Movie Review: Turning Red

Movie Review: Turning Red                                                                                                            3-12-22

Meilen ‘Mei-Mei’ Lee is your typical 13-year-old girl: She has great grades in school, a diverse group of friends, an overprotective mom, and a crush on the worldwide pop sensation 4*Town. Her family also owns one of the most revered Chinese temples in Canada. One morning, Mei wakes up to find out that she’s turned into an 8-foot-tall red panda! However, on the next Red Moon, Mei and her parents can perform a ritual that can banish her panda side into a necklace. If Mei turns into a panda too much, she’ll never be able to remove her panda form.

As for what I thought of Turning Red, I honestly have mixed feelings about it. First, let’s talk about the positives. As usual, the animation is top-notch. I especially like how the filmmakers integrated Chinese and Canadian architecture in the city where Mei-Mei lives. I also love how they made her panda form super fluffy! Not to mention that all of Mei’s friends are all different races, which is nice to see.

Now on to the negatives: Ming, Mei’s mom, is rather unlikable. She doesn’t want Mei to have fun or hang out with her friends for no good reason, other than the fact that she can turn into a panda. Think of her like Mother Gothel from Tangled, but nowhere near as villainous.

Ming spying on Mei while she's in school

Other gripes I have with the movie include Mei looking too young to be 13 and some confusing lore. Can anyone explain why none of Mei's male relatives can turn into pandas?

"Our ancestors had a mystical connection with red pandas."

In conclusion, Turning Red is fine, but I personally recommend the Netflix-exclusive DreamWorks series Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. This show takes place in a Dystopian future where animals have either grown to elephantine proportions or have evolved to a human level intellectually. Humankind is now under control by the evil mandrill Scarlemagne, who wants to build a city for animals (now known as mutes) on the remains of an old zoo. Now, it's up to Kipo Oak, a 13-year-old purple-skinned girl who can also turn into a giant jaguar, to save humanity, as well as find a way to form a friendship between humans and mutes. The show only has 30 half-hour episodes, but it's definitely worth a watch.

Rating: 3.45 stars out of 5.

However, I do have a warning for those who plan on watching the movie: Turning Red is more taboo than typical Pixar faire, with some dirty jokes that you could fit into an episode of The Simpsons or Rocko's Modern Life.