ANI-MOVIES, *Missing Link

Laika Studios already had a winning streak with their stop-motion animated movies Coraline, Paranorman, and Boxtrolls, their latest endeavor was a little less epic than their previous entry of Kubo And The Two Strings. Their more humor-based entry was Missing Link calling back to the literally adventures of Henry Rider Haggard and Arthur Conan Doyle while creating a family-friendly comedy in the spirit of Disney's Emperor's New Groove. Animator Chris Butler is back as writer and director of this Victorian era globetrotting story.

In the late 19th Century, knighted explorer Lionel Frost hopes to eventually join a gentlemen's club made of big game hunters. Lionel fails on his latest attempt to get a picture of the Loch Ness monster, so his new plan is to find the cryptid known as Sasquatch after receiving a letter regarding the creature come from the Pacific Northwest. Once in America, Lionel finds a large hairy creature he names Mr. Link who informs him that he was the one who sent the letter. Link is the last known Sasquatch and he wants to find his distant Yeti cousins on the other side of the world. Lionel disguises Link as his new valet as they seek to acquire a map left behind by a deceased explorer which is now in the possession of his widowed wife Adelina, of whom Lionel had a previous fling with. Meanwhile the club's president Piggot-Dunceby wants to prevent Lionel's admission into their society and sends rival hunter Stenk to sabotage his efforts as the newfound threesome who have set out to find Link's Yeti brothers. They travel to the Himalayas and discover the Yeti sanctuary, but the white hairy cryptids are a society of snobs that see Mr. Link(now with the first name of Susan)as an unwanted country bumpkin. After being tossed into a pit, Lionel, Adelina, and Susan make their escape for a final battle between Piggot-Dunceby and Stank on an ice bridge over a deep chasm. Adelina leaves them to find her own adventure while Lionel takes on Susan as his partner as they plan for an expedition to Atlantis, despite the fact that Disney already beat them to it.

Missing Link is a fine middle of the road film meant to entertain audiences while simultaneously providing a sensational visual experience. The stop-motion animation by Laika is still up to the quality of their prior movies' standards, although not as captivating as their past releases. It's mostly clear that this was intended to be a pacifier for movie buffs, not being too deep but just a rollicking good time.