Chloe Bennet stars as Yi, a young girl, who lives in a small Shanghai apartment with her mother and grandmother. Yi spends her days doing the worst of odd jobs, and secretly stashes her earnings away for an adventurous trip across China. Her nights are spent on the apartment’s roof, playing the violin that her father gave her before he passed away.
One night, she discovers that a yeti, on the run from the captivity of the evil Mr. Burnish, is hiding in her rooftop sanctuary. Yi feeds him, tends to a wound on his arm, and decides to call him Everest. Everest becomes the friend that she’s always needed, and the duo set out to return him to his family home in The Himalayas.
Along the way, friends Jin (Tenzing Trainor) and Peng (Albert Tsai) join them. Through the various legs of their journey, their friendship is strengthened, and they learn of all the wonderful, magic qualities their yeti friend holds. They also begin to consider the importance of their friendship, and the relationships with their families back home in Shanghai.
As you’d expect, the showing that I saw was mostly families with small children. It was a joy to hear them laughing throughout this movie, which clearly showed that the target audience was pleased. The adults laughed quite a bit as well, myself included, making this family film a real winner. I wish I could elaborate on some of the funniest parts, but I really don’t want to be a spoiler.
Beautifully rendered, “Abominable” finds DreamWorks giving Pixar a serious run for their money. There were a couple of flying sequences that had such depth, they almost seemed three-dimensional. I would highly recommend this film for families spanning all ages, as there is nothing objectionable for younger eyes or ears.