LAIKA STUDIOS / ANNAPURNA PICTURES
Let’s get this out of the way: Missing Link, the latest from Hillsboro-based stop-motion studio Laika, is astonishingly beautiful. From the secluded, cerulean glens of Pacific Northwest timberland to the jaunty, slate-topped roofs of Victorian London, every scene represents artwork on the highest level from an army of masters in their craft. To say such visual splendor has become the baseline for Laika’s work should be taken as a compliment, and the fact that I’m about to spend the rest of this review carping about the writing should not diminish from what Missing Link’s artists and animators have accomplished.