It struck me odd when DreamWorks premiered its first film of the year with How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World but there was no word for their next film Abominable. By early spring, a trailer did surface in theaters but strangely not online until weeks later. One would take this as a bad sign but now that now having seen the film, I was glad to be wrong.
After tending an injured Yeti hiding on the roof of her apartment, teenage loner Yi (Chloe Bennet) discovers that the frightened fuzzball is trying to get back home on Mt. Everest. With the help of her two neighbors: the young and eager Peng (Albert Tsai) and city boy Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor), the trio embark on a journey to get Everest (whom Yi decides to name the Yeti) safely home and avoid capture by an old businessman (Eddie Izzard) and a zoologist (Sarah Paulson) determined to prove the Yeti's existence.
The narrative borrows heavily from E.T. and The Iron Giant, with a young protagonist befriending a lost creature and keeping the authoritative adults from capturing it. But as the adventure began, it transitioned into a surprisingly beautiful movie.
Abominable invoke's the best of DreamWorks from the gorgeous animation and original story-line courtesy of director/writer Jill Culton, a veteran animator who has worked not only with DreamWorks but with Sony and Pixar.
The animation and atmosphere brought to mind Miyazki or a more appropriate comparison Kung Fu Panda. I say it as a compliment as the franchise is one of DreamWorks' best. Seeing Chinese culture as a source of inspiration adds to the beauty of the film, making Abominable the second film to take place in China with a female protagonist after The Farewell. Everest's nature powers dazzles on an Inception and Avatar: The Last Airbebnder level as we see blueberries grow to the size of beach balls and wrecking balls and sailing on a tidal wave of flowers.
While I had my doubts with the seemingly-bland characters, they do grow on you. Yi is the fierce leader hiding a sad past, Jin humorously attempting to take charge isn't a complete washout as we see him take a stand for his friends. Peng and Everest are charming together as both are little kids who just need someone to watch over them. In a bold move, the movie never makes Yi and Jin a couple; something you rarely see in animated movies. They few that come to mind are Finding Nemo and Kung Fu Panda 2. I guess Zootopia can be included though the internet likes to think otherwise.
Abominable even includes a frequent Disney cliche that surprisingly didn't bother me. It actually gives time to develop a certain element to the story before proceeding fully. My only complaint is that it kept reminding me another Disney character that it got a little distracting.
Of the recent three movies that involve Bigfoot and Yetis (which include last year's Smallfoot and this year's Missing Link), Abominable is my favorite of this unofficial trilogy. Why it didn't stay with the original title Everest, is beyond me. Is the mountain under some copyright or license law that I'm unaware of? Was it to avoid confusion with the 2015 true-story movie starring Jason Clarke and Josh Brolin? In any case, the movie may be titled titled Abominable but rest assured the movie is quite the opposite, for all the good reasons.
Final Verdict: B+
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