OPINION

The missing ‘link’ is the script

By Danny Villalobos
Staff Writer

Rating: B-

See it if: You like stop motion

Skip it if: You can’t stand weak scripts

May the record show that I have a soft spot for stop-motion animation and “Missing Link” is a movie with puppy eyes that are keeping me from going as harshly on it as I should.

In search to solidify his place among a club of adventurers, Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman) takes a journey to the Pacific Northwest, when he receives an anonymous letter detailing the existence of Bigfoot. Little did he know the letter was written by Bigfoot himself, Mr. Link (Zach Galifianakis). Both head on a journey to get Mr. Link safely to the hidden mythical city of Shangri-La before a cowboy takes Mr. Link as a trophy.

This is a visually pleasing movie, frame by frame. Kudos to Laika studios for every frame, puppet and effect they’ve managed to produce.

For those unaware of Laika studios, they are the masterminds behind 2016’s “Kubo and the Two Strings,” which was nominated in the best visual effects category at the Oscars, as well as 2009’s “Coraline,” which still stands with a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Laika’s focus on making quality stop-motion films is simply magnanimous. There are videos that go behind the scenes that you can watch right now, which show the amount of work that goes into each frame.

Even with its technical prowess in stop-motion, one thing that makes this movie barely swim is its weak script.

Characters seem to be missing conflict with each other. Let me explain in brief: it’s established in the film that Lionel Frost mistreats every assistant that has worked for him. Good setup right there; that should then lead to a coming fallout with his new assistant, Mr. Link; but no, that doesn’t happen. In fact, the only time when Frost is reminded he’s treating Mr. Link like crap is when his ex-lover Adelina Fortnight tells him, it never comes from Link himself, which made it very underwhelming.

Overall, it’s visually stunning and every person who poured hours of hard work into this animation deserve two rounds of applause. One for the technical skill and one more for having a job that requires them to play around with puppets all day.

Hopefully next time, Laika can put the same effort into their script.

Comments

comments

Danny Villalobos

Recent Posts

WCC to see new withdraw, audit process for 2024-2025

Sasha Hatinger  Staff Writer  WCC has changed its withdrawal and audit process. Students can now…

5 days ago

WTMC student explores beyond earth, space with NASA-sponsored internship

Sasha Hatinger  Staff Writer Sruthilaya Rajavelu–Mohan, a pre-engineering WTMC student at WCC, is striving for…

6 days ago

Opinion: The Washtenaw Voice gears up for social media rebrand 

Sasha Hatinger  Staff Writer As much as I consider myself to be "off the grid"…

6 days ago

Review: ‘Gladiator II’ swings high, misses historical mark

Yana McGuire  Staff Writer  Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 This review contains spoilers for…

6 days ago

Is my food safe from the bird flu?

Courtney Prielipp Washtenaw Voice 2024 saw an increase in the number of dairy cattle affected…

6 days ago