Movie Review – SmallFoot

It is such a relief to watch a movie I can give an A+ rating to without hesitation! It was charming, warm-hearted (albeit set in a cold place), engaging, funny, and surprisingly detailed. I especially loved the many interesting things to look at in the yeti village. I was never bored. I see a lot of movies for RunPee, and not being bored scores high in my book.

A couple of the songs were quite good, and the “Let It Lie” number by Common is a straight-up standout. That entire scene (the one with the Stone Keeper and Migo inside the mountain) was captivating.

Small Foot had some great elements of world-building, which is nice to see in an animated kid flick. The details of the yeti town, their mythology, the backstory…everything fit together seamlessly. I was really surprised how even small details (like why the ice cubes were chipped into spheres) came together later on.

The ‘short Yeti’ comic relief character was a bit tiresome, but that’s my only nit to pick. I’m sure the kiddos liked him well enough. The ‘dumb Thor’ Yeti made the geek in me smile. Mostly, the Yetis and their world were well drawn, the voice work was pleasant, and the climax and denouement actually came from a logical place in the narrative.

It’s also nice to see a movie with no villain. Sometimes watching a plot based around an obligatory ‘bad guy’ makes for tiresome viewing. Writers have to be more creative to do it this way.

There’s a great message about tolerance, without banging the audience over the head with it. I also liked that we saw humanity from an outside perspective, recognizing both the good and the evil inherent in our species. I’d hope that if we found other intelligent beings somewhere, we’d know enough to try communication before hostility.

Outstanding film.

Movie Grade: A+

About The Peetimes: Here are 3 Peetimes of various lengths. If you can manage the 1st one, you won’t have to rush and you miss very little. I was surprised how hard it was to find good Peetimes in this animated film — it’s a tightly woven tale with very little downtime. They put a lot of plot development and world building into this. I also didn’t want to place a Peetime during any of the musical numbers, since I figure if you’re watching this, you’d probably like to hear the songs. One note: if you decide to duck out during a song, do NOT leave when Common/The Stone Keeper does his number. It’s just that excellent.

One More Note: I liked Common’s song Let It Lie so much, I had to look it up for you.  It’s just as good on a second listen — gives me chills. DON’T PLAY if you haven’t seen the movie yet:  it’s got the film’s biggest spoilers in it. Otherwise, enjoy!