Abominable (2019)

Abominable is the story of a yeti in Hong Kong who escapes imprisonment and makes its way to the roof of an apartment building to hide. The apartment building happens to be the home of a young girl, Yi, who has busied herself with odd jobs to avoid dealing with the recent death of her beloved father. When Yi discovers and befriends the yeti, she takes it on a journey home to Mount Everest. Yi and the yeti are joined by her neighbors, Jin and Peng, as they outrun and outsmart the British bad guys, Dr. Zara and Burnish who want the yeti, dead or alive, to display as proof of its existence. There are a few twists and turns to the plot. For example, the yeti has magical powers and the bad guy changes over the course of the film. However, the story does not feel original. It is pretty predictable and familiar. Sidenote: why do children’s movies always involve a dead parent? This film was produced by both DreamWorks and China’s Pearl Studios. This is evident in the visuals of this film. There are scenes that take your breath away with its beauty — like nothing we have seen in a DreamWorks film before. As the group moves along their journey, the landscapes are completely stunning. The co-production aided in an accurate representation of a beautiful and varied country. It was refreshing to see a strong East Asian female lead with the second lead, Jin, as the male “wet blanket”. Typically, females in film are the realistic grounding characters to the risk-taking men. This film flipped that typical relationship. Also, East Asian characters are being voiced by East Asian actors, which is important. Let’s take a closer look at why. There are a few articles that succinctly explain the lack of, and need for, Asian representation in film — Ada Tseng’s The complex history of Asian Americans in movies, from the silent era to ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and Thessaly La Force’s Why Do Asian-Americans Remain Largely Unseen in Film and Television? When Crazy, Rich Asians was released, there was a collective hooray from the Asian community at a well-made film with a relatable and hilarious plot starring an entirely East Asian cast. The success of this film told the world that East Asians can lead a successful and universally loved film. Chrissy Teigen wrote a poignant tweet after seeing Crazy, Rich Asians,