REVIEW: Turning Red Provides a Different Look at Puberty
Being 13 years old is never easy. It is the age of braces, awkwardness, and hormones. You’re a brand new teenager but so much of you feels like the kid you still are. Disney and Pixar’s new movie, Turning Red, takes its shot at capturing this topsy-turvy year and all of its roller coaster of emotions. Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang) is newly 13 years old and attempting to survive the ride. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t quite give the challenge of being 13 years old, nor the lead character Mei, the story they deserve.
Mei kicks off the flick facing an inner battle she is hellbent on overcoming: dealing with her incredibly overbearing mother, Ming (Sandra Oh). Her mother has the unlucky (for Mei) habit of appearing at the absolute worst times and instead of her mother embracing the chaos that is being 13-years old, she makes each situation much, much worse for Mei.
A stifling mother is already an end of the world challenge for any teenager but Mei’s also dealing with the effects of puberty. And the changes she’s experiencing are greatly different than everyone else’s. When Mei feels intense emotion she “poofs” into a giant red panda due to an inherited curse from her mother and mother’s family. Mei must decide if she’ll hide this new shift in her life or accept her new “pandaness” and use it to her advantage.
Pixar and Disney, once again, create a beautifully animated movie filled with vibrant colors. You’ll need more than one watch to capture even part of the movie’s gorgeous moments. If it’s not your eyes, then your ears will definitely be feeling this movie. Set in Toronto in 2002, Mei and her friends are obsessed with the fictional boy band, 4*Town. The music will have many viewers reminiscing about their own boy band days and the lengths some went to just catch a glimpse of their favorite band. Mei and her friends will be easy to relate to when it comes to this part of the story.
The other aspects of the film don’t hold up. Too often parts of this film felt like they were simply swapped from Pixar’s Brave and updated to 2002 Toronto for Turning Red. Several times throughout the film it felt like what we were seeing had been seen and heard before from Pixar. The focus of the film was lost in the final third, as well. The first two parts of the film centered on Mei dealing with her new ability and grappling with how to live up to her mom’s expectations. Does she stand with her mother and hide her new ability, or does she stand with her friends and embrace the new Mei?
In the final third of the movie, the Mei working to either embrace or reject her new ability theme became background as her mom’s intense domineering behavior took center stage. This switch was so sudden that it shifted the whole feel of the film. An exploration of Mei’s attempt to grow up combined with her handling the reactions to her new ability would have been a solid way to wrap up the film ensuring Pixar and Disney another successful flick. Unfortunately, this is not the path Pixar and Disney opted to take which severely impacted the end result of the movie.
Turning Red will arrive on Disney+ on Friday, March 11; if you have a subscription, give it a watch. For those who don’t, I wouldn’t sweat about missing it. It definitely is better than some other Pixar movies, but it’s not better than the majority of Pixar’s offerings and it is definitely nowhere near the best.
Grade: B-