AccentedCinema

[Weekly Update] November 22nd, 2020

Added 2020-11-23 02:53:36 +0000 UTC

If you noticed there seem to be a lot of Japanese films featured in this channel lately... That was totally unintentional. We'll be back to Chinese films starting January.

ABOUT THE CHANNEL

Hope you enjoy our videos on Over the Moon, and Rurouni Kenshin. This month turns out more productive than I initially planned. I know I said I want to take breaks but, I guess I'm not very good at resting.
Of course, we still have our bonus video for this month. For November, we'll be talking Street Fighter, the 1994... Cult cheese classic? I don't know what word to describe it. But I love that movie.
For January, I change up the schedule a bit. Originally there's a Shinkai retrospective. But I think we have enough Japanese anime by the end of Christmas, so I'm postponing that one, and return to our favourite genre: Martial Arts. This one is going to be big and long overdued.

ABOUT MEDIA

Let's talk more about Over the Moon. Here are a few things that didn't make it into our video.
Overall, I'd give this film a 7/10. It's decent, but nothing too impressive. For people who don't watch animations outside of the modern classics, it's easy to feel disappointed. Animations from Toy Story to Kung Fu Panda have pushed the medium to a big budget height. Over the Moon looks so good, it's rather easy to forget that this movie is made, likely with a fraction of the budget of those films. Knowing that, the film becomes a lot more impressive.
Another thing to keep in mind, is this film aims for an audience much younger than most people expect. It is a made for Netflix film, with a lot (and I mean a lot) of songs to entertain little kids. This film could've been another Smurfs, or Trolls. But it rises above that, to a point people compare it to Pixar movies. That is already an accomplishment.
I noticed a lot of people don't like the main character Fei Fei's design, and I can see where they come from:
Some call her ugly. I disagree. I like the idea that she's just this regular modern day young girl, with messy hair and tan skin. It creates a nice contrast to her mother and the moon goddess, who are both much more etherial and traditionally beautiful. Fei Fei isn't beautiful, yes. But that is the point. She doesn't have to.
However, she is, at the same time, forgettable. Think of other animated characters: Mr. Incredible and his family, the entire cast from Inside-Out, or Carl from Up, or Anton from Ratatouilles. They are instantly memorable, because of their character design. They have some very expressive stylization.
Fei Fei's cartoon stylization is very lacking in this. The film goes from a semi-realistic look that, while technically impressive, is bothering on the uncanny valley. The one saving grace is her expressive eyebrow. But for the most part, Fei Fei just doesn't have a recognizable feature that makes her unique.
Which is weird, because both the dad, Chang'E, and Fei Fei's little brother to be are all much better designed cartoon characters. I know the idea is for her to be an everyday girl, but she doesn't have to blend into the crowd, you know?
Finally, the songs. They are kinda hit or miss, it seems. I personally like them. There's a good variety of styles, all of them are there to express character emotions and push the story forward, accompanied by some pretty incredible visuals.
The highlight for me is "Wonderful", a song that doesn't really stand out in the film, but grows on me the moment I rewatch it for the video. With a lot of songs in animations being bombastic and loud, having a song so quiet and timid in a kid's movie is refreshing. The lyrics aren't half bad either.
But what's most valuable in this film, is the potential. Yes, the film will not blow you away. But there is so much potential in this cross cultural collaborations. This film needs a bigger budget and maybe one more rewrite, and it'll be a true classic.
I really do hope this film do well. Not only because I think this film deserves recognition, but also because it leads to a bright future. I'm eager to see what Glen Keane's studio has in store for us next.