I'll just start by saying Song of the Sea was a flash of brilliance. So maybe it's unfair to compare this movie to it. If you are expecting similar quality you may be disappointed. The story follows the same tired trope that so many, many, many movies seem to be unable to avoid when it comes to introducing mythical creatures. Mythical creature exists. A human (or small group of humans) discovers it. The whole world is against the creature and it's up to this person to save this creature from being destroyed by the world (E.T., Pete's Dragon, Water Horse, Super 8, Earth to Echo, Bumblebee, Home, just to name a few). Truthfully I feel this story, even if it wasn't overused, does a disservice to the creatures being introduced. We are so focused on how these creatures don't mix with humans that we can't simply be drawn into the whimsy and fantasy of a mythology. And unfortunately there is precious little to learn about this mythology. The Wolfwalkers are basically werewolves who can heal people and control wolves. That's it. We know that the main Wolfwalker Mebh lives with her mother and a pack of wolves in the forest, but we never find out anything about where the Wolfwalkers come from or what they do besides running around with wolves in the forest and healing the occasional person or creature that gets hurt. But enough about the Wolfwalkers. Let's talk about the rest of the characters. Robin, our heroine, is the stereotypical tomboy stuck in the wrong time period who just wants to hunt wolves with her father instead of scrubbing floors and dusting walls all day. In further stereotypical fashion her father doesn't understand her and frequently refuses to listen to her. They live in a town ruled by the lord protector who is basically the Claude Frollo for wolves. Why does he hate wolves so much? A question for another movie. He also protects his city with gates containing holes large enough for wolves to fit through but that's also another question for another movie. Without going into great details about the plot, overall I was underwhelmed with the cast and how they were developed throughout the film. The plot was almost entirely predictable. The animation itself was decent. Again, maybe not fair to compare it to Song of the Sea, but it wasn't in my opinion, nearly as striking or interesting. Probably my favorite aspect of the film was the score. It was beautiful and I will go back and listen to it again. Overall, a passably entertaining film but not one I will likely bother to watch another time.
Review of Wolfwalkers
