Flora & Ulysse

LIKES: Simple Sweet Some Good morals The Characters are natural Funny/Comedic Timing Touching The Squirrel has a lot of character

DISLIKES: Some of the animation is a step down Lackluster in Terms of Adventure Goofy Villain Vs. Serious Villain Resolution a bit too simplistic Never Felt Suspenseful The origin power is a stretch The Whole Comic Book Superhero walking with her was okay.

REVIEW

Given the limited budgets and the difficulty of coordinating work during quarantine, I expect movies to dip towards the simple production I've seen a lot of recently. Despite it being simple, Flora and Ulysses is indeed a simple book the likes of which you would find in a young reader book that sells millions of copies. A sweet natured film to say the least, this little tale is a very family friendly compilation where the traditional quirks of family are blasted in your face in almost every scene or sequence. From the bond between squirrel and girl to the family trying to face their problems, this film radiates those feel good moments that Disney can dig out when they are not playing politics to keep them in the news. Good morals ooze out of the writing, Flora's internal monologue acting as an opening comment to the next moral to test against the world. Themes of patience, reaching deep for your potential, facing your fears, and the power of friendship are all addressed in the short run time and to be quite honest not too bad in any one area. This can be challenging given the restrictions movie face, but the simplistic approach alongside the natural characters I think help with this balance. Flora and Ulysses has characters that though represent unique types of people, does not rub it in my face nor make it too complicated, which resulted in me linking to them to for the fun to come. The protagonist is suggested to have some autism, but rather than isolate them and point that out, they instead make the interactions seem like what one does in school to integrate them into social situations. William has a rare type of blindness, that provides some comedic relief, but yet fits naturally into the tale for a friend to handle Flora's bluntness. The mom and the dad as well are not these perfect parents with monologues and super powers, but two unique careers facing the harshness of the real world in their own way. While the medium to bring them together is a CGI squirrel, seeing this little family seem so natural was fun and adds an unappreciated level that gets drowned in the movie magic. Of course the CGI squirrel brings his own uniqueness to the mix to help elevate the movie a little. Not just due to his super powers, Ulysses the squirrel has a lot of character and spunk after the opening sequence, bringing some comedic jabs that are cute, adorable squeaks that melt animal lovers hearts, and anthropomorphized characteristics that make him more of a person. With it, it makes the character of the squirrel so enjoyable and helps add that little Disney zing we like to see in their movies. And finally, the film has decent comedy mixed with the touching moments that many of my friends with families love. Comedy wise it's a blend of the younger age antics with the squirrel causing lots of accidents that make Steve Urkel's antics look like child's play. Other times the squirrel's squeaking became cartoon like, with translated jokes being worthy of young members repeating with little hinderance, or Ulysses discovering a car locking button and making for almost a solid minute will make them laugh. Much of the comedy is going to be for the targeted audiences, but there are a few lines slid into the movie that helped elevate the comedy to older ears. As for touching, the movie again hits all the high notes and finds way to generate water works for the more sensitive viewer at certain points. Cheesy at times, but often golden, this films simple nature of hitting relevant issues and making you feel something if you keep the right mind.

Yet for all the positives in this film, the movie does have limitations that the direct to streaming magic seemed to amplify. One thing is the animation, while still better than what I can put out, the animation is not the best I've seen this studio put out given the resources they have. Ulysses is adorable, but there are some rough edges that could use some smoothing and some textures to further evolve. As for the cat Mr. Claws... he is funny, but he really shows the CGI strain alongside a few other moments where the boundaries of reality and CGI really stood out. A small limitation for me, the real weakness comes from the buildup of the movie and the lack of execution in the adventure for me. It's a movie about a super powered squirrel, so you know I'm expecting to add some comic book chemistry in their to max out the super powered adventure. That did not happen for me. The simple nature of the movie gets in the way of the superhero aspect in that putting a super powered rodent in an average family is an odd combination. For adventure, it again feels like something from the Brady Bunch, cute and to the point, but not requiring comic themed powers to get through. All the ideas of an adventure requiring superpowers often involves things like trucks going rampant, or a river flooding, or solving a complex jewel heist and not just going to a doughnut shop and trying to escape an animal control specialist. This brings me to the next point, a goofy villain to rival the Superman like squirrel. Funny and appropriate for the kid's theme, the main villain should not stand a chance, and yet he does. He's a goofy side character that feels like a water downed Tom and Jerry villain and while funny, makes a lot of the unique parts of this story irrelevant given what Ulysses can achieve. This lack of impasse makes for a lot of the impasses a little too easy to overcome, and any suspense/thrills that I expect an adventure to have are practically absent with only the personal demons having any sort of bite to it, but even then they are drained down to PG rating. Even the origin of the squirrel's power does not make sense to me and while comic books are indeed stretches some time, this one was again a bit unimpressive in the grand scheme of what they could have made. And as for the comic book heroes who walk with her, they were cool to see the influence of the father's culture, and the insight into Flora's mindset. However... it does not do much it in the grand scheme of things and was kind of weird instead of enlightening for me.

