Turning Red

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For all of Pixar's glorious library, I have to admit that this is one I'm kind of trying to wrap my head around in its overall popularity. Not to take anyone's enjoyment away from it, of course. I'm just not entirely sure I "get" this one. To be perfectly clear, I had no real problems with it. I just don't think it's replacing anything on my Pixar Top 10 list.

This one, much like 'Luca', was a Disney+ Original as well, without a limited theatrical release like 'Soul' had. So, also like 'Luca', I give this a bit of leeway being a streaming release as opposed to a theatrical one. Even the intro to it feels a bit more like an after-school cartoon series - and honestly, this could make for a really fun series with the right crew behind the scenes. Back to the film, however, we have a sort of period piece here, taking place in 2002; somehow 20 years ago. Funny story, 2002 was also actually a Pixar-free year, between 'Monsters Inc.' and 'Finding Nemo'.

Anyway, on with the plot where we meet a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl named Mei (Rosalie Chiang) living in Toronto - also home to the director, Domee Shi, and the closest big city to yours truly. So, spoiler alert, the Rogers Center is the SkyDome in this, and it's a really nice call-back for us Southern Ontarians. Mei helps her mother, Ming (Sandra Oh) with taking care of their family temple. Ming is just a tad on the overprotective side though, so a lot of Mei's interests have to stay hidden - namely her love for the boy band "4*Town". Yes, Ming is THAT strict. But it doesn't stop her from sharing her mutual love of the band with her best friends, Miriam (Ava Morse), Priya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Abby (Hyein Park).

Eventually, Ming discovers that Mei has a crush on a local store clerk, and proceeds to embarrass her in front of several onlookers - one of which is a personal bully of hers named Tyler (Tristan Allerick Chen). This all seemingly leads to a stress-related problem in which Mei transforms into a giant red panda. Think of the most adorable version of The Incredible Hulk you can imagine. She tries very hard to keep it under control by calming down but between 4*Town coming to... town, her overprotective mom, and the pressure from her friends to get to that concert, she doesn't exactly have an easy time of it.

I don't really want to get into much more detail than that, as I feel like it's a lot of spoiler territory for those going in blind. There's something I really appreciated in particular that I'd rather not reveal here. It's not even that big a deal, but it's a route the filmmakers took in telling the story that I enjoyed. I can further appreciate that this is very much a mother-daughter movie, in that while Mei is the main character, Ming still has a lot to learn about what it means to be a good mother. Once again, despite a lot of the film's cartoonish atmosphere, it doesn't dumb itself down for us adults, and we can still find a little takeaway from it.

Again, I have no true criticisms about this one, but I do feel like it wasn't entirely up my alley. I didn't quite get that deep feeling of awe that I did with movies like 'Soul' or 'WALL-E', but it's not like it was a disappointment either. There was a lot I did like about this, such as some of the animation choices, and the character of Abby in particular - a little pistol of a girl who's very clearly the primary comedy relief. She gave me a few genuine laughs, even though one of them was a straight rip-off of 'Despicable Me'. The film does carry a certain charm to it though, so please don't let me sway you one way or another. Check it out for yourself, as I seem to be in a minority here. It's cute, it's fun, but it's not the peak of Pixar quality.

3/5

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