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Over the Moon Movie Review

Over the Moon is a 2020 animated musical fantasy film directed by Glen Keane. Produced by Pearl Studio and Netflix, it’s a solid and sweet, but messy feature.

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“Magnetic levitation’s the coolest“

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An adventurous girl builds a rocket ship to meet a mythical goddess on the moon. This is yet another Hollywood movie made to appeal to Chinese audiences first and foremost. It features an entirely Asian cast of characters and actors while focusing heavily on the nation’s famous legend of the moon goddess Chang’e. I loved that fairy tale feel to the movie and the specific Asian emphasis on visuals, their culture, food etc.

What I did not like, though, is the movie’s unwillingness to fully stick with its Asian roots, instead becoming overly Westernized in its second half. I realize that this is an American movie, but still you have to stick with your concept and commit fully to it or otherwise you risk becoming overly populist, which is exactly what happened in this instance.

Fei Fei is your standard protagonist who loses her mother and has to cope with that loss. I am sick and tired of animated movies dealing with dead parents. This trend needs to die off sooner rather than later. With that being said, I really liked the character of Chang’e. Although she is also a very familiar character, she was very well developed and her arc was quite moving. The relationship between the two was wonderful and the heart of the flick.

I did also like Chin. His deep drive to be the brother of Fei Fei was just wonderful to witness and the two are adorable together. It’s a very positive, terrific portrayal of stepbrothers that I really respected. The animals are so cute with the frog being a lot of fun and Bungee the rabbit was animated in such an irresistibly endearing fashion.

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Most of the other creatures were interesting, especially those flying lions of Lunaria. The world building here is strong and the Moon looks incredible with such a colorful palette and many weird-looking, adorable creatures inhabiting it. It obviously skews young, but it works in its sheer energy and vastness. The overall animation is excellent in terms of character designs and the use of color, though it can be a bit too garish at certain moments.

Over the Moon is a musical and a problematic one at that. I personally have mixed feelings about this soundtrack. I love it and hate it at the same time, so let’s discuss. Rocket to the Moon and Ultraluminary are clearly the highlights here and they alone represent everything that is good and bad about this soundtrack.

The former is this very Disneyesque ballad that is rousing and very much like Broadway in its style. It represents those I Want Disney numbers that usually happen in the first acts of Disney Princess movies. Though it is less memorable than the Disney classics, it’s pretty good overall and much better and more memorable than others in the movie.

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The latter is this very Eurovision-like, K-pop inspired, incredibly catchy number that is so much fun to watch and sing along to. The scene is colorful and the song is wildly entertaining. However, that led to this huge jumbled feel to the movie that never has its own identity, but just mixes many elements altogether and it just doesn’t gel well. The action is overwhelming and the direction is troublesome too. Ultimately, the movie could have been so much better.