Five-star ‘Flow’ and chatty ‘Moana 2’ offer eye-widening animated delights
An unlikely group of animals becomes a community of helpmates in the Latvian film “Flow,” from writer-director Gints Zilbalodis.
Sideshow and Janus Films
It’s been an auspicious year for animation aficionados. To name only a few of the most recently heralded: “Inside Out 2,” “The Wild Robot,” and the more adult-themed “Memoir of a Snail.” “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” is on the horizon. Just arriving are two more of note – “Flow” and “Moana 2.”
Let’s start with “Flow,” a graphic wonder from the Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis. It’s no secret that the best animated movies can enthrall us in ways every bit as immersive as any live-action film. “Flow” is a triumphant case in point. Although it could certainly qualify for a best animated film Oscar, it is Latvia’s Oscar entry for best international feature. And why not?
The film is set in a flooded, post-apocalyptic, wordless world in which apparently no humans have survived. A black cat escapes a gushing tidal wave in a thickly forested landscape by jumping aboard an abandoned, orange-sailed skiff. Soon the feline is joined by a slew of fellow survivors: a friendly capybara; a strutting secretary bird; a playful golden retriever, breaking from his pack; and a mischievous lemur, who periodically hops ashore to hoard discarded trinkets.
Why We Wrote This
Two new animated films – both centered on water – touch on the power of connection. But Monitor critic Peter Rainer says of the one that is his favorite of the year, “Timelessness in an animated movie has rarely been so hauntingly invoked.”
What disaster has befallen this world? It’s possible to imagine all manner of climate change scenarios, but Zilbalodis wisely never lets on. To do so would have diminished the film’s poetic power. The multihued CGI effects are so evocative that the lack of language soon becomes irrelevant to the experience. Who needs words when the soundtrack is flush with the rush of natural sounds – the groan and crack of swaying trees, the whoosh of water. When the action dips below the water, it’s as if we too are submerged right along with the animals and sea creatures and darting, rainbow-colored fish. There is a kinesthetic pleasure in how this film – which is mostly seen through the cat’s big, bright eyes – sinuously unfurls.
Zilbalodis doesn’t discount the dangers in this world. The sheltering animals become a makeshift community of helpmates, but marauders onshore, and in the air, abound. As the boat journeys on, we see the wreckage of what humans have left behind: Mayan ruins, maybe, Native American totems, Egyptian obelisks. Perhaps a decayed Venetian palace? The lack of specificity gives the imagery an immanence. Timelessness in an animated movie has rarely been so hauntingly invoked. “Flow” is my favorite animated movie so far this year.
And what of “Moana 2?” Like “Flow,” water, in all its many modes, occupies a crucial place in the narrative. Unlike “Flow,” it’s certainly not dialogue-free. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an animated movie with this much chatter. But then again, there’s a lot of story to get through in this sequel to the 2016 hit. Maybe too much story.
Since we last saw her, Moana (voiced by Auliʻi Cravalho) has become a VIP wayfinder on her thronged, convivial island home in the South Pacific. For her next voyage, prompted by visitations from her ancestors, she seeks to raise up the sunken island of Motufetu. Cursed by Nalo, the god of storms, the island was once a meeting place for all the peoples of the sea. Not a people person, Nalo put an end to all that. Along for the ride are some familiar faces from “Moana,” including the pig, Pua, and the chicken, Heihei, and the shape-shifty demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), who seems a bit more respectful of Moana this time around. As he should be.
It’s all visually sumptuous and entertaining, with a serviceable score. But, for all that, the movie seems too hectic and overengineered. It’s as if the filmmakers worried we’d be bored if there wasn’t something constantly pounding the screen. Quiet moments, as the best animators know, can be every bit as effective as loud ones. Think of the greatest films of Hayao Miyazaki. Or “Flow.” At times, it’s as if the co-directors – Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller, and David Derrick Jr. – were attempting to simulate a non-animated action film. It’s no surprise that Disney is, in fact, prepping a live-action version of “Moana.”
“Moana 2” touts the power of human (and non-human) connection, and the film will certainly connect with its target audience. But it doesn’t trust viewers enough to feel for themselves. There is more than one way to reach audiences and move them and widen their eyes.
Peter Rainer is the Monitor’s film critic. “Flow” (5 stars) is rated PG for peril and thematic elements. “Moana 2” (3.5 stars) is rated PG for action/peril.