Laika’s Missing Link is a charmingly epic adventure full of unbridled joy

Laika Studios has crafted a beautiful epic in Missing Link, a film about self-discovery and friendship that is enjoyable for all ages.

The stop-motion animation studio, Laika, has carved out a niche for themselves in the film world as producers of some of the most elaborate and fantastical animated movies in modern cinema. They were the masterminds behind films like Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings. Their latest film, Missing Link, is perhaps, one of their best.

Missing Link follows Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman), a mythical monster investigator, as he embarks a journey to find the fabled Sasquatch. He does find him through surprising circumstances and forges an unlikely friendship with the creature named Mr. Link (Zach Galifianakis). Together they try to bring Mr. Link to his distant family, the Yetis of the Himalayas so he doesn’t have to be alone anymore.

Joining the two on their adventure is Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana) a free-spirited woman who is in possession of the only known map to the Yeti enclave.

As always, the animation produced by Laika is breathtaking, especially in a film of this nature in which we get to follow these characters across multiple landscapes and countries. Each set is meticulously crafted and a sight to behold on the big screen. Missing Link is certainly a film you should treat yourself to seeing in a theater.

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Not only is the film a wholesome adventure between three unlikely companions but it deftly addresses political themes like British colonialism and exclusionary tactics for economical value. The wondrous landscape allows for exploration of mature themes without being overbearing or heavy-handed in their tactics.

Frost is set on being accepted by an organization with small-minded and rigorous rules, people who extort and kill the unknown for profit, he comes to learn a valuable lesson about the life he’d been leading by being introduced to Mr. Link and his world.

I always appreciate when animated movies are able to ensconce deep and meaningful themes into their stories as often times they address complicated sociopolitical topics in significant and profound ways.

My one critique of the film would be in its weak attempt to address outdated gender roles. I enjoyed Adelina’s character but felt she was lacking in some ways I was hoping wouldn’t come to pass. That said, I loved the deviation of her traditional character arc at the end of the film as it felt like an earnest and true deployment of her characterization.

I didn’t have many expectations going into the movie as I hadn’t had a chance to watch a trailer beforehand and I was completely blown away by the film. I had known, of course, it was a Laika film and so I expected to see something unique and magnificently rendered, yet even still, Missing Link surprised me with its depth and exuberant love of its own story that it had me hook, line, and sinker from the opening frames and beyond.

Most of all, Missing Link is packed with intelligent, witty humor, perhaps the funniest of all Laika films, and it is a joyous, lighthearted, and fast-paced romp to be enjoyed (immensely) by children and adults of all ages.

Have you seen Missing Link yet? Do you plan to see the movie when it comes out in theaters? What are you most looking forward to? What are your favorite movies from Laika? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Missing Link will open in theaters nationwide on April 12th.