Review of Leap (2017) by Dave M — 30 Aug 2017

With apologies to Shakespeare, to leap or not to leap, that is the question. But before you answer that question, you need to know the type of leaping being proposed. Should you leap forward, leap over, leap up, leap down or leap for joy? Well, no matter what kind of leaping it is, many people will warn you to "look before you leap", while others will tell you to "just take the leap". Of course, doing the latter requires taking what's called a "leap of faith". But since faith, by definition, is a belief for which there is no objective evidence, it sounds like we're back to that "look before you leap" advice. I guess we could keep things really simple, as does the Canadian-French animated musical adventure comedy "Leap!" (PG, 1:29)... or, "Ballerina", as this movie was originally titled (and is still called in movie markets outside the U.S.). Either way. This movie is about leaping, both literally and figurately, whether you're a little girl who is an aspiring ballerina or anyone with a dream who is wondering whether or not to take that leap.

Félicie (voiced by Elle Fanning) is an 11-year-old girl living in a late 19th century orphanage in the rural area of France known as Brittany. She dreams of being a ballerina, dancing around the orphanage as she does her chores, but a humorless Mother Superior (Kate McKinnon) sternly reminds her "dreams are not reality". Félicie's fellow orphan and best friend, Victor (Nat Wolff, who replaced Dane DeHaan for the American version), has dreams too. He wants to be an inventor and has already built himself a set of wings. One night, he uses those wings to get himself and Félicie out of the orphanage. They are pursued on a motorcycle by an orphanage employee named M. Luteau (Mel Brooks), but they get away from him by hopping a train to Paris. Let the dreams be pursued - and let the leaping begin!

As soon as Félicie and Victor get to Paris, they become separated when Victor accidentally ends up on a boat floating down the Seine, leaving Félicie to her own devices. She finds the Paris Opera House, sneaks in and catches the Paris Opera Ballet's Prima Ballerina rehearsing and is inspired by the sight. Then Félicie is caught by a security guard, but a cleaning lady named Odette (Carly Rae Jepsen) gets her off the hook. Odette tries to get rid of Félicie, but she has nowhere to go. And there's also that business of her dream and all. Félicie follows Odette to her other cleaning gig, working for a wealthy and mean restauranteur named Régine Le Haut (Kate McKinnon). Félicie convinces Odette to help her clean and, when she finds out that Odette used to be a ballet dancer, Félicie gets Odette to train her. Meanwhile, a fierce rivalry develops between Félicie and Régine's daughter, Camille (Maddie Ziegler), who is also studying to be a ballerina. Félicie then intercepts Camille's invitation to audition for "The Nutcracker".

But what happened to Victor? Don't worry. He's fine. When he reconnects with Félicie, he tells her about a strange sequence of events which lead him to become friends with the young assistant (Tamir Kapelian) of one Gustav Eiffel, who is in the midst of building an odd-looking metal tower in Paris. Victor gets to help out in Eiffel's workshop and uses that opportunity to work on his inventions. Félicie and Victor meet up a few times and their friendship seems to be progressing towards romance, even as Félicie is being pursued by a young, arrogant Russian ballet dancer (also Tamir Kapelian). Meanwhile, Félicie has been subjected to the tough tutelage of Mérante (Terrence Scammell), the ballet director. And everything is coming to a head for Félicie regarding her relationships with all the other people in her life and her valiant (but dishonest) efforts to realize her dream and perform at the Paris Opera Ballet.

"Leap!" is a charming, but slight animated fantasy. There's nothing new here, except for the setting - and that's portrayed somewhat inaccurately. Based on the level of completion of the Eiffel Tower, this story takes place in April 1888, but the Statue of Liberty is also shown being constructed, even though it had been sent to the U.S. two years earlier. Of course, this film's target audience won't notice those details, but kids (or parents) might notice that they've seen stories very much like it many times before. Co-directed by Éric Summer and Éric Warin and written by Summer, Carol Noble and Laurent Zeitoun, the movie is a combination of "The Karate Kid" and "Cinderella", while feeling like an attempt to copy the typical Disney princess movie formula. It lacks the energy and entertainment value (and musical accompaniment) of those films, but it's still a very pleasant way to spend an hour and a half. Most kids (especially, but not only, little girls) will like it, while the adults who bring them will likely appreciate the scenery - and the animation, often looking photorealistic. It's worth taking the leap to see this one. "B".