Having never really read Peanuts or watched the previous movies, and so only picked up on the key elements and tone of it via cultural osmosis, I enjoyed this adaptation. They use a bunch of clever tricks to retain the 2D imagery (having characters always standing 3/4 on to the camera in the classic Peanuts pose, flipping their noses to match the camera angle, low animation rates etc), and they don't have the town invaded by aliens or anything awful like that. It's just a gentle slice-of-life comedy-drama, with some sitcom tropes (crush on the new girl, misunderstanding leads to high social standing), light slapstick and fantasy sequences thrown in.
It's not quite as melancholy as it could be, and you could ask why the need to go 3D at all if they're going to put so much work into making it feel 2D, of course, but assuming that these were unavoidable decisions for a big Western theatrical release animated movie in this day and age, this is the best adaptation you could hope for.
Rating: Good.
No comments:
Post a Comment