Movie Review: Missing Link

By: Agent Bunnie & Agent Afronaut

Last year during SDCC 2018, we had the opportunity to experience "Laika Live" - it was a mini tour of Laika Studios' projects, production process, and upcoming projects. The company really rolled out the red carpet for fans and those who stood in the long line to see their offsite tour.  We were given so much free swag! The real joy in the whole "experience" was seeing how they actually made the films. They actually had people there with a mini workshop to show us how they make the 3D models and explained what goes into making them move, as well as their costume design process. Needless to say, we were very impressed - as if we weren't already! We here are Afronauts are pretty big fans of "Coraline" and "Kubo And The Two Strings".

---

It was there at SDCC that we were given a first glimpse at their latest movie, "Missing Link", before the general public! They actually played the trailer for us and then we walked through a forest that mimicked the one from the movie with exclusive images from the film! So, of course, we wanted to check the movie out once it came to theaters and see if it lived up to the hype that they presented to us.

WARNING! READING ANY FURTHER WILL HAVE SPOILERS! DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS! - WE DO RECOMMEND SEEING THE FILM!

Going into the movie, both Agent Afronaut & Agent Bunnie had very different ideas of what this movie was actually about.

---

​Agent Afronaut thought the film was going to be very predictable with a storyline that has been played over and over- typical betrayal by the European explorer/conqueror. Agent Bunnie thought the film was going to be a cheesy telling of how we evolved. - One thing we both agreed on prior to seeing the movie, was that we had a lot of doubts in it being good. Yeah, sure we had experienced the hype at SDCC, but at that time very little was known about the film. The more previews we say in theaters, the more doubts we had. However, we're happy to report that we were both WRONG!

Quick Synopsis: The movie is about British adventurist, Sir Lionel Frost, who is played by Hugh Jackman. He is rejected by a high society club for adventurers and he makes it his mission to be apart of this club by proving that the creature known as Sasquatch exists! To do this he travels to Washington, USA after receiving a letter that turns out to be from a Sasquatch, aka Mr.Link, who is voiced by Zach Galifianakis. It is Mr.Link's desire to be taken to where his "cousins" are, known as the Yetis, so he can live out the rest of his days with his kind and not be lonely. Frost agrees to take Mr.Link to the Himalayas in exchange for being given proof that a Sasquatch exists. The journey to the Yetis home is long and involved being chased by a western outlaw the entire time who is hired by the leader of the British adventurer club and along the way they get help and are accompanied by Frost's ex-flame, Adelina Fortnight, who is voiced by Zoe Saldana. Once they find the Yeti's they are actually rejected by them, because Mr.Link (who is now known as Susan at this point) is viewed as "the redneck cousin". Eventually, they escape the Yeti prison, defeat both the outlaw and the British Lord who were out to kill them, and realize what was truly important.

---

The overall theme of the movie was "belonging", which was obvious. Both Sir Frost and Susan are seeking to belong, while Adelina already had figured out it's best not to try and belong to a group of people who won't accept you for who you are. It's the not so obvious aspects and the subtle details that really made the movie and made us here at Afronauts really get behind it!

• Evolution - Laika's take on Susan/Sasquatch and the Yetis was very non-traditional. Susan could talk, read, and write English. Self-taught, actually! The Yetis had built their own society and maintained a kingdom. It is pointed out in the movie that we're not so different from them. Afterall, both Frost and Susan seek the same result at the end of their journey. Not only that, but the Yetis were basically the representation of the British in this movie just in ape-like form.
• Man Isn't Always Right - At one point, Adelina calls out Frost for not treating Susan as an equal. We also see this behavior from Frost at the beginning. He clearly feels that his credentials make him superior and he longs to be part of a high society club and yet throughout the movie Adelina tries to show Frost the errors of his ways and how lonely it is making him in life and why people leave him.
• Empowering Women - At the end of the movie Adelina leaves to go off on her own adventure. She states that she doesn't need men or anyone and it's time for her to be free. Earlier in the movie, Frost references a "caged bird" to describe Adelina and it is at the end we get confirmation that this is really describing women during the times of the Wild West and the fact that they were not seen as equal to men. The way that Mr.Link receives his name, Susan, also involves a moment were Frost assumes that the prospector Mr.Link should be named after is a male, but it turns out it was a female and thus he takes the name Susan. - The other nice part of the ending for Adelina, was that it was nice to see a woman keep her bearings through the whole movie and not fall in love, but rather teach (and two beings, I might add!) and move on.
• European Conqueror - Laika didn't stray away or try to dilute the fact that Europeans who traveled the world to "explore", really more so conquered and corrupted. From the very beginning we see the mounted heads and preserved corpses of the creatures found by these Europeans and it is Susan who declares to Sir Frost at their first meeting that he doesn't want to end up dead. The Yetis also seek to remain hidden, because they feel they would be destroyed by humans. There are also several times during the traveling that it is pointed out how little Europeans know and how uncivilized they appear abroad. When they are in Asia to go to the Himalayas, Mr.Frost speaks very loudly and plainly to an Asian man, while Adelina mumbles, "The white man abroad" in annoyance. Not to mention, that many of the cultural issues are pointed out by a woman who is of Latina descent, most likely Mexican considering the time, who has obviously traveled the world and who currently lived in America.
• Historical Accuracy - Laika also touched on the fact that history is usually told by the conqueror and the victorious. The reason the British Lord goes after Frost for his conquest of Sasquatch, is to prevent the knowledge that humans descend from these creatures. We found this aspect to be small in terms of the movie, but a very interesting one that Laika included.
• Evolution of the World - Another small inclusion from Laika was the fear of change and evolution of the world/society. The British Lord stated a major reason why he wanted to stop Frost was to prevent the world from changing and to make sure he was not forgotten or misplaced in the world. While this was only a moment in the movie, it was a huge reference to male and Caucasian dominance.

Complaints: No real complaints here, although Agent Afronaut wasn't a fan of the cheesy humor. It's not for everyone, but Agent Bunnie enjoyed it! Agent Bunnie would have liked a bit more backstory on what happened to Susan's kind, but in hindsight this might have actually taken away from the message and the overall story.
​
Overall, we really enjoyed this movie and we highly recommend it! Even though it is animated, we feel this movie is best for older children 12+. Make sure to catch it in theaters soon before it makes it's way out! Of course, you could always buy the Blu-Ray/DVD!

Missing Link image is a promotional poster from Laika and is used solely for reference. Afronauts makes no claim to any copyrights.