleeve, starring four very endearing characters that deserve to have more stories told about them.
But what did you think, did you love it or hate it, or what? If you’d had the chance to check it out swing by @Official_FAN on Twitter as always and let’s chat about it!