Turning Red is a 3D animated coming-of-age fantasy comedy film. The movie is produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Disney+. Turning Red is written by Domee Shi and Julia Cho and directed by Domee Shi.
The story is it's 2002 and 13 year old Mei Lee is just living life as an average teenage girl. However, life decided to throw her a curve ball, and she wakes up as a giant red panda. She also discovers that this transformation happens when her emotions are at her highest. Now she not only needs to find out why this happened to her, but also try to keep it together too not go panda.
Initial Reaction
Now if you saw my most anticipated movies list, you would know that I was looking forward to this one, even if I didn't like the artstyle. Despite that, my interest was still. But overtime I started to have doubts about this movie. Especially after I watched a video from a Youtuber by the name of Crimson Sin, where basically the filmmakers were giving themselves pats on the back for things that have been done WAY before they even got started in the industry. Then you had people defending this movie like it's the finest piece of cinema ever. With the typical buzzwords that have been so misused, that the word no longer has any meaning or weight to it. Then you had the earlier reactions. Some where from people who'll like anything Disney, then you had one critic describe the film as "unapologetically horny".....I really hope someone called the cops after that.
Cons
One of the many things wrong with the film and this is it's biggest flaw, it's really predictable. So predictable that even if things were cut out of the marketing, you still would've seen everything coming a mile away. For instance, the whole thing with her friends being mad at her and supposedly not wanting to forgive her. You know they're gonna get back together again. Especially around that time, because 1) the movie was reaching it's end. And 2) another conflict came into play, which automatically told you, her friends would forgive her. So you couldn't be on the edge of your seat, because the movie never left you guessing about anything. Then there's the humor...I never been more silent for a Pixar until now. None of it worked. Even if ya didn't see a joke coming, you're not gonna laugh because there's no good punchline, or it's just cringe. They were so desperate for jokes, they literally use tampons/periods as a comedic prop.....I wish I was making that up, but it really did happen. What also just destroyed this movie was Mei's friends and her Mom. Let's start off with the mother. There's helicopter parent, and then there's whatever the hell she was. There was not one but two instances where she humiliated her daughter so bad, the kid would've been better off running away and living with some other relatives, or living with one of her friends. I understand they wanted to make it seem like she's a flawed parent, but there's a difference between flawed, and just being an idiot. Then we have Mei's friends, these were the most forgettable supporting characters of recent memory. They're so forgettable that I actually had to search what their names were before typing this review. First there's Miriam (the one who wears green), she's pretty much the only normal one. So you're not gonna have too much of a problem with her. The other two on the other hand, not so much. We have Priya. I got so bored with this character. The whole deadpan gimmick they gave her, got old really quick. Then we had Abby, what was the deal with this character? People have described her as "energetic" but no. There's something else wrong with this girl, and it's not being energetic, that doesn't sound like the right word for her. Then we have the real story. Yeah that whole panda thing, that's still there but it's basically the secondary story. The true story, the real conflict the filmmakers wanted to focus on, is Mei and her friends going to see a boy band concert. Yep, all that marketing where it seems like the transformation was gonna be the focus, that was a lie. I think we spent more time on that freakin' concert storyline, than the red panda stuff. Because why have that be the central conflict, when we can have the girls be excited about a band they're going to outgrow by the time they turn what? 14 maybe 15? What also didn't help this movie was much like Luca, we had a pointless post-credit scene. It's just another attempt at humor, but fails miserably. I swear to God folks, if I witness another post-credit scene like this, I'm spoiling it. I don't care if it's from DC, Marvel, Disney, or if anybody complains to me for giving it away. I'm at my limit with these post-credit scenes that just waste everybody's time. The last thing I'll criticize is the artstyle. Everyone has had enough of this "CalArts" or "bean mouth" whatever this style is, everyone has had enough. Not only is it an overused style, but it was clearly chosen for the very common and understandable complaints of being safe and cheap to animate. But the biggest issue for me was, this artstyle doesn't translate well for the 3D. Just get a load of these facial expressions.
Anytime I see those pics all I can think about is how weird their mouths look in the first one, and in the second pic it's just creepy. Mei is a cartoon character and all, but I still get the feeling of dislocated jaw when I look at the bottom pic.
Middle Ground
I'll give the animation a little bit of credit. It's still good, but sadly, despite that, it's not enough to save the movie.
Pros
The only truly good aspect was the cast. They do deliver some good acting.
I've seen people say Cars 2 is a bad Pixar movie. I've seen people say Onward is forgettable. But if you ask me, Turning Red deserves both those crowns, especially bad. The movie is predictable in every sense of the word, the humor sucked, Mei's Mom and friends are terrible characters, the concert being the real stake was stupid, even more pointless post-credit scene than Luca, and has an artstyle that's not only bland, but doesn't work for 3D animation. The animation is good, but it can't save the film. The only positive was the voice acting.
My final rating is Bad.
So that was Pixar's first real letdown. Hopefully Lightyear will be much better. Anyhow, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Monday, Mar 14th for my review of The Hyperions. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
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