Over the Moon review: gorgeous animation, rushed story

We both gave Over the Moon a three and a half. It was fun enough and the animation is gorgeous, but the story felt rushed and all over the place. The film is the Netflix animated musical from 2020, with Cathy Ang voicing Fei Fei, Phillipa Soo as the moon goddess Chang'e and Ken Jeong as Gobi. We went in knowing nothing about it, not even the trailer, and only realized it was a musical once the singing started.

The Over the Moon opening hit us hard

The early scenes, with Fei Fei's mother telling the legend of Chang'e and making moon cakes with the family, were beautiful. Then her mother falls ill, and the emotion arrived fast. "how am I already crying?" was the honest reaction, and we called it a beautiful beginning. We also noticed that the opening songs reminded us of Mulan.

Fei Fei's rocket plan was smart, but we doubted the physics

Four years later, her father has met someone new, and Fei Fei sets out to prove Chang'e is real by building a rocket. Using the magnetic train for speed made sense to us, since magnets mean no friction, and that part seemed smart. The rocket itself, with a coffee pot among its parts, did not convince us. We thought space would crush it, and the fireworks launch was the point where it was clear this is a cartoon, because none of it would work.

Chang'e and the moon world felt very different

Once Fei Fei reaches the moon, the vibe changes sharply, including a concert number that felt like it went K-pop. "This movie is really weird. Like really, really weird." We were wary of Chang'e at first and did not think she was the warm figure from the mother's story. Later the view softened: "I don't think she's a bad person. She's just madly in love and a little psychotic." We also wished the rabbits could talk, and we were surprised the gift turned up inside a moon cake.

Why the Over the Moon story felt rushed

"The animation is gorgeous. It was really sweet." That was our shared view, and the music was pretty, though the songs came across as sweet but not memorable. The bigger problems were pacing and focus. It felt like a lesson more than a story, and it felt very rushed.

We don't think Gobi was needed. Fei Fei and her future stepbrother should have made the journey together and had real bonding moments, because they spent little time together. We also had no real connection to the stepmom, and we wished we had spent time with her. We could see there was a lot of symbolism in Fei Fei's journey, and we were still sad she left Bungee the rabbit on the moon. But in the end, it was okay: a three and a half.