Yetis and China have been given their fair share of cinematic attention in the past few years. From Small Foot to Missing Link to Monster Inc., the legendary snowman has proven to be a drawcard for families. The latest version of the loveable, white monster has been on the boil at Dreamworks and Pearl Studio for the past decade with it making its debut in theatres this year.
In a secret research facility hidden in China, a yeti escapes from his captors and tries to find shelter amongst the apartment dwellings of the local city. The creature manages to find a hideaway on top of the building where a young teen girl named Yi (Chloe Bennet) and her family live. Her rooftop hideout is where she gets away from the busyness and painful aspects of her life. Upon discovering the creature, Yi must piece together how this furry monster found his way to her rooftop. She has to partner with her friends, Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor) and Peng (Albert Tsai), to develop a plan to get him back to his home in the Himalayas.
After naming the snowy white creature Everest, the young trio tries to stay ahead of the team at Burnish Industries who are trying to recapture the beast. Each step of the journey opens their eyes to new parts of the Chinese landscape and the magical powers of their legendary stow away. Despite the friends best intentions, things become increasingly difficult for them to achieve their goal of seeing the young beast free in the mountains with his family.
The competition within the realm of computer-generated films continues to grow and finding original storylines has become increasingly difficult. Much of the story does seem to be borrowed from other films like E.T.: The extraterrestrial and How to Train Your Dragon, but proves to be a safe choice for parents of school-aged children. Abominable will provide families with a magical cinematic experience during the upcoming season. The stunning animation will sweep audiences into a story that will leave them feeling as though they have taken a journey with Everest and his friends through the beauty of China.
What should parents know and Abominable? The characters and screenplay take on big concepts like the death of a parent, which doesn't make this an ideal choice for children under 5 years of age. Despite being a safe choice for families, most adults will leave with a feeling that they have seen most of this story before in other films. The dazzling visuals cannot cover that lack of originality, but does prove to be entertaining enough to make for an enjoyable time at the theatre.
Reel Dialogue: Nothing is impossible?
Throughout Abominable, more than one character states that many of the events that occur on the journey are impossible. Yet through the magic of animation, the impossible becomes possible. Building on the belief that if you believe or work hard enough, all things are possible.
In real life, most people know that this is not always true. Some things are impossible for us to do. Not all those who play basketball in their youth will play in the NBA and not everyone who sings in the shower will get a recording contract. Interestingly, even the Bible seems to get into the discussion of how nothing is impossible. Where is the disconnect?
“Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20
The issue in this passage is in the word ‘faith.’ Where does someone place their faith, in themselves or in God? On the subject of impossibilities, it can be said that with mankind things are impossible, but with God all things are possible. Not because we want them to be, but because only God can make the impossible possible.
This should make for a fascinating discussion in the car going home…
