Review of Moshi Monsters: The Movie (2013) by Liam C — 29 Jan 2015

For something that could have just been thrown together to cash in on a fanbase, it's nice to see that some real love and effort was put into this movie. Moshi Monsters: The Movie is actually a nice little surprise.

The first indication of this is the cute opening credits, they actually made me smile and I thought that it was a clever little thing to do and it keeps the immersion for the children. I recognised some of them but I don't know which is from which set or how they decided to choose who they did for the movie but either way, they were a lot of fun and all have their little quirks. The next thing that's really obvious is just how brilliantly animated it is and how beautiful it looks, the movie is vibrant and looks absolutely gorgeous. It keeps the original style of the game and it's always fluid with something always moving, it is just a joy to look at. What was done with the budget is amazing.

The script is also pretty funny and surprisingly witty and all the voice actors do great jobs, especially Dr. Strangeglove. The jokes that are told were funny and it was actually smart in parts, mostly with in-jokes making fun of villain's plans, but it's just sprinkled with fun little jokes that adults will laugh at and I'm not going to sit here and list them all, but you'll know. However, I will say that one joke with a drum Moshi made me laugh. I also noticed some references and visual gags and I thought they were good, especially because they don't draw attention to them, they are just there and if you see them, then cool. It's refreshing and I'd like to see more movies do that. For example, one of them was a smiling cat on a tree that went invisible and that's pretty obvious what that is referencing; it's things like that.

All the songs in the movie are actually pretty good and besides the sad moments, all of the songs are upbeat and surprisingly catchy, they were all a welcome addition to the movie and I was looking forward to what was next. Some of the songs are taken from the game but they all work here and are given new visual treatment. The Dr. Strangeglove song in particular was excellent and that was one of the first songs and that just set an awesome tone from that point on. He is actually a pretty funny bad guy and well designed, he reminded me a lot of Mr. Dark from 'Rayman' and there is a reason why he is called what he is and it wasn't just done for a cheap pun. Actually, when I first heard his name it gave me a big smile and at some points it does sound like they are actually saying, 'Strangelove'. I was, however, expecting some 'Dr. Strangelove' references in there somewhere, nothing as obvious as someone riding on a bomb because that would just be out of place but maybe I missed something subtle like one of those references that I mentioned before. There was a scene with a Moshi falling into water but that seemed more like a 'Looney Tunes' reference than anything else.

Overall though it's a really enjoyable movie that I have no complaints with and it zips by pretty quickly. It's nice to look at, has a good sense of humor, as well as smart writing with some lessons and is just a good fun time for the whole family.