May Animation Preview: Animal Farm and Slime lead a packed month
Every May, I change my Top 4 on Letterboxd to be all animated movies in celebration of Ani-May-tion, and this month, it feels like distributors are in a similarly celebratory mood. After a pretty scant April release calendar, May is full of animated releases, many of which I've had the pleasure to see. Let's take a look!
Also on May 1, Crunchyroll releases That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea. Bridging the third and fourth seasons of the popular anime, this was my first brush with the series, and it's an enjoyable and easy place to pop in and get a taste. The film is kind of like a beach episode stretched to feature length, with the main cast of characters jetting off to an island for some much-deserved rest and relaxation. Of course, things aren't so simple, and they all get swept up in a self-contained adventure involving a slumbering dragon and an underwater city. It's exciting, beautiful, and fun. It definitely made me interested in checking out more of the series. My full review is here.
On May 10 and 11, GKIDS drops Labyrinth in theaters. This new anime movie follows a girl whose broken phone transports her into a derelict mirror dimension, where she befriends a rabbit sticker as she tries to figure out how to get back to the real world. Meanwhile, a doppelgänger of her appears in the real world, and is much more brassy and bold than the genuine article. While this movie is pretty visually dazzling and has some worthwhile commentary on our over-emphasis on social media, I found it to be a bit of a drag, and a bit hard to follow. I'll have my review up soon.
GKIDS has another release on May 15: Decorado, the latest from Alberto Vázquez, whose previous works include Unicorn Wars and Birdboy: The Forgotten Children. I unfortunately don't care for Decorado even half as much as those others. I found it to be an interminable slog, and deeply unpleasant (which, yeah, is kind of the point). The film follows a mouse named Arnold who starts to suspect that his world isn't real, leading him on a quest to search for what is. The gloomy vibe and grotesque aesthetic are sure to have their fans, but I am not among them. You can read my review from last year's Animation is Film here.
Another May 15 release is Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe. Honestly, that title is lit. The Mobile Suit Gundam series has been around for almost fifty years, with numerous films, anime series, manga, video games, etc. etc. I saw last year's theatrical release that marked the start of a new show, but that's as far as my knowledge goes. This movie is the second entry of a planned trilogy about a resistance leader named Hathaway. I plan to check out the first movie before watching this one, and hoping that it's self-contained enough to make sense without a wider knowledge of further-flung lore.
On May 15, in celebration of the film's 25th anniversary, Shrek makes its way back to the big screen. How this movie is already 25 years old, I do not know. It makes me feel like I'm crumbling into dust. But it's a great chance to fans to revisit a classic on the big screen (or maybe see it there for the first time).
In Theaters
The month starts of with Andy Serkis's new take on George Orwell's classic allegorical novella, Animal Farm on May 1. The film is a really odd duck. The original work doesn't scream out for a family-friendly adaptation, and the trailers were a bit befuddling. Does a satire of the Russian Revolution really need fart jokes and needle drops? As misguided an adaptation as it might be, I think Animal Farm works surprisingly well. The main beats of the story still pack a punch, the animation is nice, and the celebrity voice cast fills their roles well. And by shifting Napoleon into a more Trumpian figure, the film has a bit of extra modern relevance. You can check out my full review here.
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| Animal Farm |
Also on May 1, Crunchyroll releases That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea. Bridging the third and fourth seasons of the popular anime, this was my first brush with the series, and it's an enjoyable and easy place to pop in and get a taste. The film is kind of like a beach episode stretched to feature length, with the main cast of characters jetting off to an island for some much-deserved rest and relaxation. Of course, things aren't so simple, and they all get swept up in a self-contained adventure involving a slumbering dragon and an underwater city. It's exciting, beautiful, and fun. It definitely made me interested in checking out more of the series. My full review is here.
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| That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea |
On May 10 and 11, GKIDS drops Labyrinth in theaters. This new anime movie follows a girl whose broken phone transports her into a derelict mirror dimension, where she befriends a rabbit sticker as she tries to figure out how to get back to the real world. Meanwhile, a doppelgänger of her appears in the real world, and is much more brassy and bold than the genuine article. While this movie is pretty visually dazzling and has some worthwhile commentary on our over-emphasis on social media, I found it to be a bit of a drag, and a bit hard to follow. I'll have my review up soon.
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| Labyrinth |
GKIDS has another release on May 15: Decorado, the latest from Alberto Vázquez, whose previous works include Unicorn Wars and Birdboy: The Forgotten Children. I unfortunately don't care for Decorado even half as much as those others. I found it to be an interminable slog, and deeply unpleasant (which, yeah, is kind of the point). The film follows a mouse named Arnold who starts to suspect that his world isn't real, leading him on a quest to search for what is. The gloomy vibe and grotesque aesthetic are sure to have their fans, but I am not among them. You can read my review from last year's Animation is Film here.
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| Decorado |
Another May 15 release is Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe. Honestly, that title is lit. The Mobile Suit Gundam series has been around for almost fifty years, with numerous films, anime series, manga, video games, etc. etc. I saw last year's theatrical release that marked the start of a new show, but that's as far as my knowledge goes. This movie is the second entry of a planned trilogy about a resistance leader named Hathaway. I plan to check out the first movie before watching this one, and hoping that it's self-contained enough to make sense without a wider knowledge of further-flung lore.
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| Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe |
On May 15, in celebration of the film's 25th anniversary, Shrek makes its way back to the big screen. How this movie is already 25 years old, I do not know. It makes me feel like I'm crumbling into dust. But it's a great chance to fans to revisit a classic on the big screen (or maybe see it there for the first time).
Another re-release hitting theaters on May 31 in celebration of the film's 20th anniversary is Tekkonkinkreet, from Studio 4°C. The film is about two orphans who live on the streets of a violent slum controlled by warring gangs. This is a big blind spot for me, so I'm hoping to catch it on the big screen!
At Home
Skydance Animation's latest movie, Swapped, hits Netflix on May 1. The studio's previous efforts have been pretty rough, but I'm happy to report that Swapped shows some growth. The story-telling still isn't great -- there's not much surprising happening on that front -- but this movie is visually stunning, well-paced, and a lot of fun. Swapped follows a small rodent creature and a bird who, through magical means, end up swapping species. Together, they have to learn how to use their new bodies while figuring out a way to swap back. The creature designs are a definite highlight here, with so many cool animal/plant hybrids that look like they could be Pokémon. My full review will be up this weekend.
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| Swapped |
On May 5, one of the year's biggest hits, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, makes its digital debut. It's a bit quickly for such a massive movie to make its way home, but I guess that's just how the industry moves these days. I thought the movie was a pretty fun and also pretty exhausting ride, and now that's a ride you can go on over and over again in the comfort of your own home.
The Legend of Hei II was one of my favorite movies from last year -- it's a gorgeous, massive, action-packed sequel that took everything that was great about the original movie and dialed it up even further. (you can read my review here). On May 12, the film gets released on digital platforms as well as Blu-ray -- everyone say "Thank you, GKIDS!"
Festivals
Maybe the most prestigious film festival in the world, this year's edition of Cannes unfurls May 12-23. There are usually a few animated premieres, but this year there are at least nine, including In Waves, which opens Cannes Critics Week, and Quentin Dupieux's first foray into animation, Le Vertige, which closes Cannes Directors' Fortnight. I'll have a review of at least one of the movies showing there up to coincide with its premiere: Blaise, a comedy-of-errors young adult comedy that is playing in the ACID sidebar, which puts a spotlight on independent filmmaking. Kudos to Cannes for making more room for animation this year!
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| In Waves, premiering at Cannes |
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