Delayed Reaction: Over the Moon

Premise: A girl builds a rocket to the moon to prove a legend her deceased mother told her was true.

 

I appreciate that Netflix will take a chance on just about anything. Their strategy is to make one of everything and see what become the most popular. They don't have the highest hit rate, but they are winning the volume game. Over the Moon appears to be Netflix exploring the viability of the 90s Disney musical with some Pixar imagination. Like, the poster for the movie even has a Cinderalla's Castle-looking structure just below the title. I don't think the movie is that successful, but it's also not a woeful failure.

 

What's that look like down there at the bottom?

 

Before I get too far, I need to admit that I know very little about the Chinese culture and folklore the film is based on. That's a bit of a barrier to judging the story, because I know I'm missing a lot of references. Apparently, there are numerous versions of the legend of the Moon goddess Chang'e. I'm sure all the beings on the moon are references to things in some way that I'm missing. For all I know, this movie could be incredibly clever. I mean, I don't think it was. Most of it felt like a scatter of disparate ideas they worked into a story about a girl missing her dead mother. I acknowledge my ignorance though. The movie is lively and fun. I followed the broad strokes of the story that I needed to.

 

I'm not a fan of the music. The fun of musical number in an animated film are that they can be enormous showstoppers. There are no restraints to them. Over the Moon keeps the musical numbers really grounded though. I could imagine each of them being performed on a stage. I'm no expert on musicals either, but I've noticed that songs in a musical are normally mood songs or place setters. The place setters are the ones that could've just been dialogue. They get the story from point A to point B, and people just happen to be singing. The mood pieces stop the story to capture a mood. That's what most of the 90s Disney songs were. "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" isn't moving the story. It's just capturing Simba's cockiness and attitude. Over the Moon is full of the place setting songs. They expressed things that could've been spoken, which makes me ask, "why bother with the songs?"

 

I didn't care that much for the movie, but it's hard for me to knock it too much. I'm outside of the age demographic for it. I like seeing something that isn't so US or Euro-centric. Really good voice cast. I'm always pro-John Cho and will never turn down a chance to hear Phillipa Soo sing. Ken Jeong is nice comic relief, and I appreciate that a lot of recognizable names played the extended family members. It gives me the impression that a lot of people were excited to participate in it in any capacity. This definitely feels like an Oscar nominee that they picked to fill out the field. The animation is pretty generic. Or maybe saying it's not that crisp or detailed is a better way to say it.

 

Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend