Post by Dracula on Dec 19, 2020 10:49:42 GMT -5
Wolfwalkers(12/13/2020)
Earlier this year I did a watch through of the arty animated films that Gkids have distributed in recent years and films from that marathon that jumped out at me the most were almost certainly the ones from the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon: The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, and The Breadwinner. The first two of those films were made by the production company’s founder Tomm Moore, who clearly has a deep interest in Irish mythology and has seemingly set out to be a sort of Celtic Miyazaki. His latest film is being distributed on Apple+ and feels like a bit of a return to the style of The Secret of Kells given that both are set hundreds of years ago in Ireland and have visual styles that sort of look like old storybooks come to life. This one is set in the 17th century and focuses on a girl archer who comes into contact with a pack of mostly friendly “wolfwalkers” (a sort of Celtic group werewolf where the wolves mostly transform into humans rather than the reverse) and ends up in the middle of a war of sorts between her town and these creatures. From a narrative perspective this is perhaps a bit less adventurous than Moore’s two previous films as this follows a couple of more conventional story beats that I might expect from an above average Disney movie but it’s hard to get too picky about that given how beautiful this studio’s animation can be when they go deep into their historical art style. The novelty of this style has perhaps worn a bit since 2009 and I’d say that The Secret of Kells remains the studio’s best movie, but this is another strong entry into their catalog and is well worth a look if you have that streaming service.
***1/2 out of Five
Earlier this year I did a watch through of the arty animated films that Gkids have distributed in recent years and films from that marathon that jumped out at me the most were almost certainly the ones from the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon: The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, and The Breadwinner. The first two of those films were made by the production company’s founder Tomm Moore, who clearly has a deep interest in Irish mythology and has seemingly set out to be a sort of Celtic Miyazaki. His latest film is being distributed on Apple+ and feels like a bit of a return to the style of The Secret of Kells given that both are set hundreds of years ago in Ireland and have visual styles that sort of look like old storybooks come to life. This one is set in the 17th century and focuses on a girl archer who comes into contact with a pack of mostly friendly “wolfwalkers” (a sort of Celtic group werewolf where the wolves mostly transform into humans rather than the reverse) and ends up in the middle of a war of sorts between her town and these creatures. From a narrative perspective this is perhaps a bit less adventurous than Moore’s two previous films as this follows a couple of more conventional story beats that I might expect from an above average Disney movie but it’s hard to get too picky about that given how beautiful this studio’s animation can be when they go deep into their historical art style. The novelty of this style has perhaps worn a bit since 2009 and I’d say that The Secret of Kells remains the studio’s best movie, but this is another strong entry into their catalog and is well worth a look if you have that streaming service.
***1/2 out of Five