The VERDICT:

Flora and Ulysses is cute, fun, and the perfect family Friday night flick for popcorn and drinks. You don't have to worry about complicated plots twisting your mind, the violence is very little, and there is practically no scary components for anyone to get worked over. This simple tale is wholesome, inspires the right lessons and teaches without getting preachy and political in its presentation. Comedy and drama wise it's very well done, and with the relatable characters that they present, it only makes things easier to follow and enjoy in the grand scheme of things. Of course the squirrel is the centerpiece, a culmination of human qualities, animalistic charm, and enough of a gimmick to make for merchandising. Despite all the fun I had with it though, the movie does not do well with the superhero gimmick for me, making it feel out of place in most of the presentation and just boring if I'm being honest. By being simplistic and sticking towards the realism family adventure, a lot of the things that make superhero films the genre they are. Points for being original, but to have this squirrel and not face things requiring such feats, the big twist they have portrayed in the trailers were kind of wasted for me. Still, the film accomplishes its goal and those with Disney+ and family with kids this age are certain to enjoy this film. My scores for this family feature are:

Adventure/Comedy/Family: 7.5 -8.0 Movie Overall: 6

"Did you put your mouth on the squirrel?" "I had to." "Was he clean?" "Probably not."

"Can you point the Jack and Rose at me?"

"Holy unanticipated occurrences!"

I love when it feels like they made a movie just for me. I haven't watched something so fast after first finding out about it in forever. I didn't even know about the book of this which surprises me, 'cos I loved Kate DiCamillo's other stuff like Because of Winn-Dixie, and the setup alone would've grabbed me as it did here - but I guess it just slipped by me. When I saw the poster on Disney+ I felt like Homer Simpson and Mr Sparkle 'cos this is pretty much my Second Life avatar, a little blonde girl and her crazy squirrel. There isn't a lot more to say, I was just always going to love this, but for what it's worth it's just really well executed too, great effects and performances (especially Matilda Lawler and Alyson Hannigan). For me, an instant fave. I really needed a surprise like this today.

I'm a 40 year old middle aged single comic book nerd and I wish I had a fun family like Floras. This movie was not only entertaining but made me hope and wish every child had a fun adventure like this family. Floras father was absolutely amazing and every daughter should have a superhero dad like him. I was laughing and tearing up all at the same time. This is a great film for every family.

Many aspects in this movie work surprisingly well together. The performances are great and the dialogue works. It's a love letter to all the writers and comics out there. It works for the kids and is able to make a smile on the faces from the adults. The best thing is that the leading kid feels as a kid. She's smart, but not annoying.

Bit of a waste, in the end.

'Flora & Ulysses' isn't a bad watch, but it doesn't utilise a cool premise or a strong showing from youngster Matilda Lawler. The latter fairly impressed me, especially early on. Behind her, Ben Schwartz is OK and Alyson Hannigan is, as seemingly always, likeable.

Given how interesting the concept is, the film barely even touches on Ulysses' abilities - when they do, e.g. at the diner, then it is actually nicely created with the effects, slow motion et al. Instead they focus on a familial story, which didn't intrigue me whatsoever. I did like the comic book onscreen graphics, mind.

Perhaps others will find enjoyment with this, fair enough if so. For me, though, it's average and forgettable.