Summary of the plot:
This movie is about a young dog girl going by the name of Lotte and her sister going on a one day long adventure to find some missing dragons. Two brand new characters, a loony raccoon and a rather pompous fish, who appear to be researchers documenting old folk songs for some competition and the egotistical rabbit Adalbert, who also fills the role of being the comedy relief, though that could also be argued for the researchers. They of course eventually find the dragons and the film ends quite abruptly.
Positives: Though not perfect, this film boasts the sharpest animation in the franchise so I will give credit where credit is due. The character designs are cute and interesting as they were in the last films and I feel like it serves it's purpose quite well, though they should have relaxed with all those shine effects, which make the characters look funnily oily at times. I think that the new fish character was quite quirky with his rather pompous vocabulary and the idea of the two researchers documenting old folk songs is a great way to reference the way researchers in real life are trying to preserve old folk songs. There were some nice references to the studio's earlier films and a few side characters got some development. The dragons themselves were a rather interesting inclusion and from my understanding, their personalities and customs were based around old Estonians, which is fitting, considering that the film was created in celebration to Estonia's 100th anniversary from the day they gained independence. I'll also mention that this film has some odd political commentary of the refugee crisis, though I think it may have been unintentional but if it wasn't, I'm glad that the plot had more nuances than what most see at first glance. The acting was also quite decent, my favorites being the two moles living in their underground mansion. Some of the new characters also had quite good acting for a kids film, though there were some shortcomings, which I will now get into.
Negatives: Though I praised the animation beforehand, there were multiple moments, where I noticed odd things, such as coloring errors and the weird use of what appeared to be stock PNG images from google (Though they may have been created for this project, their hyper realistic style stood out from the regular artwork, such as with the strawberries) oddly animated in post. The 3D art was uncanny once more, which was one of the main points of criticism with the last film and it felt as if it had gotten worse at times. The frame rate difference played a huge role in that as well as the odd choice to make the CGI look somewhat photorealistic. I'm also going to mention that the character of the fly by the name of Jaak looked absolutely enormous compared to what he did in the previous movies, it was really distracting for me at times. It made me feel like the character sheets didn't have any scaling comparisons, which would be very odd considering that there were some industry veterans working on this project. They can claim that it was artistic choice, but if the style doesn't really add anything to the feel of the movie but rather takes away some of the charm, then it's safe to assume that the choice was poorly made. That truly is a shame, because some of the shorts worked really well. While I did praise some of the characters and character development in the film, I feel as if most of the characters that were introduced, much like in the last film, didn't really serve too much of a purpose and they were more like tools, simply used to move the plot along. While watching the film, I couldn't help but feel like the script writers went with the very first script they got and were strictly guided to follow it as gospel. The makers of this film could have saved a lot of time and money by cutting out some of the pointless ''quirky'' dialogue, that often didn't really serve any purpose. That time could have been used to develop some of the newer characters and the older ones, maybe even having the interact with each other. Some characters, such as Adalbert, were changed quite a bit from what they initially were, turning into a parody of their former self at times and then break the mold whenever the story requires it to. The character of Lotte herself seems to have become too perfect in this movie, making her less relatable than she was before, when she actually seemed to go through months or days of hard work, to accomplish what she did by the end. Her sister, while cute, seems to learn how to walk talk and pose ''philosophical'' questions in the span of minutes, which is sort of eerie, but I am willing to accept that to some degree. She wasn't ever annoying like many new baby characters if kids' films, though she does feel like a forced addition to fill some quota from time to time, which is a shame. For some reason, Bruno and Albert are also missing from the film, which has been an odd creative choice. I understand that they don't want to litter the film with too many pointless characters (which they basically have been doing for the entire film) but they could have at least shown them or mentioned them. There were also a few little things, such as the fact that Gadgetville has the least impressive gadgets in the world created by the authors. The dragons seemed to have had electricity for hundreds of years while Oscar only discovered it in the first feature film. Even my little relative was able to point it out and that says a lot about a film in my opinion, if their target audience is able to see the flaws. My biggest problem with the film however, is probably the plot itself. For whatever reason, there were some plot lines that were just unresolved, such as the competition, which was the entire reason for them wanting to find the dragons in the first place. Adalbert never gets to record his song, he just sort of gives up at the end, which goes against the personality that was established in the first film. The film continues the frustrating trend set by all the other Lotte films, where the end feels really rushed and it just ends abruptly and it gives you an empty feeling. The second film at least had some thought exchange between Lotte and her uncle Klaus, though it also could have had a better ending in my opinion, but this film certainly takes the cake for when it comes to unexpected endings. I was really interested to see how the contest would go, what Adalbert's song was, but we will never know.
Extra thoughts: The music is nothing too special this time around oddly enough, though I imagine native Estonians may find the folk songs a bit more charming, so I'm not going to count that as a negative. However I do feel like this film does a disservice to the franchise as a whole. Some of the comedy was clever, though most of the comedy fell a bit flat at times. I can't count that as a negative though, because humor is subjective and there were a few kids that laughed at some of the slapstick humor incorporated by the film.
Final verdict: MESSY As a kids' movie, it fails on numerous fronts. Some of the scenes drag on way too long and may be boring for kids and adults alike and others are so confusing and fast paced, that the younger audiences would have trouble keeping up with. The issues were quite distracting while watching the film, but I think overall it's probably a tiny bit better than the second feature film. I don't think that this film really deserves a watch, even if you're showing this to a child. Just because something is a children's film, doesn't mean that we should hold it to a lower standard. Kids deserve better and I hope that the filmmakers realize that, if there is ever going to be another sequel.
If you want a good alternative, watch Lotte from Gadgetville - the first feature film in the franchise. It has it's own issues, but the morals and story are far stronger and more cohesive for both older and younger audiences alike.
