My Sweet Monster

You know, Shrek was fine. It was funny, at places clever, but the animation was low tier. Frozen had 1 catch song, otherwise it was - let's face it - s-tear simple. Yes, I'm starting strong here, lol.

The first thing I saw here was the hair of the princess. It was messy, it was average-people hair, nothing like a Disney-princess' liquid metal hair. Even. Tangled had that very generic hair, mediocre animmation. The hair always tells how top-notch your animation will be.

This also has this slavic background, and one thing it gives is that 1800's looks in the 21th century. Wonderfuly anachronistic atmosphere. Just like the robot servants. The castle only has robots, some female servants, and a fashion-person. Not just for hijinks-sake, but for a good reason (overprotecting parent).

And this is another thing I just love. The worldbuilding. Everything has a reason, a good one. And even the references to other works fit into the story, and if you don't catch them, it doesn't hurt the experience. The twists will still work.

Let's limit myself, so someone will read this, but this is a genuin great animation, on the level of classic Disney. Give it a chance, please!

It's kinda like when your intimate photos or videos end up in someone else's hands, man. That person's wicked face, in this animated flick, is actually depicted as the bad guy we see. But you know what, even when someone's got something on you, you can't go against the love for your family. I absolutely love how the writer flipped the script on those prince charming tales. It's like a Santa Claus-level plot twist for me. Those dreamy stories, they might just be wrapping up another kind of lie. We're in the dark, unknowingly choosing to anticipate and believe in the intricate stories full of exaggerations and details.

My Sweet Monster is the kind of animated film that feels like it's trying to capture the magic of better, more polished fairy tales but doesn't quite hit the mark. The story is one you've seen a hundred times before-an unlikely hero, a misunderstood monster, and a journey that predictably leads to friendship and understanding. While this formula isn't necessarily a bad thing, it does make the film feel overly familiar, lacking the spark that would make it truly stand out.

One of the biggest drawbacks here is the animation. It's clear that the budget wasn't on par with some of the more prominent animated features out there, and it shows. The animation often feels stiff and cheap, with character movements that lack the fluidity and expressiveness you'd hope for. This detracts from the overall experience, making it harder to fully immerse yourself in the world the film is trying to create.

Despite these shortcomings, My Sweet Monster does have some redeeming qualities. For one, the villain is surprisingly enjoyable. The voice acting for this character is lively and engaging, making the villain easily the most memorable part of the film. Additionally, there's an undeniable charm to the movie, even if it's a bit rough around the edges. It's the kind of film that kids might enjoy despite its flaws, and there are a few moments that even adults might find amusing.

I went in with no idea what to expect. Enjoyed the first ten minutes with steampunk vibes and robots, the flying light globe bots were cute. The quality of the animation is admirable for not having the full weight of the Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks machine behind it. From the lip synch you could tell it had been made elsewhere and I am a long-time fan of European animation, so was gunning for the high production values. But as soon as our main characters started speaking I felt the ick creeping in. Entitled, backdated attitudes about women, children and authority. Simplistic ideas about property, inheritance and power. I know it's a kid's film and had low expectations for plot and attention span, but this really gave me Eastern bloc vibes from the get go. While the message to respect Mother Nature is admirable, I think every adult watching knows who the real Mother implied in this film is. It's not going to poison the minds of your kids but there's better cr@p out there. I enjoyed the literary villain. We all know publishers are the worst.

Right, well I had no idea that I was watching a Russian-made animated movie when I sat down here in 2023 to watch the 2021 animated movie "My Sweet Monster". It never struck me that the movie might be a dubbed version. But nonetheless, I watched the animated movie with my son.

I had no expectations really to the movie, as I hadn't heard about it prior to sitting down and watching it. But I will say that writers Aleksandr Arkhipov, Dmitriy Novoselov and Maksim Volkov put together a rather enjoyable script and storyline. It is definitely a story that follows an archetypical fantasy fable formula. But it works out quite well.

The version that I saw, the Englished dubbed version, had the voice talents of the likes of Pauly Shore and Jon Heder on the cast list, along with others whom I was unfamiliar with. And it was actually because of Shore and Heder on the movie's cover that I thought this was an American produced animated movie.

The animated movie could have fared better without the singing, especially since the English voice cast were relatively unable to carry proper notes. Most of the singing in "My Sweet Monster", at least in the English dubbed version, was rather cringeworthy.

Something that really impressed me about "My Sweet Monster" (with the original title being "Buka. Moyo Lyubimoe Chudishche") was the CGI and art style. The entire world in which the story took place had such an overwhelming attention to detail that it was just spectacular and breathtaking. It looked marvelous and it really made the world come to life on a very gratifying manner on the screen. I will actually say that "My Sweet Monster" is well worth watching for the CGI graphics themselves.

I was genuinely surprised and entertained by "My Sweet Monster", and if you enjoy animated movies, then you definitely should give this one a chance, should you have the opportunity to do so. It is an animated movie that has an appeal to children and adult alike.

My rating of "My Sweet Monster" lands on a seven out of ten stars.