Abominable (2019) - Movie Review

Seems like Yetis are making a comeback in the realm of family-friendly cinema. We had the surprisingly challenging Smallfoot last year, and then we had Laika’s latest effort Missing Link earlier this year, both highly effective pieces of animation and some of the better family flicks of late. And now, it looks like Dreamworks is throwing their hat into the ring with this co-production with Pearl Studio, a Chinese animation studio they first collaborated with on the muddled but still entertaining Kung Fu Panda 3. And what we get this time around is a new plateau for the heights that Dreamworks Animation can rise to.

For a start, it’s a film entirely set in China, featuring predominantly Chinese characters (with the only exceptions being the mostly American/British villains), and yet this is remarkably empty in terms of cultural stereotypes. The closest we get to that is the emphasis on the family unit and staying connected to those around them (which given its Chinese production background is par for the course), but otherwise, they’re depicted about the same as they would be if this were set in New York with all-American characters. It’s a feat of normalisation that doesn’t usually crop up in Dreamworks efforts; even the Kung Fu Panda films went for a couple cheap jokes along ethnic lines, whereas this lets everyone keep their dignity.

That feeling extends to the characters themselves, as they ostensibly fill certain genre stereotypes in regards to ‘kid and their unusual pet’ stories, yet they all end up revealing some deeper facet that turns them into more than just walking punchlines. Chloe Bennet as the lead character Yi starts out as the somewhat rebellious loner struggling with the loss of her father, but then her rationale for her constant moving around and keeping busy makes for a nicely understated bit of development.

Tenzing Norgay Trainor and Albert Tsai as Jin and his brother Peng respectively begin on a similar note, as the vanity-driven social media hound and the goofy younger sibling, but they both end up quite fleshed out by story’s end. And then there’s Eddie Izzard as Burnish, a retired explorer who wants to retrieve the yeti as proof of their existence, who goes from every villain in every other Yeti film into the embodiment of the film’s ultimate message about leaving nature where it is.

And speaking of the natural world, bloody hell, this film is absolutely stunning to look at. The incredible lighting effects on display add a lot to the moodier moments, and the hustle and bustle of Beijing’s city streets make for detailed visuals, but once the story leads into the grand spaciousness of the outside world, it reaches near Ne Zha levels of gorgeousity. It’s not a particularly busy feature, but the pointed simplicity allows for rather breathtaking moments, especially when combined with Rupert Gregson-Williams’ softly weeping orchestrals and violin sections. Could have done without Coldplay’s Fix You, but then again, it’s used in the most mesmerising sequence of the entire film, so I can’t complain too much.

Beyond all that, there really isn’t much else to this feature. It’s a rather simplistic offering that puts all its emphasis on the visuals and the soundscape to make its point, aided by some very warm moments of humour (the whooping snake is one of the best running gags I’ve seen all year) and solid acting and characterisation throughout. It’s not nearly as chewy in its writing as Smallfoot or Missing Link, but for sheer visual storytelling and wonder, it makes for one of Dreamworks’ best features to date. And considering the major quality overhaul they’ve been going through after the utter dregs of Home, that is saying something.