I hope no one takes this review as a personal attack. I know hundreds if not thousands of hours of work went into the final product and you should be proud of that. However that won't stop constructive criticism. Hopefully everyone can learn from these mistakes.
Positives: Though not perfect, this film boasts the sharpest animation in the franchise so I will give credit where credit is due. The character designs are cute and interesting as they were in the last films and I feel like it serves it's purpose quite well, though they should have relaxed with all those shine effects, which make the characters look funnily oily at times. I think that the new fish character was quite quirky with his rather pompous vocabulary and the idea of the two researchers documenting old folk songs is a great way to reference the way researchers in real life are trying to preserve old folk songs. There were some nice references to the studio's earlier films and a few side characters got some development. The dragons themselves were a rather interesting inclusion and from my understanding, their personalities and customs were based around old Estonians, which is fitting, considering that the film was created in celebration to Estonia's 100th anniversary from the day they gained independence. I'll also mention that this film has some odd political commentary of the refugee crisis, though I think it may have been unintentional but if it wasn't, I'm glad that the plot had more nuances than what most see at first glance. The acting was also quite decent, my favorites being the two moles living in their underground mansion. Some of the new characters also had quite good acting for a kids film, though there were some shortcomings, which I will now get into.
Negatives: Though I praised the animation beforehand, there were multiple moments, where I noticed odd things, such as coloring errors and the weird use of what appeared to be stock PNG images from google (Though they may have been created for this project, their hyper realistic style stood out from the regular artwork, such as with the strawberries) oddly animated in post. The 3D art was uncanny once more, which was one of the main points of criticism with the last film and it felt as if it had gotten worse at times. The frame rate difference played a huge role in that as well as the odd choice to make the CGI look somewhat photorealistic. I'm also going to mention that the character of the fly by the name of Jaak looked absolutely enormous compared to what he did in the previous movies, it was really distracting for me at times. It made me feel like the character sheets didn't have any scaling comparisons, which would be very odd considering that there were some industry veterans working on this project. They can claim that it was artistic choice, but if the style doesn't really add anything to the feel of the movie but rather takes away some of the charm, then it's safe to assume that the choice was poorly made. That truly is a shame, because some of the shorts worked really well. While I did praise some of the characters and character development in the film, I feel as if most of the characters that were introduced, much like in the last film, didn't really serve too much of a purpose and they were more like tools, simply used to move the plot along. While watching the film, I couldn't help but feel like the script writers went with the very first script they got and were strictly guided to follow it as gospel. The makers of this film could have saved a lot of time and money by cutting out some of the pointless ''quirky'' dialogue, that often didn't really serve any purpose. That time could have been used to develop some of the newer characters and the older ones, maybe even having the interact with each other. Some characters, such as Adalbert, were changed quite a bit from what they initially were, turning into a parody of their former self at times and then break the mold whenever the story requires it to. The character of Lotte herself seems to have become too perfect in this movie, making her less relatable than she was before, when she actually seemed to go through months or days of hard work, to accomplish what she did by the end. Her sister, while cute, seems to learn how to walk talk and pose ''philosophical'' questions in the span of minutes, which is sort of eerie, but I am willing to accept that to some degree. She wasn't ever annoying like many new baby characters if kids' films, though she does feel like a forced addition to fill some quota from time to time, which is a shame. For some reason, Bruno and Albert are also missing from the film, which has been an odd creative choice. I understand that they don't want to litter the film with too many pointless characters (which they basically have been doing for the entire film) but they could have at least shown them or mentioned them. There were also a few little things, such as the fact that Gadgetville has the least impressive gadgets in the world created by the authors. The dragons seemed to have had electricity for hundreds of years while Oscar only discovered it in the first feature film. Even my little relative was able to point it out and that says a lot about a film in my opinion, if their target audience is able to see the flaws. My biggest problem with the film however, is probably the plot itself. For whatever reason, there were some plot lines that were just unresolved, such as the competition, which was the entire reason for them wanting to find the dragons in the first place. Adalbert never gets to record his song, he just sort of gives up at the end, which goes against the personality that was established in the first film. The film continues the frustrating trend set by all the other Lotte films, where the end feels really rushed and it just ends abruptly and it gives you an empty feeling. The second film at least had some thought exchange between Lotte and her uncle Klaus, though it also could have had a better ending in my opinion, but this film certainly takes the cake for when it comes to unexpected endings. I was really interested to see how the contest would go, what Adalbert's song was, but we will never know.
Extra thoughts: The music is nothing too special this time around oddly enough, though I imagine native Estonians may find the folk songs a bit more charming, so I'm not going to count that as a negative. However I do feel like this film does a disservice to the franchise as a whole. Some of the comedy was clever, though most of the comedy fell a bit flat at times. I can't count that as a negative though, because humor is subjective and there were a few kids that laughed at some of the slapstick humor incorporated by the film.
Final verdict: MESSY As a kids' movie, it fails on numerous fronts. Some of the scenes drag on way too long and may be boring for kids and adults alike and others are so confusing and fast paced, that the younger audiences would have trouble keeping up with. The issues were quite distracting while watching the film, but I think overall it's probably a tiny bit better than the second feature film. I don't think that this film really deserves a watch, even if you're showing this to a child. Just because something is a children's film, doesn't mean that we should hold it to a lower standard. Kids deserve better and I hope that the filmmakers realize that, if there is ever going to be another sequel.
If you want a good alternative, watch Lotte from Gadgetville - the first feature film in the franchise. It has it's own issues, but the morals and story are far stronger and more cohesive for both older and younger audiences alike.
I hope no one takes this review as a personal attack. I know hundreds if not thousands of hours of work went into the final product and you should be proud of that. However that won't stop constructive criticism. Hopefully everyone can learn from these mistakes.
