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!

Found 'Mune: Guardian of the Moon' in HMV a week ago and only got round to watching it a couple of days ago, as a hopeful remedy from having stumbled upon and watched a number of badly done animated films. The film actually looked and sounded good, so expectations were hopeful.

Expectations that were not just met but exceeded. 'Mune: Guardian of the Moon' stands out as one of the better animated films seen recently by quite a considerable distance, of the animated films seen in the past week it is one of the best looking and is also one of the most thought-provoking and entertaining. Perhaps the still very charming and touchingly sweet romance was not as necessary as it could have been and Sohone's frequent comments on girls and ladies are tiresomely repetitive and will induce their fair share of cringes and eye-rolls (for a film with so much heart these distracted somewhat).

However, the animation is incredible. Not in a long time in animation has there been a more wondrously and imaginatively rendered world, which makes it as easy as pie to get properly immersed in and be transported. The colours are truly a feast on the eyes, everything is very smoothly designed and the backgrounds and details, from the little things all the way up to the big effects, will amaze anyone with the richness and depth of the detail.

There is a great music score too, capturing the whimsy, ethereal sparkle and mystery of the story and world effortlessly. The writing does a fine job of not only entertaining but also intriguing. There's plenty for the whole family, regardless of age and gender, to be amused and charmed at, while there is a surprising amount of sincere depth here which gives 'Mune: Guardian of the Moon' a refreshingly unexpected amount of heart.

Story-wise, 'Mune: Guardian of the Moon' is remarkably complex while with enough simplicity to not lose younger children. Older children and adults will be amazed at the story and world's individual complexity while still making sense and treating its audience with respect. There is plenty of imagination here and the positive messaging makes its point but with more subtlety and tact than most films incorporating similar messaging. While there is a lot of style here, there is also a lot of heart.

'Mune: Guardians of the Moon' excels with its characters too. While not complex as such, these characters are both interesting and likable. The chemistry between Mune and Glim is very charming. The voice acting is very good and dynamic.

In summary, luminous and beautiful, a refreshing much-needed antidote. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This movie is straight up eye candy, right up there with Disney & Pixar productions. I watched Mune with my 4 year old and was instantly drawn to the beautiful animations. There were major Salvador Dali & Hayao Miyazaki influences in this dream world. I really can't praise the animators enough for the beauty they created in this film The story was lovely, despite some of the characters falling into cliche stereotypes (looking at you Sohone)

This is a movie I would've loved to have seen as a kid and I am really glad I was able to enjoy it with my own child. Highly recommended for families to watch together, just know that there are some scary scenes so be prepared to reassure sensitive children that the good guys will overcome the bad ones.

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.

7.75 of 10. Stylistically and in terms of the quality of animation and imagery, one of the best recent cartoon films. The story is pure fantasy and works as sort of new a fairy tale clearly for children but with various themes that make it enjoyable for everyone in a family and certainly safe enough for kids to enjoy alone.

The deeper messages of the story involve the complexity of the universe and the benefits of working positively with one another as opposed to alone with minions doing your bidding under the threat of your power. The other ongoing message is a softened version of curiosity killing the cat. Curiosity here is both good and can get you into serious trouble, as can over confidence, arrogance, and too much power.

The story and cartoon is all woven together, as is the cartoon within the cartoon. It also makes beautiful use of new voice actors as opposed to relying on stars. It deserves to catch on as an underground classic that the critics and production corporations failed to identify and properly distribute.