Abominable

I was so excited to see Dreamworks' latest film, Abominable. So when I finally had the opportunity over the weekend, I was thrilled. 

Abominable is a cute story of a baby Yeti who escapes his captors and recruits three kids to help him get back to his home at the peak of Mount Everest. They are led on a dangerous trek across China, evading SWAT teams, diabolical scientists, and conniving rare animal collectors before finally reaching their goal. The good guys win and the bad guys get dropped off the edge of a cliff, presumably to meet their untimely demise. Happy ending. YAY!! 

Plus there was the film's undeniably stellar animation (I mean, Dreamworks is probably my favorite animation studio, producing such gems as Shrek and Kung Fu Panda). 

I should have loved this film. But despite all that Abominable had going for it, the viewing left me feeling vaguely unsatisfied. 

Nothing about this film felt finished to me: The main characters were one-dimensional, despite all their personal dramas. I felt that I should feel something for their plights, but I didn't. Even the villains were uninspired with no true motivations for why they were so evil. Worse, the storyline has been done before (and done better) in other movies (probably Disney). Even the attempts at humor fell flat. Everything about this movie lacked creativity. It seemed like the entire project was rushed. The end result is a movie that seems like it will be cute and heartwarming but, in reality, is totally forgettable.

If I can say anything good about Abominable is this: At least it was better than CATS.

--AJB