Over The Moon Flies High on Netflix but Can’t Quite Make Re-entry
Written By Matthew Sadowski
As it began, the new Netflix animated feature Over The Moon touched me more than most films have in some time. The film, about a young girl who must learn to deal with the death of her mother, portrays the ways in which a kid might cope with loss never too bluntly to frighten a child, nor too gently to be rendered ineffective for an adult. The animation is exceptionally well done and is enhanced by the wonderful vocal performances. However, although the technical quality never goes down, I cannot say the same thing for the emotional impact.
Over The Moon tells the story of preteen Fei Fei (Cathy Ang), a girl who has been enamored with the moon and science ever since her late mother (Ruthie Ann Miles) told her the legend of the moon goddess Chang’e (Phillipa Soo) when she was small. Four years after the death of Fei Fei’s mother, her father (John Cho) has begun dating again, and is now seriously seeing the kind Mrs. Zhong (Sandra Oh). Fei Fei is immediately upset that her father is seemingly replacing her mother, a situation made worse by the appearance of Mrs. Zhong’s well-meaning yet annoying son, Chin (Robert G. Chiu), who instantly declares that he is Fei Fei’s “brother.” After learning that her father does not believe in the legend of Chang’e, which deals with the deity patiently waiting for her lover to return, Fei Fei takes it upon herself to build a rocket, fly to the moon, and bring back proof of Change.
What I have described is roughly the first third of the movie, which plays beautifully. Once Fei Fei reaches the moon, however, is when the story becomes considerably weaker. What began as a wonderfully layered story of everyday life quickly becomes an otherwise generic fantasy adventure, complete with its own arbitrary ticking-clock MacGuffin and underwhelming stakes. When Chin is captured and has to play a game of ping-pong to save the day, he wins, but is just locked up again. When Fei Fei thinks she has lost the MacGuffin forever, she realizes that the real one was in her backpack this whole time. Nevertheless, how the movie spends its last two acts does not ruin the emotional power of the first one. Most films would give anything to be as good as Over The Moon’s beginning.
Over The Moon
Directed by: Glen Keane and John Kahrs
Starring: Cathy Ang, Robert G. Chiu, Phillipa Soo, John Cho, Ken Jeong, Sandra Oh
2020
95 minutes
Streaming on: Netflix
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