Wildwood: Movie Review

Cast: Carey Mulligan, Peyton Elisabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Maya Erskine, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Tom Waits, Richard E. Grant, Amandla Stenberg, Jemaine Clement, Tantoo Cardinal, Len Cariou, Marc Evan Jackson
Director: Travis Knight

Coraline studio Laika's biggest stop-motion movie arrives and with it, a fantasy tale that's reminiscent of 1980s UK drama The Box of Delights and The Lord Of The Rings.

Lee is Prue, a teenager who finds her dad's tales of the dangers of the nearby forests tiresome and his insistence there's magic everywhere equally as dull. When her parents go out one day leaving her in charge of their young son Mac, she's warned not to take him outside.

Naturally rebelling against the warning, she introduces Mac to the world of Portland outside - but things soon go disastrously wrong when the boy is stolen by a murder of crows and taken deep into the nearby forest.

With no choice but to save him, Prue races headlong into an adventure she could never have imagined in a world she'd barely believe possible.

Adapted from Colin Meloy's 2011 fantasy novel, Laika's latest is a brilliant mix of stop-motion ambition, fantasy story elements you've seen plenty of times before and just magical scale and scope.

"I don't know whether this is terrifying or adorable," Prue breathlessly breathes after encountering a world of anthropomorphized animals and humans inside the woods. Knight and his Laika team have managed to make it both.

Sure, there's an argument that at 132 minutes Wildwood goes on a little long and there are a few moments where there's too much concentration on the technical wizardry and showing off its prowess, but at its heart, Wildwood is old fashioned, heartfelt storytelling that plays with the fairy tale elements of elements of Danish stories and countless other tales and fashions them painstakingly into something new and exciting.

Whether it's the tragedy of the Dowager Governess, the homage to The Birds, the epic battle ambition of The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers or just the sheer adoration of Portland and its hipster ways, Wildwood captures them all in cinematic bundle that's unbelievably astounding.

Deeply rich and resonant storytelling adds dimension to what should be a by-the-numbers villain, a plucky teenager who learns about the reality of life and a young would-be hero who adores the fighting games but lacks the courage to be part of a real war. They're all tried and true formulae, but here Laika recognises they're tapestries to be woven deeper and their nature to be sewn in, rather than scattered over.

The visual prowess can't be overlooked here and just when you think the scale can't be beaten or the less nightmarish edge of Radiohead's There, There video are being outdone, Knight and his team produce an utterly astounding battle sequence that segues into something more mystical and elemental. It's heady stuff and the kind of visual material that reminds you what the magic of the movies truly is.

There's no denying Wildwood is incredible - if there's any justice, it will score the studio an Oscar - but at its heart, it's a reminder that even the most familiar of tales have new life to be breathed into them in the right hands.