So many fictional young people a runnin’ out of parents. Today, it’s the turn of Kat Elliot (voice of Lyric Ross), whose distracted father drove them all off a bridge when Kat was a girl. Only Kat survived. And she grew up being a bad girl, so now she’s been sent to an all-girl Catholic school, which is kinda like prison, only worse.
Meanwhile, in Hell, demons Wendell & Wild (Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, together again) dream of constructing an amusement park for dead people. “Dis-membered-neyland?” “Six Flags Under Texas?” “Misstepcot Center?” That’s clearly a new take on demon antics … another is both of these nether-worlders like to OD on hair cream. Cuz, you know, why wouldn’t you?
Oh, and Kat immediately befriends a mean girl whose parents run a private prison – oooo, a private prison, huh? Now we’re getting somewhere. Private prisons represent some of the worst evils of 21st century politics. So we’re making a statement here, yes? No. Oh. Ok. Mostly we’re just trying to hook up Kat with the demons while undead bodies happen. Um, sure. That sounds like sort of a plot.
How is this going to happen? Well … Kat gets a mark on her hand somewhere between a tattoo and a giant welt; it’s not unlike the ones those soap-making dudes get in Fight Club. This mark is like her “demon signal.” Not exactly sure how that works; I figure the movie has been making it up for the last ten minutes. Bottom line is now Kat is a “Hell Maiden” (without the cool chopper) and will trade her parents’ resurrection
for letting demons roam the Earth. However, since all these particular demons seem to want to do is suck on haircream and build a playground, I think this is a win-win.
There are a few smiles here; I certainly liked the part where deceased barons and land-rapers are raised from the dead entirely so they can vote Republican. Yeah, that tracks. I wish the film had held my attention consistently with such shenanigans. It did not.
For all the “fun” here, I fell asleep twice watching Wendell & Wild; that’s never a good sign, especially for an animated feature. This film felt highly derivative of The Nightmare Before Christmas in several ways, but especially the look. Writer/director Henry Selick was an animator/cinematographer for The Nightmare Before Christmas, so this is hardly surprising. And, in other words, the dark themes to match the dark look of the picture will throw most children. Even though the heroine is still a girl, you’ll want to pay attention to the PG-13 rating. Mostly, however, you just ask yourself why you aren’t watching The Nightmare Before Christmas; it’s a similar film, only much better.
There once was a girl named Kat
Who acquired a skeletal tat
The mark, to her dread
Could summon the dead
Now zombiedom is really all that
Rated PG-13, 105 Minutes
Director: Henry Selick
Writer: Henry Selick, Jordan Peele
Genre: Tim Burton
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who shoot up The Nightmare Before Christmas for kicks
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “Seen it”
