My Father’s Dragon: Film Review
I absolutely adored the Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon’s 2020 movie Wolfwalkers so I had high hopes for My Father’s Dragon and it (sadly) didn’t live up to expectations.
The story, based on the 1948 children’s novel of the same name by Ruth Stiles Gannett, tells the story of Elmer (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), a young boy who moves from an idyllic community to a harsh city called Nevergreen with his single mother Dela (Golshifteh Farahani). They have no money and life is tough. One day, Elmer is transported to Wild Island, where he must rescue Boris the Dragon (Gaten Matarazzo), who is being held captive by the leaders of the community, who believe Boris can stop the island from sinking.
In a world of CGI and 3D animation, watching an old-school 2D animated movie feels quite nostalgic. The world of Wild Island is beautifully rendered and Elmer and Boris meet an amusing array of animals on their journey, from the sweet rhino Iris (Dianne Wiest), to the cunning crocodile Cornelius (Alan Cumming), the cute tiger Sasha (Leighton Meester) and the joyful whale Soda (Judy Greer). But there are also more menacing figures on the island, particularly the leadership duo of Saiwa the Gorilla (Ian McShane) and Kwan the Macaque (Chris O’Dowd), who want Boris as their prisoner.
I must admit that I found the story quite generic and lightweight. We have seen the “child escapes harsh reality in an alternative world” storyline plenty of times before and it’s been done much more effectively in the past. Usually, the events in the alternative world have a major impact on reality, but there is no such payoff here. I liked the characters and the voice acting, but I found the story weak and needed more from it. However, the film’s target audience may get along just fine watching the adorable animals and fleeting moments of action and peril.
Matarazzo is fantastic in Stranger Things and he brings that hilarious Dustin energy to the ditzy Boris, who is foolish and very, very chatty. Elmer is wound up tight and needs to relax and Tremblay does well portraying this, particularly during Elmer’s big emotional moment near the end. Although they butt heads at first, their inevitable friendship is very cute and heartfelt. The supporting voice cast is seriously star-studded and my favourites are the lovely Wiest as Iris and O’Dowd as the angry, aggressive macaque.
My Father’s Dragon is a mixed bag for me. I loved the visuals, the magical music and the voice work but I found the narration quite unnecessary and never got properly absorbed into the story.
On Netflix from Friday 11th November