Watched Date: 12/13/19
Let’s quickly talk about the CGI adventure Abominable, the second movie released from DreamWorks Animation last year, and they partnered with China’s Pearl Studios to bring us a tale about a young girl named Yi (voiced by Chloe Bennet, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), who finds a magical Yeti on top of her apartment building in Shanghai when it escaped from a compound. Naming it Everest, Yi and her friends embark on an incredible journey to Mount Everest to get Everest home to his family.
When I first watched this back in December, this was one of the few DreamWorks movies I didn’t have an interest in seeing in theaters since I didn’t like the trailers when it just looked similar to other Hollywood animated movies featuring these kinds of creatures like Missing Link and Smallfoot. But Abominable is in-between those two in what can be described as alright.
Although this falls under the line of predictability of a story that’s formulaic, you do ultimately care about the friendship that blossoms between the relatable Yi and Everest. They are two characters who need each other the most as Yi is looking for her place in the world where Everest needs to be somewhere comforting with nobody hurting him. They geared its story towards the younger demographic that’s for sure, but what helps its advantage is knowing about our main character that’s easy to get wrapped up by near the end. And with talking about animation, it looks stunning, especially when the movie explores and goes to different locations in the countryside of China with its beautiful colors along with how Everest uses his powers.
What I didn’t care about throughout is the supporting characters, namely cousins Peng (voiced by Albert Tsai) and Jin (voiced by Tenzing Norgay Trainor) since I never thought they should’ve been involved with coming along with Yi on her journey even though they were caught up in it, making most of the hilarious moments that were meant to be funny fall short of making me laugh. That can also be said about the villains. Was it trying hard to tough on the heartstrings? Yes, but there isn’t anything in here that will have anyone tear up. However, there was a beautiful scene showcasing Yi’s skills on the violin at the Leshan Giant Buddha in Sichuan with “Fix You” by Coldplay playing. How did this movie know I love that song? You know you love this song, don’t lie about it.
Abominable isn’t one of DreamWorks’ best outings since it’s light on laughs and contains a story that doesn’t have anything new to say, but the stunning animation and heartwarming message is good enough for children to watch and consider this an adorable experience. Just know this will not be the next How to Train Your Dragon or anything, which I never noticed the similarities until now.
Overall Grade: B-
DC's Take 