Sir Robert Frost (Hugh Jackman) is an aspiring adventurer with a fascination for paranormal creatures. Unfortunately, he finds he is not taken seriously by his Victorian peers and his efforts to change their mind prove futile. He is particularly despised by the head of the Explorers' Club, Lord Piggot-Dunceby (Stephen Fry), a man who insists he is leading the "civilized" society of "great men" while his arrogance and closed-mindedness constantly betray his true savage nature. Dunceby is rooted in the past, refusing to except new ideas like the concept of evolution and women's suffrage. Frost is constantly seeking out adventures in the hopes of joining their ranks to no avail.
After an unsuccessful attempt to prove the existence of the Loch Ness monster (he finds it, but fails to obtain solid evidence of its existence) and the resignation of his valet, Frost finds a new opportunity when he receives a lead on the legendary creature known as Sasquatch- a possible missing link in the evolution of humanity-Vowing to prove himself to the Explorers' Club, Frost places a bet with Dunceby that he can prove its existence.
Amazingly, not only does Frost find the sasquatch (Zach Galifianakis), but discovers it is an intelligent creature who can speak, read, and write in English. Said sasquatch actually turns out to be quite friendly, and actively seeking out Frost. He's lonely, and looking for his place in the world. The only lead to where there might be other sasquatches is in legends of yetis in the Himilayas.
The two of them strike a deal- Frost brings the sasquatch to the Himilayas in exchange for all the evidence he needs of his discovery. Also thrown into the mix is Frost's former girlfriend Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana), who gets brought along for the ride. But Dunceby is determined to preserve his "civilized" society and hires a big-game hunter to kill them and make sure Frost has no chance of winning the bet.
The result is a fast-paced action adventure rendered in impressive stop-motion. The animation in this film is amazingly smooth. Without proper context one could easily be forgiven for not even realizing this is stop motion, that's how impressive it is. The amount of detail that goes into the animation is incredible- from the intricate movements of its characters to the beautiful scenery that makes up the various environments encountered by its characters (and which many of the action scenes love taking advantage of). The quality of the stop-motion alone is enough to make this a worthwhile experience.
And yet it would hardly to justice to simply call Missing Link a mere spectacle of animation. There are far more complex layers to this story than one might expect. Between its various brands of humor (which includes slapstick, absurdist, intellectual jokes, and dark comedy) and over-the-top action scenes there are some really well-written and very emotional character interactions, and they even managed to fit in a bit of social commentary. This is part of what makes Dunceby such an effective antagonist, that for his goofy design and silly name his attitude feels remarkably genuine for his setting. (this is fitting with the irony of his role- a "civilized" man who constantly displays behavior that would be considered "savage")
The three heroes prove an effective team. The relationship between Frost and the sasquatch (who adopts the name "Susan") is surprisingly complex and turns out to have a lot of detail, even while in the middle of slapstick gags involving Susan's size and strength or his efforts to blend in with humans by wearing a suit. But we also can't ignore the role of Zoe Saldana. Adalina proves to be a very strong character from the moment she is introduced, and she spends much of the film proving her worth as an adventurer every bit as capable as Frost, sometimes even more so. She never feels like she's just there to be used by the men or to be looked at by the audience.
Finally, the story is extremely compelling. The narrative itself is pretty straight forward but includes a variety of twists and turns (special mention to when they actually reach the Himilayas- though I can't say why without giving away spoilers). It ultimately asks a lot of questions about where our heroes belong. What does it mean to be a "great man" (or woman, or Bigfoot) and what does it really mean to be "civilized?" And what does it mean to find one's place in the world, which is often not where you expect?
Missing Link is a must-see for fans of stop-motion. It is an incredibly well-crafted film that will appeal to all ages. Kids will enjoy the animation, the humor, and the fast-paced action while adults get all that plus a few deeper layers.
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