Turning Red Movie Review: A Winner for Pixar & Disney+

As a massive fan of Pixar, I was very much looking forward to Turning Red, even if none of the trailers were necessarily blowing me away. While some may argue that Pixar's latest films haven't been as consistent as the studio once was, I believe they still very much remain the best animation studio around and thus I can't deny that I'm still excited about any new project they have in store. Turning Red looked like a unique feature for the studio not only for the much needed representation it brings, but also just the creativity of a premise where its leads character turns into a giant red panda whenever she gets a little too excited. And while the results may not amount to one of the best films ever from Pixar, this is still very much a worthwhile effort.

What Pixar has always done best is tell mature stories that can resonate with audience members of all ages. That's a trend that Turning Red continues with pretty great success. There's many laughs and visual gags to be had here that will certainly entertain the little ones, but at its heart is a heartwarming and even emotional coming of age tale that I imagine will strike a chord with many viewers. A lot of people from all age demographics and backgrounds will I think relate to this story a lot which is always a good thing. We've seen Pixar tackle similar stories like this one before, the best example probably being Brave which also had a very centric mother-daughter relationship, but director & writer Domee Shi along with co-writer Julia Cho tell this story from a different perspective that still helps it maintain a great freshness as well.

This shouldn't come as a surprise, but the animation work is just so top notch. It's so vibrant, gorgeous, and even distinctive in comparison to a lot of recent Pixar efforts. The studio rarely ever disappoints in the animation department, but this might just be one of their most visually striking films in many years. Another element I quite dug here is the creative mythology and world building on display. It's never too complex to follow yet leaves you with enough questions that I wouldn't be surprised to see spin-offs coming from this world. The film also features a solid and lively set of characters. Both Sandra Oh and Rosalie Chiang provide some excellent voice work to the mother-daughter duo of our two main characters, Ming & Mai Lee.

As for specific flaws, I don't necessarily have much to address, but I will say for just my own personal liking I'm not sure this is going to be a Pixar film with a huge amount of staying power with me. With my favorite Pixar films, I can usually pinpoint not only my favorite characters, but favorite particular scenes including ones that just made me shed a ridiculous amount of tears. Turning Red has a lot of great scenes and well-earned emotions too, but nothing that necessarily made me instantly fall in love with the film at least on this first viewing. As much as I really like this film, I'm not sure how high the replay value will be. I do feel there are some pacing issues here as well as the film's climax did feel maybe just a tad drawn out.

Putting some of those nit-picks aside though, Pixar's Turning Red is definitely a big winner for a studio that still shows no signs of really slowing down. It's delightful, funny, immensely charming and packs a solid emotional core as well. It's light enough that kids of all ages will certainly have a ball with it, but also mature and smart enough that adults of all ages I think will find a lot to appreciate here as well. It's still really unfortunate that Disney axed the theatrical release date for this and just sent it straight to Disney+ because this is one that absolutely deserved the big screen treatment. It will most certainly make for a perfect viewing experience though for families that are in need of something to watch together.

Final Grade: B