Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Missing Link Blu-ray Movie Review

A bigfoot named Sue.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 26, 2019

Forget Rodney Dangerfield, it seems like it’s really stop motion animators who “don’t get no respect”. I’m incredibly lucky to live in the general vicinity of Laika Studios, and I’ve known many a crew member who has worked on various productions, and the care and finesse that typically goes into offerings from this studio are truly mind boggling. Could you imagine spending days — weeks — slowly moving items and snapping still photos of each change, in the hope that once those stills approached 24 fps levels, they’d translate into fluid motion? I know that I would have neither the skill nor perhaps more importantly the patience to fashion such art. That doesn’t even take into account the fabrication of props, costumes and the articulated figures that will become people, pets and even perhaps the occasional Sasquatch. And yet for the most part Laika has yet to really set the box office on fire in any spectacular way, something that once again kind of weirdly and head scratchingly happened with regard to this film.

Laika’s previous releases have often been on the dark and disturbing side, as if they had been excavated from the still developing Id of some emotionally roiled child, but Missing Link offers little of the psychological undertones of, say, Coraline or ParaNorman, instead offering an at least relatively cheerier story that presents a globe trotting late 19th century explorer named Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman) who is intent on proving the existence of supposedly mythical creatures. The film begins with a slapstick vignette documenting Frost’s encounter with the (mostly) submerged denizen of one Loch Ness, and while he does in fact get proof of Nessie’s existence, it’s (probably expectedly) destroyed in the maelstrom of “getting to know” her. That means Frost still needs to find some form of entré into a snooty club of explorers in London headed by the unctuous Lord Piggot-Dunceby (Stephen Fry). When a pile of mail falls on a distraught Frost in the wake of his Nessie adventure, he comes across a scrawled note sent to him asking him to prove the existence of Sasquatch in the good old Pacific Northwest of the United States of America.

What would seem initially to be moving into some “epic quest” territory, positing Frost on the hunt for a hard to find creature, actually turns out not to be the case, as it's actually a lonely Sasquatch whom Frost dubs Mr. Link (Zach Galifianakis) who had been the one to send the note that beckoned Frost to Washington state (hey, Oregon based Laika, what the hell were you thinking?). Mr. Link believes he's the last of his species and he wants Frost to transport him to the Himalayas where he can hopefully bond with his "cousins" (as he terms them), the Yetis. In the meantime, Frost has made a bargain with pompous Piggot- Dunceby where if Frost can prove the existence of a Sasquatch, Piggot-Dunceby will finally allow Frost in the exclusive explorers’ society. Piggot- Dunceby, in typical arch villain fashion, decides it’s easier to just have Frost killed, and so he sends fiendish Willard Stenk (Timothy Olyphant) to complete that task. Stenk of course shows up at various junctures to threaten the proceedings, and you can pretty much guess what happens every time.

Along for the ride is the romantic interest of the film, a woman named Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana), who perhaps could have been better surnamed Forthright, since she’s not one to suffer fools (or Frost) gladly. She of course has a history with Frost, and the film might have benefited emotionally from a bit more development of this angle, especially given the opening vignette which suggests that Frost tends to utilize his assistants as potential throwaway items.

The story does end up globe trotting, and there’s kind of an ironic denouement with regard to the “family reunion” between Mr. Link (who later takes the name of Susan — don’t ask) and his supposed yeti “cousins”. There are a number of interstitial dilemmas that expectedly accrue, with an emphasis on the unlikely teamwork between Frost, Mr. Link and Adelina. The story might have worked better with more solid comedy, but the characters are really engaging and engagingly rendered throughout, and the entire look of this film is frequently awe inspiring.

Missing Link Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Missing Link is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. About the only significant complaint I could imagine fans having with this release is that there is neither a 3D nor a 4K version. This is another stunning looking Laika production that benefits from a problem free presentation in high definition. Practical elements like fabrics in costumes or even the rubbery "fur" that adorns Mr. Link's bulbous body are frequently almost palpable, and the palette similarly bristles with an incredible gamut of tones. The story's various locations, both exotic and perhaps otherwise, provide great examples for both gorgeous backgrounds (some of which can admittedly be a bit soft looking at times) and finely rendered characters within those environments. Fine detail is typically excellent throughout the presentation, even in some midrange shots. I noticed no compression anomalies of any import.

Missing Link Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Missing Link features an intermittently boisterous sounding Dolby Atmos track. Surround activity is consistent and typically extremely immersive, but perhaps surprisingly this didn't feature a ton of (literally) over the top Atmos effects. A glut of outdoor material, often with pretty cacophonous events unfolding, allows regular engagement of the side and rear channels for nicely placed ambient environmental and other sound effects. The film's bouncy score also tends to reside in the surround channels nicely throughout. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.

Missing Link Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Chris Butler


• Creating Mr. Link (1080p; 1:23) is a brief piece documenting the, um, evolution of the character design and the fabrication of the puppet.


• Bringing the Final Battle on the Ice Bridge to Life (1080p; 1:46) is another brief piece, this one looking at some production elements of the climax of the film.


• Animation Inspiration (1080p; 3:34) features what amount to storyboards as either backgrounds or picture in picture elements while snippets from the film play, and includes an optional commentary by Chris Butler.


• VFX Breakdown Reel - Realizing the Potential of Stop Motion (1080p; 6:05) features Steve Emerson, who is in charge of VFX at Laika, who discusses Laika's approach to so-called "hybrid" films which blend stop motion with other elements.


• Oh What a Mystery - Pulling the Camera Back on Missing Link's Magic (1080p; 2:25) is a fun time lapse look at the film being shot.


• Making Faces (1080p; 00:46) is a kind of silly short featuring some of the puppet faces.


• Inside the Magic of Laika (1080p; 2:46) features Travis Knight cheerleading his team.


• Gallery (1080p; 2:05) features with a Manual Advance or an Auto Advance option. The timing is for the Auto Advance option.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:25)

Missing Link Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Since it was for another site for whom I worked prior to Blu-ray.com, I won't post a direct link, but enterprising Googlers can find an interview I did with Coraline line producer Harry Linden several years ago which hopefully gives a little insight into both stop motion production, line producing and the culture at Laika (at least at the time). Harry got my younger son a really sweet birthday present of a personally inscribed Coraline poster from Henry Selick to my kid, and it hangs proudly in my son's bedroom to this day. Perhaps because of this and other personal connections, I have true admiration for the artistry Laika brings to the table, and it's once again dazzlingly on display in Missing Link. The story here could have used a bit of punching up, especially on the comedic side, which is sometimes forced, but the characters are wonderfully daffy and the entire production design impeccably impressive. Technical merits are first rate, and with a few niggling caveats noted, Missing Link comes Recommended.