Missing Link

Vocies of: Hugh Jackman, Zach Galifianakis, David Walliams, Stephen Fry, Zoe Saldana, Matt Lucas, Timothy Olyphant, Emma Thompson, Amrita Acharia
Directed by: Chris Butler
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2019

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An adventurer (Hugh Jackman) discovers a living missing link (Zach Galifianakis) between Neanderthals and modern humans and decides to help him find his relatives on the other side of the world.

Review:

Tim: I thought Missing Link was okay. It certainly looks impressive with the stop motion. The story is about average. I never really hated the film, but I didn't find a whole lot to like, either. This is one of those films that did enough to be decent, but it just feels so forgettable that the plot and the characters will slowly evaporate over time. Eventually, I'll remember I watched this movie because I'm writing this review, but otherwise, I doubt I'll have much recollection of this film.

The story never made a ton of sense to me, but I understand what they were trying to do. It starts with introducing us to Sir Lionel Frost, an adventurer and monster hunter determined to capture evidence of mythological or mysterious creatures. Hugh Jackman does a fairly good job voicing this character, but otherwise, Frost is shockingly devoid of personality. Jackman has some charm, but it's mostly lost on this character. I know we were supposed to root for Frost, but it was difficult to do so. The movie is very much a redemptive arc for him, so he's somewhat unlikable at the beginning. The movie never really gives us a great reason to care about him. I know this is an animated movie, but you just think about the great adventurers depicted in a wide range of movies, and Frost will never be included among them. We learn a bit about his past throughout the movie, but it's never compelling. When the main protagonist is a bore, your movie is already in trouble.

Eventually, Frost meets up with Mr. Link, excellently voiced by Zach Galifianakis . Galifianakis is at least able to bring much of his unique personality to the role. I thought he did terrific voice acting. Link is at least entertaining and memorable. It's all very restrained humor, but it mostly works. He's the most memorable aspect of the film and livens the movie up the minute he shows up. Even Frost seems a little better, playing the straight man to Link. Eventually, our duo becomes a trio with the addition of Fortnight, played by Zoe Saldana. I was excited for her introduction, both because I like Saldana and because the movie needed some femininity injected into it. Unfortunately, she fares about as well as Frost. She's another completely bland, forgettable character. I wasn't a fan of how they handled her character at all. It felt like with the right character, this could have been a really compelling team, but it doesn't quite work out that way. She's underutilized and not nearly remarkable or entertaining enough. It felt like a basic, lowest common denominator addition. Saldana's voice work is good, but the character wasn't.

The idea behind the story is pretty good- two adventures trying to get Bigfoot across the world to join his cousins, the Yeti. I'm giving it some grace here, but okay, that sounds like a fun movie- I'm in for that. The story never comes across as all that great. It doesn't feel like the epic adventure it wants to be. Far too much time is spent with the boring antagonists and their inclusive men's club of adventurers. Lord Piggot-Dunceby is fueled by Stephen Fry's solid voice, but he wasn't a great character. By the time they reach Asia, I was ready for the story to end. I give the script some credit for a bit of an unexpected twist and a halfway decent conclusion, but it never propels the film far enough along.

I didn't love Missing Link, but it's a perfectly serviceable stop motion film. It feels like that's a dying art, so I always appreciate when we get movies that utilize that. Unfortunately, too many of them feel like they get so wrapped up in the technical side of making the movie that the story suffers. Missing Link is a decent movie and I'm glad I watched it, but it simply doesn't have enough staying power.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Coraline, ParaNorman, Kubo and the Two Strings