Netflix’s Over the Moon – Amazing Visuals, Mediocre Story (Early Review)

Over The Moon serves as Netflix’s next venture into original animated features after the Oscar-nominated Klaus and I Lost My Body. This film saw Disney veteran and a personal hero Glen Keane team up with Pearl studios, who previously collaborated with Dreamworks for Abominable.

Unfortunately, Over the Moon doesn’t quite work as a cohesive whole. This film is quite frankly a mess but it is an interesting one worth dissecting. First and foremost, the film has exceptional elements to it. The animation and aesthetic are gorgeously-rendered and absolutely awe-inspiring with inventive visuals remiscent of Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse. This film may have a lesser budget than many Pixar and Dreamworks works but what they do with theirs pays off in strides. Hopefully studios take note that sometimes less is more when it comes to animation. The simplicity of its designs, picking a few bold choices for colors really makes it come to life. It’s a shame it won’t come to theatres because the film is a visual fantasia for the eyes. It’s good enough to set a precedent for future animated films so hopefully this film finds some success if only to prompt more movies that look this good.

Sadly, that is where the praise ends. Over The Moon‘s visuals are matched with a screenplay worthy of a direct to DVD animated feature. This film feels like a bare bones Disney movie that is riddled with every single cliche in the book. Disney films certainly share similar beats, however the company is still able to make the films feel compelling and give them actual stakes. Here, the character development is so rushed and the action sequences feel a bit tedious that outside of the visual splendor, there’s not much to take away.

Whenever the film takes its time to appreciate its aesthetic appeal and have the characters actually breathe and learn something- it’s gorgeous. Whenever it tries to be funny or hip, it was cringe inducing, resulting in a film that just doesn’t quite know what it wants to do effectively. While many useless characters are introduced just to be cute, there’s a lot of useless scenes that don’t further story. The story is so rushed that any sort of character development feels unearned. Meanwhile, the film featured songs that all felt like B-Sides to better film soundtracks. Not one of them have that compelling of a hook to them. The film may have some beautiful moments with the score while some of the songs even sound pleasant but there was nothing much beyond that.

Despite what may be interpreted as a negative review, Over The Moon is a visual treat that is still worth a recommendation. Audiences just have to be aware that the film also means having to sit through some annoying side character bits that detract too much from the story. In the end, the film is missed opportunity but isn’t awful. Kids will likely still gravitate towards it, especially ones who have difficult parent and family structures. There’s a lot of ambition to admire though for the most part, it wasn’t quite able to sell all of its ideas.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Brett Schutt

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