Orion und das Dunkel

We all have fears that we struggle with throughout our lives. Perhaps the biggest contribution to overcoming these fears was the support of our parents. The things that scared Orion and his narrative were very attractive and made us feel close to him.

But darkness has been the common point of most people at a young age. What we always had in mind from darkness was a scary and emotionless creature with a strange voice. But the story we had here was exactly the opposite of our childhood imagination. Darkness is a reliable, kind and helpful friend.

The border of creativity in the screenplay was not limited to darkness, and the night team of Darkness was really pleasant. This team included everything that happened to us at night and with extremely creative methods, they can make the night painful or relaxing for us. I had a lot of trouble with insomnia :)

This is a movie that appeals to everyone, regardless of age. From the beginning of the story to the end, the audience was accompanied by the story moment by moment, and both adults and children could communicate with it. Thanks for creating a safe space for families to enjoy a movie together.

DreamWorks Animation's most recent release follows Orion, a boy with an active imagination who faces his fears on a journey through the night with some new friends. Written by Charlie Kaufman, the mind behind "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Being John Malkovich" I was intrigued to view his first animated film. Sadly, I will admit that this was kind of a letdown in the aspect of it not feeling original whatsoever. It did however illustrate kids struggling with fear and anxiety, and ways to face such fears. An ensemble of talented actors such as Jacob Tremblay, Angela Bassett, and Paul Walter Hauser would bring much attention to any film, however they couldn't do much to save this from just being an average film. Overall, this was nowhere near DreamWorks Animation's best work but was not there worst either.

This was a nice movie and it started of great but about 20 minutes into the movie it changed with the appearance of a new character that from that point kept jumping in.

Every part where she appeared the story came to a grinding halt in my opinion and it started jumping everywhere.

The end tied it together quite nicely but it didn't make up for the jumping up until then. And the appearance of the new character spoiled the rest of the movie. If that character and setting had been introduced from the beginning I would have felt differently about it.

So all in all. It is a nice movie with a great story and great potential about facing your fears but it could have been soooo much better.

This Netflix production, scripted by Kaufman is formulaic but manages to work. If the animation is nothing special, the script is better than what drives most animated movies aimed at a young audience. It is a sweet-natured little tale, indebted to Monsters Inc and the whole Pixar canon but saved from being predictable through different borrowings, as well as its various metafictional levels of storytelling. It's nicely personal as his spin on a Pixar film, but the downside is that he can't help imitating too many of them at once - which makes it equal parts sweet and hectic, and not a little overambitious.

My Rating : 6.3/10.

Orion and the Dark is a sweet and charming film, dealing with anxiety in a unique cross generational way. There are moments where it almost captures peak Pixar (think Up), which is a first for Dreamworks. A very good family film, that will age wonderfully as your family grows up. Especially good for families with ND children / parents or families with children / parents who suffer from anxiety.

The sudden non-linear nature of it might seem jarring, but trust me - stick with it - it makes beautiful sense at the end. Voice acting was on point too... not celebrity ridden like Dreamworks films tend to be.

Loved it (and my kids did too).