Smallfoot (2018)

Welcome back to another Christmas Movie Marathon! Tonight I'll be reviewing Smallfoot (2018).

At the peak of a mountain, high above the cloud line, exists a peaceful village of yetis. But one day, one of them runs across a human on the mountain (known to the yetis as "smallfoot"). He tries to prove their existence to his village, but all evidence vanishes. So he sets off to prove that the elusive smallfoot exists.

This is a classic trope swap, in which the yeti is the common citizen, while humans are the mythical beast. There are also some serious religious undertones in the plot, where the village has unbreakable laws literally written in stone, which they use to guide every facet of their lives. One such stone claims that humans do not exist, which causes conflict when the main yeti character insists he saw one.

I really liked the different perspectives you get to see: When you're seeing humans from the yeti's viewpoint, they're a bunch of high-pitched sqeaky creatures. When you see the yetis from the human's viewpoint, they're deep-voiced, growling creatures. Definitely drives home the "we can't communicate" concept, while also letting you experience both of the creatures from their respective shoes.

There were a few musical numbers in the film, most of which felt like an odd choice or awkward timing for a sudden song to break out. But the music itself wasn't too bad. I especially liked when "Under Pressure" started playing and the main human character makes up his own lyrics to the song to explain his unique plight, which worked out pretty decently. And I really enjoyed the musical number where the Stonekeeper brought the main yeti character into the mountain for their little "chat."

I have more I'd like to say about this film, but can't without spoiling parts of the plot. So I'll just say that this was a surprisingly entertaining film. I went in expecting it to be a pretty bland kid's film and was surprised how original and creative it was. I was about to boo the ending, then was pleasantly surprised to see a different ending than I thought it was building up to. I'd recommend this film for anyone to check out!