**THE WACPINE OF 'OVER THE MOON'**

WRITING: 5
ATMOSPHERE: 5
CHARACTERS: 7
PRODUCTION: 9
INTRIGUE: 5
NOVELTY: 2
ENJOYMENT: 6

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**The Good:**

It's always great to see more films set in China with a script delving into Chinese culture and myths.

The animation style is surprisingly fluent and soft, and not too close to Pixar or Dreamworks. The colours are vibrant and beautiful.

Ultraluminary is the only memorable song from the movie, and that's because it's so vastly different from the other songs and clearly made to be a radio hit single.

The moon looks like a Candy Crush level populated by Angry Birds, and I don't know if I should like or dislike that.

Kudos to the writers for featuring a "villain" who isn't a villain for evil's sake, but because of heartbreak, sorrow and loneliness. Chang’e is the most interesting and well-developed character in the film, and her emotional side is well depicted.

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**The Bad:**

What strikes me as disappointing is the very safe and formulaic route Netflix has taken with this film, by effectively copying a formula beaten to death by the countless Disney animated musicals that have been released over the decades. Netflix had all the opportunity in the world to try something different.

The animation style is not distinctively different from what other studios have produced, which is a shame.

The songs are a bit meh. They are repetitive, forgettable and not very original in the first place.

The script attempts to make Fei Fei a role model for girls and boys alike by making her some kind of tech and science genius and adventurer, but she doesn't rise above other similar characters in other animated films.

While I appreciate the moon sequence more than the scenes set on Earth, I would have wished to see more adventure and thrills. What we get now is a sequence of events that never goes anywhere.

The plot is predictable and lacks major hooks, so it flows by without allowing the audience the time to contemplate things.

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**The Ugly:**

Candy Crush with Angry Birds on the moon. Now there's an idea for a new mobile game!

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**WACPINE RATING: 5.57 / 10 = 3 stars**

This was truly fantastic!

You'd expect Disney/Pixar to make this film, but Netflix beat em to it!

And Ken Jeong voicing Gobi; hilarious! He was like the new Olaf.

I truly enjoyed this film.