nWave

  • The Queen’s Corgi (2019)

    The Queen’s Corgi (2019)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On TV, November 2021) As far as animated family movies featuring talking animal characters go, The Queen Corgi feels too dull-yet-unpleasant to be worth a look. The first fifteen minutes are both too weird for an all-age film and easily better than the rest of it, as the Queen of England inexplicably makes her newest Corgi the designated favourite, and then the President of the United States comes by for a visit. Obviously meant to be the previous guy in the job (although humanized through a love of dogs that runs contrary to all real-life evidence), the visiting presidential couple also bring their own female corgi, and much of the initial comedy has to do with her pursuing the protagonist despite his obvious lack of consent. This is beyond inexplicable for a kid’s film, so it’s almost a relief when the film goes on to something far more innocuous. That is, if you think a rival Corgi getting rid of the protagonist to usurp his place as the Queen’s favourite is any better. The adventure that follows takes us in the London dog underworld (complete with a canine fight club) before getting back to the palace in time for the climax. The Queen’s Corgi, by way of an explanation, is a production of Belgian animation studio nWave Pictures, whose animated output has been steadily substandard for nearly a decade before managing something of a half-success with The Son of Bigfoot. The Queen’s Corgi is clearly a step back, and I’m skipping over many of the film’s most dumbfounding moments (some of them thankfully softened by the French dubbing: “grab them by the puppy”? Oh dear.) on my way to an overall assessment: Skip it. Don’t show it to the kids. The Queen’s Corgi has nearly no entertainment value, and whatever interest it has is in wondering how anyone thought that the finished product -or its most inane moments—was a good idea.

  • The Son of Bigfoot aka Bigfoot Junior (2017)

    The Son of Bigfoot aka Bigfoot Junior (2017)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, February 2021) There was a spate of cryptozoology animated family films in 2017ish, and The Son of Bigfoot is probably the least known of them. This can be explained by the film’s independent European pedigree — rather than being a Laika, DreamWorks or Sony Animation Studio production, it hails from French Europe and was distributed by StudioCanal. Don’t expect a cut-rate production — the budget of the film and the well-worn production experience of nWave pictures are such that the computer animation looks great, easily up to the standards of anyone but the biggest studios in the industry. The story itself is more pedestrian, what with a young boy discovering that he’s getting hairier by the minute, and eventually that his absent father in none other but the Bigfoot himself. Throw in a plot that has to do with an evil businessman capturing the bigfoot for follicular fortune (don’t ask) and you’ve got enough to fill up the film’s 92 minutes. The Son of Bigfoot is not that good of a film: the humour is easy, the concepts only make sense in the context of a family film, and the tone underlines every emotional moment twice. But it’s more than just watchable — it’s fun and frantic and well grounded in its dramatic moments. There are far worse movies out there in the children’s section, whether we’re talking content or execution. Director Ben Stassen has come a long way since his debut feature Fly Me to the Moon, and he’s now cruising at a higher level with The Son of Bigfoot, since then followed by The Queen’s Corgi and sequel Bigfoot Family.