Review of Smallfoot (2018) by Naveeng — 05 Oct 2018

Review of Smallfoot.

While we were growing we’ve seen so many fictional movies which revolve around aliens and superheroes. All these movies were based on our perception about foreign objects. This movie is about how Yetis look at humans. It’s about how they, out of the fear of humans, create their own world at the top of the mountains where they knew humans couldn’t come because they couldn’t survive there. It is a fiction but has got a lot of realistic day to day things to teach us. First thing that it teaches us elders is about the responsibility towards our families. The Stonekeeper, who is also the leader of the clan, has been able to protect the village from humans for many years. Not only that, he has also been able to create such a mechanism that the village is completely cut-off from humans. Firstly, he made the villagers believe that their mountain was placed on a floating cloud. He also made them create the clouds through steam which they never knew they did. All they knew was that they were feeding the elephants holding the clouds. He made them believe in many such superstitions just to keep them away from danger. His only motive was to be ‘better safe than sorry’.

Percy, the human teaches us about integrity. Initially, he was tempted to create fake news about the Yetis with the help of his co-worker Brenda but later when he experienced the truth about them, he stood for them. He could’ve used all the media that he had on his phone to become rich, but he chose to delete them making people believe that the whole ‘Yeti’ thing was a hoax. He also teaches us about taking a stand for our friends.

Migo teaches us that the stones (our perceptions and assumptions) are not always right. We always need to dig deeper and find the truth even when it doesn’t look true and a lie is sometimes so evidently true. When the Stonekeeper showed him the visuals of how humans harmed Yetis in the past, it was quite evident to Migo because his first encounter with a human (Percy) too was not too friendly. However, he forced himself not to believe what he saw and continued pursuing the truth. Meechee, Kolka and Gwangi teach us about teamwork and confidentiality.

The most important lesson that I personally learnt is from Fleem, the pessimist. The best part is when he is counting the pros and cons before jumping off the cliff when the rest of his friends have already jumped. I hadn’t realized this until I watched it in the movie how important it is to take some major decisions thoughtfully. I personally have made many mistakes in taking hasty decisions.

Smallfoot is not just for kids. It has a much deeper meaning and learning even for adults. It teaches us integrity, responsibility, the passion of finding the truth and taking a stand for our friends.