TURNING RED (2022)
Tagline: Growing Up is a Beast.
(Animation, Adventure, Kaiju) [PG]
I'm a freak!
In this one a girl named Meilin is just going through life, getting good grades, being herself, having a good time, and then bam. She wakes up one morning and discovers that every time she gets angry, sad, or excited she turns into a giant red panda. Can she find the answer to this blessing or curse or will it drive her family to madness?
First off, this thing has a LOT of the same themes that ENCANTO does. It’s a lot about family and how a young girl is struggling to fit in, not only with her family but her friends. In spite of a few reviews stating otherwise, there really is something for everyone in this movie. Yes, it starts out pretty much begging anyone that isn’t 12 to turn it off and go vomit in the bathroom, but it doesn’t take long to turn into an intriguing picture with a story that I think most everyone can relate to in one way or another. While it does deal with some concepts that are probably over some kids' heads, I can’t see anyone over 4 not having a pretty good time with this.
Regarding the voice cast, there are a few big names and a few people I have never heard of. The main focus of the film is Meilin voiced by newcomer Rosalie Chiang. She does a fantastic job with this. Sandra Oh voices Meilin’s mother Ming and I thought she was pretty good as well. Sandra Oh is best known for RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON. Ava Morse voices Meilin’s friend Miriam and is pretty solid, she is also known for RON’S GONE WRONG where she actually voiced a character with her real name (Ava). Priya is played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and also does pretty great. Having said that my two favorite characters in this movie aren’t even the main focus, I really liked James Hong the most as Mr. Gao, better than most everyone. We also get Hyein Park in her first voice role as Abby. She does an awesome job as well, but oddly in spite of the main focus of the story being on Meilin and her mother, the angriest person in this whole film is Abby. There are hardly any scenes where she doesn’t just look totally pissed even when she’s happy. It’s all pretty hilarious and I thought some of her scenes were funnier than anything everyone else on screen was doing.
Overall I found this movie to be quite a bit more fun and funny than I was expecting from the previews. It’s also quite a bit more emotional. I don’t want to give too much away here, but this is definitely a family film I think has a lot broader appeal than it’s being given credit for.
This movie doesn’t come across as pc which actually caused some people to claim it’s offensive or whatever, but if I do have one complaint it’s just the overall animation style being a little too “bubbly” for my taste, outside of that though I have to give this a commendable 5 out of 7.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
Please check out the link below by clicking on the picture. Because no one should die buttonless.
Comments
Post a Comment