With its hand-drawn (via CGI) visuals and storybook nature, Tomm Moore’s Song of the Sea is an often striking looking movie, one that’s totally pleasant and likely unmemorable. It’s exactly the kind of movie that gets Oscar nods in the animated category (and this did) — classier and more “traditional” looking than, say, Big Hero 6 while more accessible (though less visually impressive) than The Tale of Princess Kaguya. It chugs along, occasionally being clever, but mostly checking off boxes on its grocery list of a plot. There’s not much to truly dislike here, but there’s even less to be excited about.
Like director Moore’s previous Oscar-nominated film The Secret of Kells (2010), Song of the Sea deals in myth and fairy tale. In this case, the movie takes something more akin to a revisionist model, repurposing a number of Celtic myths — though mainly focusing on the selkie — and depositing them in a modern world. The film opens with the mother (Lisa Hannigan) of Ben (David Rawle) and wife of Conor (Brendan Gleeson) seemingly dying while giving birth to Saoirse.
The film jumps forward, showing a family mired in trauma, with Conor depressed, Ben angsty and Saoirse — now six — still having yet to speak her first words. After Saoirse walks into the ocean one night and nearly drowns, she and Ben are sent to live with their grandmother (Fionnula Flanagan) in Dublin, but the brother and sister decide to make a run for it and head back home. Here, they begin to unravel the true nature of their mother’s disappearance as they find themselves ensconced in a world of magical creatures and evil witches.
It’s basic fairy tale stuff, though I suppose it feels a bit fresher since it’s centered on lesser-known (at least to me) Celtic folk stories. Stripped of this, however, the plot’s mechanics are extremely worn. Ben learns to be a better brother, Conor snaps out of his depression and Saoirse makes exactly the kind of tough decision that one expects in what wants to be a heartwarming tale. There’s no real tension and no real growth, something I suppose shouldn’t be expected coming from a family-friendly animated adventure aimed at young children. But that being said, on a grander scale it makes for a fairly tepid movie in practice, one that often looks gorgeous (and has more visual personality of its own than most animated films) but relies too much on its looks. Rated PG for some mild peril, language and pipe smoking images.
This didn’t exactly tank, but it was lacklustre enough that it will be gone come Friday.
the song of the sea is my favorite movie!!!