Wolfwalkers

In a land with a tradition of great fables, here is one that is simply movie magic. A British Lord in control of Kilkenny in Ireland, orders that all the remaining wolves be killed in order for the land to be cleared. A man is the head hunter and his daughter, Robyn meets a a wolfwalker in the form of a fellow little girl named Mebh. She transforms into a wolf when asleep. Robyn attempts to help Mebh in saving the wolves and in finding her lost mother. The scenery of the animation is breathtaking and for an hour and forty-three minutes I could escape from this terrible year for awhile. Wolfwalkers is one of the best films of the year.

Beautiful, stunning and magical. It's like a fairytale drawed with pencils and acuarela on an old book. A piece of art! The story is written with love and lot of symbolism. Disney is great, but this is an oasis from any angle you want to see it!

Wolfwalkers is a story about Robyn, voiced by Honor Kneafsey, an English girl in a small Irish town of Kilkenny, 1650. Her father Bill, voiced by Sean Bean, is tasked with trying to root out the wolves in the forest surrounding the town. Robyn hopes to be a skilled hunter like her father, imitating him with her own cross bow and pet falcon Merlin.

This film takes place during a time of war and occupation, Robyn's father working under the tyrannical Lord Protector Cromwell, voiced by Simon McBurney. The Lord Proctor is trying to quell other Irish rebellions and keep the populace subdued. This puts pressure on Bill to quickly take care of the wolf problem, or face dire consequences.

Soon Robyn comes into contact with the infamous wolfwalkers, lead by another girl Mebh. Robyn learns that the wolfwalkers are not as bad as she has been led to believe and has to come to terms with this conflict between wanting to be like her hunter father, and protecting the humanity of the wolves and wolfwalker.

Cartoon Saloon's style of hand drawn animation is some of the most beautiful I've seen. Every frame has intricate, meticulous details that make their films a unique visual delight to behold. This film has numerous cinematic shots and sequences that push the boundaries of what can be done in the medium.

Overall this is an excellent film, on par with their other brilliant feature length animated films The Breadwinner and Song of the Sea. I would strongly recommend anyone give this film a watch.

9/10.

This film was by far the best of this Celtic Irish trilogy and I truly hope that the pandemic and lack of box office numbers doesn't hurt it too badly. If you have not seen this film, go watch it. Get a free month of apple TV or something in order to support this film and its studio. They deserve it. If you Like pixar's films like UP, Soul, WALL-E, or Inside-Out, then you will love this film. The pacing is slow but easily builds into a fantastic climax. The acting and emotion behind the writing is absolutely stellar and I found myself laughing and tearing up many times during the watch. The animation is just so expressive and what you'd want to see if you thought of traditional animation at its best that 3D just can't match. The music is perfectly placed and evokes the best of the emotions. I'm giving it a perfect because if it got what it deserves, it would be an acclaimed masterpiece akin to Disney's renaissance films. Unfortunately with the Apple pay wall and the pandemic keeping people out of theaters I don't know if it will. I really hope this studio continues to do great things like this in the future

Wolfwalkers is a stunningly beautiful animation. With its striking art style and touching story, it's also a wonderfully good movie. The fact that I hesitated to watch it honestly makes me a little upset. It positively surprised me in pretty much every way possible.

Films made in the style of Wolfwalkers are mostly unknown to me. When I first saw screenshots of the film, the art style did turn me off a little bit. And although I heard nothing but good things about it, I still felt unsure about how much I would like the way the film looks. Alas, I had no reason to worry. While it did take me a moment to get used to it and stop thinking about it, as soon as I fell into the story, I started to appreciate the striking style. And while it's striking, it's also tremendously beautiful. Especially the scenes in the forest, where a big part of the movie takes place, are simply stunning.

The story, which introduces us to Robyn, a girl who dreams of becoming a wolfhunter, like his dad, is full of moments of conflict and beauty. Robyn, who ends up being bitten by a wolf, soon learns that some fairytales might be more real than others. And when she finds new friends, the dream of being a hunter quickly fades away, as she must defend them from a life-threatening threat. While the story might not be filled with twists and turns and is for the most part easily predictable, it's also beautiful and emotional. Indeed, it's the kind of story that works better when it can be predicted. Being able to focus on what the movie had to say, and how it said it, was much more impactful than worrying about what was going to happen next. It's also a surprisingly deep story, with nearly all characters facing dilemmas and having to fight against preconceived ideas.

In many ways, I think that Wolfwalkers has been the most surprising film of 2020, at least for me. Going in, I had no idea what to expect, and in all honesty, my own preconceived ideas might've caused me to doubt its greatness. To say that I was positively surprised, would be an enormous understatement. The film captured my attention with its stunning visuals and kept it with a beautiful and heartfelt story. Wolfwalkers is, without a doubt, the best animated film of the year.