‘Missing Link’ Review
The fifth entry in Laika’s impressive roster of stop motion feature films is Missing Link, a rip-roaring visual rampage across the globe. Directed, written and designed by Laika alumni Chris Butler, the film is a nod to the adventurers of our childhoods, such as Indiana Jones and Phileas Fogg. It wastes no time setting up its own exciting cinematic universe, landing us slap-bang in the middle of one of the charismatic Sir Lionel Frost (voiced by Hugh Jackman)’s adventures, in pursuit of the legendary Nessie with his long-suffering assistant Mr. Lint; the film’s version of the famous loch in the spectacular and mysterious highlands is just one of dozens of breathtaking vistas that have been created for this cross-continental film.
The film follows the goal-oriented explorer, risking it all to secure his place in the boys’-club-cum-adventure-guild The Optimates Club in London, where genuine discovery seems to take second place to crazed trophy-hunting. Despite his clear knack for tracking, Frost’s inability to secure the pelt, head or any other stuffed trinket has made him a unworthy candidate in the eyes of the pompous club members. When a mysterious letter arrives promising an audience with the elusive Sasquatch, Frost can’t think of any better specimen to show off and win his bet with the Club president, thus securing his seat.
Missing Link (Laika/Lionsgate)
Enter Mr.Link (voiced by Zach Galifianakis), the charming but clumsy Sasquatch who can not only speak in perfect English (if a little literal in his interpretation of the language) but wrote the letter requesting Frost’s adventurous expertise to help reunite him with his icy cousins on the other side of the world. With the promise of not only any specimens from Link he could want but also the tracking of the even more elusive Yeti, Frost gladly agrees. Joined by the passionate and thoroughly modern female explorer Adelina Fortnight (voiced by Zoe Saldana) the trio set off on the tracks of the elusive snowy giants. However not all is well in merry old London, as the head of the dubious Optimates Club – Lord Piggot-Dunce (voiced by Stephen Fry), not willing to lose face or his bet with Frost, sends the most ruthless hunter in his contacts to track both Frost and his hapless companion and make sure they don’t return.
Missing Link (Laika/Lionsgate)
The film is visually masterful, with multiple sets spanning almost every continent across the globe – 110 sets and 65 unique locations to be exact. The trademark eye for detail that Laika bring to every film is pushed even further with a bold colour palette and a jaw-dropping sense of scale in the landscapes and design. There is a real sense of space and a hugeness to this world, that keeps wowing scene after scene. While Missing Link is action-packed there are moments of sensitive dialogue that are able to capture the true themes of the film – such as loneliness, belonging and friendship – that run throughout.
Missing Link (Laika/Lionsgate)
The design has a distinct style of its own, which stays true to the consistent range and progression of design Laika strives for with each feature. While you can tell it is a Laika film, it doesn’t look like any of its predecessors. These characters are tall and narrow, almost as if squeezing themselves into this compact world, or big and broad like the central character Mr. Link, which adds to the sense of being out of place among the flora and the vistas of the world he inhabits. There is also a sense that the use of colour in the 3D-printed faces has also come into its own. With each new film brings new levels of refinement, both to the motion and the way in which the colour has been layered into the prints themselves. The style doesn’t detract from the narrative, the technology doesn’t take away from the visual but there is a sense of cohesiveness to the look. Unusual perhaps, but stylistically bold without detracting from the goings-on on screen.
There is a potential danger of losing a sense of the characters in the film due to its epic production scale but by keeping the narrative simple (albeit with a little surprising twist) paired with slapstick, sometimes self-effacing humour and small, progressive social victories dotted throughout, you don’t lose the audience in what could quite easily of been an overly-dense and plodding narrative. The film captures the energy and fury of international travel in a fun, upbeat, madcap romp through a beautifully constructed world that will carve a place in the hearts and minds of its audiences.
Missing Link is out in UK cinemas now. For more info visit missinglinkfilm.co.uk