CHRIS BUTLER
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBBB.
Canada/USA, 2019. Laika Entertainment, Digital One, Entertainment One. Screenplay by Chris Butler. Cinematography by Chris Peterson. Produced by Travis Knight, Arianne Sutner. Music by Carter Burwell. Production Design by Nelson Lowry. Costume Design by Deborah Cook. Film Editing by Stephen Perkins. Academy Awards 2019. Golden Globe Awards 2019. Las Vegas Film Critics Awards 2019. Washington Film Critics Awards 2019.
This delightful animated feature stars Hugh Jackman as Sir Lionel Frost, a global explorer who is bent on making a discovery that will win him acceptance from the snooty adventurers back home in London. A failed attempt to get a good photo of “Nessy”, the creature who inhabits that Scottish Loch, only elicits jeers from his rivals when he returns to their exclusive club, but it is not long before he is on to his next try. Having received a letter informing him of the existence of a mysterious, giant creature roaming America’s Pacific Northwest, Sir Lionel heads across the ocean and meets a sasquatch (Zach Galifianakis) with surprisingly good English letter-writing skills and manners. Hoping to take him back to England and win over his naysayers once and for all, Sir Lionel is dismayed when his new friend, who has delightfully named himself Susan, asks instead to be escorted to the Himalayas. Susan is the only one left of his kind and his existence is lonely, but he believes that if he can meet the legendary Yetis of that faraway mountain range, he will join a society in which he belongs. The journey they go on takes them around the world and includes the welcome addition of Sir Lionel’s late friend’s widow Adelina (Zoe Saldana), who harbours resentment against the man she loved before marrying her husband and also possesses an important map to the Himalayas that can help them on their quest. Full of winsome, witty humour and terrific voice performances (the best of them Emma Thompson as the Yetis’ dry and unfriendly leader), this charmer is one that both kids and adults will love for its Jules Verne flavour of adventure and a series of very funny jokes.
