Missing Link: DVD Review

Missing Link: DVD Review

Meshing a whole range of genres, Laika's latest sees them build on the work done with Kubo, Coraline and The Box Trolls to produce something that while it lacks as much heart as their previous work, it still raises the game in the animated front.

In a take on the new world versus the old world, Jackman plays Sir Lionel Frost, an explorer and monster hunter who longs to be accepted into the inner circle of explorers run by Stephen Fry's puffed up Lord Piggot-Dunceby.

When Frost receives a letter purportedly giving him the location of the Sasquatch, he sees this as his chance to cement his place and show the naysayers. But it turns out the Sasquatch is the one who got in touch with him to seek his help.

Dubbing his find Mr Link, Frost sets out to help...

Missing Link is a curious film.

It lacks the derring do of the kind of adventure films you'd potentially expect, eschewing that in favour of something that's old school in many ways.

There are elements of a western here as Frost rides into a deserted town with bar fights on the menu; and there are components of classic Laurel and Hardy as the Odd couple of Link and Frost go on their journey, thanks to Link's taking everything Frost says literally - and which delivers some of the biggest laughs of the film.

With his benign face and innocence, Galifianakis' softly spoken Link is a fragile character given a heart that's hard to deny. There's silliness at times, called for by the script, and it works nicely, thanks to Jackman's somewhat stiff delivery as the explorer who's lost his place in the world, in pursuit of what he feels matters to him. The duo make a good pair, and it's at the expense of Saldana, whose character feels a little shoehorned in and sadly sidelined.

While part of the problem with Missing Link is that the threats just tangibly disappear at times, Laika's animation does much to paper over those narrative cracks. It may not be the traditional stop motion, given it's run through a computer, but there are elements of Aardman Studios here and the kind of beauty that was part of Kubo and The Two Strings (one of the most underappreciated animations of past years).

Laika's commitment to indigenous faces also shines again in the latter part of the film, and subtle touches make this an animation fan's dream as the different cultures merge.

There may be moments when the younger kids will get restless, but Missing Link is not above a dismissive raspberry to punctuate proceedings, nor is it opposed to some silly wordplay and sight gags that will be adored and amuse.

All in all, Missing Link may at times feel like it has some links of its own missing, but the overall chain is tight and strong, proving that Laika's branching out into wider stories is only a good thing.