Leap! (2016) - Movie Review

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

poster for Leap! (2016)

11-year-old orphan, Félicie (Elle Fanning) has one dream - to go to Paris and become a dancer. Her best friend Victor (Nat Wolff), an imaginative but exhausting boy with a passion for creating, has a dream of his own - to become a famous inventor. In a leap of faith, Victor and Félicie leave their orphanage in pursuit of their passions. But - there's a catch, Félicie must pretend to be the child of a wealthy family in order to gain admittance to the prestigious and competitive Opera Ballet School in Paris. And with no professional dance training, she quickly learns that talent alone is not enough to overcome the ruthless, conniving attitudes of her fellow classmates, led by the devious Camille Le Haut (Maddie Ziegler) and her wicked mother Régine (Kate McKinnon). Determined to succeed, Félicie finds her mentor in the tough and mysterious school custodian, Odette (Carly Rae Jepsen) who, along with Victor's encouraging friendship, help her reach for the stars. (Rotten Tomatoes)
Rating: PG
Runtime: 1 hour 29 minutes
Genre(s): Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Released: October 19th, 2016
Directed by: Eric Summer, Éric Warin, Mimi Maynard (Voice Director), Paulette Victor-Lifton (Voice Director)
Written by: Eric Summer, Laurent Zeitoun, Carol Noble
Starring: Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan, Carly Rae Jepsen, Maddie Ziegler

I enjoyed two things about this film. First, the animation is very nice and I absolutely loved the lighting. Second, Nora was the only character worth my time (okay...maybe Mattie too). The voice acting, especially for the main characters, is just horrible and in my opinion, the voices did not match very well. The timing of the music was weird/abrupt and what you would expect from a stereotypical animated film. Leap! is so full of overly dramatic moments, that when something that is actually important happens, it does not matter. Overall, it is not the worst animated feature that I have seen, but it is also nowhere near being close to being one of the best. Also...rooftops are not a proper meeting place, I don't care how old you are or what time period it is and the number of times that Victor hits his head is incredibly troubling.

Rating: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆5/10




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