Mune: Guardian of the Moon

I watch a lot of movies, and most of them are fairly forgettable. So I was surprised to find that this obscure film was so fantastic. When I saw it on the shelf I thought it would be one of those horrible cut rate movies from some off brand studio. How wrong I was. This movie is of a different flavor and style than what you would see from the Hollywood giants, and that is a good thing. It has the most unique take on cgi animation I've ever seen. Rather than having the bland digital perfection of the style you see coming from Pixar, Blue Sky, Dreamworks, Illumination, Warner Brothers, Sony Animation, etc... this film has a more painterly look. The world building is so magical and memorable. The character designs are great! The only downside is that you can tell the dialogue has lost something in translation and the voice performances are as average as they come, and some are miscast. Other than that this has found it's place on my top ten list of animated films. Highly reccomendend!

This was such a unique movie, and I really appreciated it for that, but on the other hand, it was so unique that there's no way I could have gotten some of my family to sit through it. It's almost too slow and complex for young children, so I'm not sure who the target audience really was. It was like watching art in motion. It was refreshingly different. I'd recommend it to people, but I can't say it's become a favorite.

There's something nice about being able to pull up Netflix and stumble upon little films that I would have otherwise never heard of. This one in particular had caught my eye a while back, so I finally got around to watching it, and for the most part, I enjoyed what I saw. From the thumbnail and synopsis, I expected that the movie would have some nice visuals and a bland story; to my pleasant surprise, it did have both of those but also had a heaping ton of imagination and creativity.

Mune's strongest point has got to be the world it takes place in: this place is completely alien to our own and yet is entirely believable. The film features such a thorough world and mythology that I assumed it was based on an existing TV or book series, but it is in fact a completely original story. I won't go into detail on what all it is about, as discovering each little feature along the way is a wonderful experience.

The movie is originally in French, but Netflix's English dub is seamless, and this in no way feels like a foreign film. I'd also like to point out that the score was written by Bruno Coulais, who also scored Coraline and Song of the Sea.

Aside from the strengths I pointed out, though, Mune is fairly generic. The story beats and characters are what you'd expect for this sort of movie. Although I did enjoy Nicole Provost's spirited performance as Glim, the voice cast is for the most part nothing special. There's a mischievous guy who's unsure of himself, an arrogant dude who learns to help people, etc., and each character sounds the part without adding anything special.

With that said, I would like more movies in a future franchise to see how they expand on and dive into all that they've set up. If there aren't any sequels, though, I'll still be able to remember Mune as a happy little accident I had while browsing Netflix.

Wonderful, Charming, Cheeky and lots of Heart for the Whole family, in the Ghibli story telling tradition and imagery.

It has a blend of 3D animation and 2D dream sequences...

It seems like a fairytale you should know but have forgotten. And thats the pity, the story telling is great, the animation is lovely and English voice actors did a great job.

It's the story of the Sun and the Moon, and the Guardians that protect them.

This animated feature deserves an Audience. Do yourself a favour and grab it

It is so refreshing to find an original story beautifully and simply told without being overblown. It avoids many of the Disney clichés with regards to evil villains who are simply "boo" fodder, sidekicks who are there only to provide comedy relief etc. Instead we have characters who are flawed rather than being simply good or bad. It is almost Zeussian in its weirdness, but the fantasy all adds to its gentle charm.