Turning Red (2022)
3/4
"Turning Red" was released earlier this year, and has since received some mixed reception. I've even heard some people call it "the worst Pixar movie that they've made" and some have called it a masterpiece. I admit to really liking the film. I enjoyed a lot of it, and admired a lot of it too. The visual style is massively vibrant, colorful and eye popping, which is my main reason, I think, of enjoying it as much as I did.
Set in Toronto, 2002, "Turning Red" follows 13 year old Mei, an ambitious and successful Chinese girl who is going through a period in her life like any girl does. But it all changes for her when she turns into a big red panda, which turns out to be something that she's inherited from her family, a characteristic that has carried down from generation to generation. Mei must learn to live with the panda, and deal with her own family and personal problems.
Mainly, the story is interesting, but the style is very much like anime. It's well done and thoroughly crafted, with a wonderful and compelling style. It was directed by Domee Shi, who made the absolutely brilliant "Bao" six years earlier. The drawing and directing style are very similar.
Overall, I enjoyed it much more than I expected, and thought it was a very well made Pixar film. It's not their best film, but it really is wonderful - a cultural representation of anime and different cultures, made into an enjoyable adolescent fairy tale.
3/4
"Turning Red" was released earlier this year, and has since received some mixed reception. I've even heard some people call it "the worst Pixar movie that they've made" and some have called it a masterpiece. I admit to really liking the film. I enjoyed a lot of it, and admired a lot of it too. The visual style is massively vibrant, colorful and eye popping, which is my main reason, I think, of enjoying it as much as I did.
Set in Toronto, 2002, "Turning Red" follows 13 year old Mei, an ambitious and successful Chinese girl who is going through a period in her life like any girl does. But it all changes for her when she turns into a big red panda, which turns out to be something that she's inherited from her family, a characteristic that has carried down from generation to generation. Mei must learn to live with the panda, and deal with her own family and personal problems.
Mainly, the story is interesting, but the style is very much like anime. It's well done and thoroughly crafted, with a wonderful and compelling style. It was directed by Domee Shi, who made the absolutely brilliant "Bao" six years earlier. The drawing and directing style are very similar.
Overall, I enjoyed it much more than I expected, and thought it was a very well made Pixar film. It's not their best film, but it really is wonderful - a cultural representation of anime and different cultures, made into an enjoyable adolescent fairy tale.