#The missing link cast movie#
#The missing link cast code#

Missing Link is the second time that Chris Butler has directed a movie for the studio his first was the brilliant ParaNorman, and as the co-writer of the Oscar-nominated Kubo and the Two Strings, he is one of Laika’s strongest assets. It’s a heady mix of creativity from people who are at the very top of their game. As with other Laika movies, I genuinely can’t wait to rewatch it to try to soak in what I missed. The only thing stopping one getting lost in the details is the brilliant execution of the storytelling that is unfolding. The design of the sets is so rich and deep and detailed that you find yourself scouring each shot to try and take in as much of it as possible. The clothes the characters are wearing, especially Jackman’s Frost, deserve recognition come awards season. The film’s design as a whole, and in its parts, is breathtaking. The results are repeatedly jaw-dropping and will genuinely have you asking how they managed to do what they’ve done. As a result, it seems to be inspired by everything from Aardman-esque design to the straight edge animations that came out of Eastern Europe, all set against this stunning backdrop that utilizes a seamless mix of expansive physical sets and CGI. Where previously the look of a Laika movie has been very much uniform across a world, Missing Link is a mix of very linear and more fluid forms. Ten years on from Coraline, Laika continue to be evolving masters of scope and scale without ever sacrificing the intimate, delicate details of what audiences are seeing. Lemuel Lint, and Matt Lucas reunited in the mix too. It’s also great to hear Little Britain’s David Walliams, as Mr.

But it’s still possessed of a bracingly righteous anger at a debased form of governance (“Meet the new boss/Same as the old boss”) that transcends borders.The film is a robust buffet of voices including Stephen Fry as Lord Piggot-Dunceby, Emma Thompson as the Yeti Elder, and Timothy Olyphant as Frost’s nemesis, Tybalt Moriarty, who deliver a pitch-perfect supporting cast of characters that each bring something extra in entirely different ways. His eventual transformation into a reluctantly gun-toting, Facebook live-streaming survivalist revolutionary is pure fantasy. The systemic venality that at first props him up becomes the Atlas-like globe that weighs him down. Salas is the primary focus, however, and Arcilla plays him with an initial heedless energy that slowly shifts into hunched-shoulders sorrow.

A much better meld of needle-drop and suspense set piece is a prison riot scored quite effectively to “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” during which the morals-waffling Roman finally, violently asserts himself. On the Job: The Missing 8 at times tends too much toward cheek, as in a pre-credits teaser in which a witness to Eusebio’s corruption is chased down while Tom Jones’ “Delilah” blares on the soundtrack. Not a moment goes by when Matti isn’t trying to cattle-prod at least one of the five senses, though the downside of this scrappy dynamism is that it makes many of the horrors depicted more palatable than they perhaps should be. A tense all-hands meeting is visualized through multiple panels, 24 style, while social media posts and other internet ephemera are often overlaid onscreen as a way of portraying the sheer glut of information (true and false) that competes for reader attention. And there’s a sublime tension in the way Matti and Yamamoto pay homage to the power of print while going stylistically for broke.

Little surprise that Salas and his colleagues’ ink-stained life, particularly in the current virtual age, is not an easy one. The vanished victims become another statistic (“The Missing 8”) in the Philippines’ long history of unsolved disappearances, as well as the catalyst for Pangan’s radio host friend, Sisoy Salas (John Arcilla), to rethink his pro-government views and help bring the harsh truth to light. But through a cruel twist of fate, seven others (a child included) are with him when he crosses paths with the killers.

#The missing link cast code#

One of them, the strikingly broken-nosed Roman Rubio (Dennis Trillo), will prove less than loyal to the criminal code of dishonor. This cannot stand, and so Eusebio, like the corrupt politicos in the first On the Job, calls on the services of local prison inmates who are temporarily released to carry out assassinations. One thorn in his side is Arnel Pangan (Christopher De Leon), the owner of a struggling newspaper that frequently publishes articles calling out Eusebio and his cronies. Venue: Venice Film Festival (Competition)Ĭast: John Arcilla, Dennis Trillo, Joey Marquez, Dante Rivero, Lotlot De Leon, Christopher De Leon, Leo Martinez, Andrea Brillantes, Agot Isidro