Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers! Blaziker has returned after his vacation at Mermaid Island (and also concluding my Annecy Film Festival blog series), and now that I feel very refreshed, it is time we explore four more animated movies, shall we?
The first movie, Evolution, is the next animated movie from The Thinklab (the Spanish animation studio behind Deep and Inspector Sun) about a teenage girl who gained animal instincts after unintentionally consuming a mysterious berry that mixed her DNA with animal DNA. Deep is one of my biggest guilty pleasure animated movies of all time, and while Inspector Sun has a great story, I felt underwhelmed by the overall animation quality. Will Evolution change my mind about The Thinklab?
The second movie, The Ribbon Hero, centres on a princess who lost her homeland due to war as she holds on to protect those she cares for while in another town. The Ribbon Hero was showcased at this year’s Annecy Film Festival in the Annecy Presents category, and considering Netflix picked that movie up, I know I had to see it. Is this movie worthy of its Annecy spot?
The third movie, A Story About Fire, is based on the Chinese Ran Bi Wa tale centring on a monkey and his wolf companion as the monkey realised he is starting to transform into a man, and was given a mission that could fully transform him into one. I had been very excited to see this movie ever since I saw the trailer, as this movie is a hand-drawn animated movie inspired by traditional Chinese ink paintings. Will this experiment turn out to be a good one?
The fourth and final movie, A Mighty Adventure, is a silent animated movie focusing on three insects finding themselves in the middle of a concrete jungle (in Hong Kong) as they try to find their way back home. This was a movie that was in my radar ever since the teaser of it came out, but with the director of My Life as McDull (one of the most underrated animated movies of all time) directing this movie, that alone was enough reason to fly from Singapore all the way to Hong Kong, just to see it on opening day (using airline miles, of course). Will this foolish desire to see this movie be all worth it?
Time to continue on with the adventure!
Evolution
Key Information
- Directors: Julio Soto Guepide and Zarya Munoz Dominguez
- Animation Studio: The Thinklab (with Kapers Animation and 3 Doubles Producciones)
- Country of Origin: Spain
- Rating: PG
- Release Date: 6 February 2026 (in Spain)
Trailer
The Review
Well, I am familiar with The Thinklab, the animation studio behind two animated movies that I am familiar with: Deep and Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow, so I am not expecting much with Evolution, but let’s just say The Thinklab actually surprised me with this one.
If you had seen my review of Pixar’s Hoppers, you would know I love myself some well-executed chaos that goes super hard with its concept while also having a lot of heart and substance within the concept. I would say Evolution has half the impact of Hoppers, and it is in fact the deranged Spanish cousin of Hoppers, but that does not mean it is not good; in fact, I actually enjoyed it!
Underdeveloped character elements, poor rendering in certain animation sequences and a rather basic soundtrack aside, Evolution still maintains a level of chaotic energy that makes this experience fun. This is because this movie has a lot of hilarious gags that have massive payoff towards the end, not to mention having some useful character development that feels important for the plot to move forward. As I explored more of the world within Evolution, I appreciate the messaging this movie was telling, even if it needs a few more minor re-writes to elevate the story.
It is also the most polished animation work from The Thinklab. While some animation sequences could have benefited from more polished rendering, the animation is at least decently executed. There was some interesting animation change-ups throughout the movie, from the 3D CG animation Evolution mostly uses to 2D and even puppetry stop-motion, and the diverse usage of animation styles kept me interested in the movie. The texturing and rendering may not be perfect, but I had definitely seen similar family-friendly foreign CG animated movies with worse rendering than Evoluion’s so that is a plus point.
Overall, while I cannot argue that there are family-friendly foreign CG animated movies from this year that are better than what Evolution is providing, it is definitely my most favourite animated movie from The Thinklab, having fixed most of the issues from Deep and Inspector Sun. It is not much, but at least I can tell the studio is improving bit by bit, which is an encouraging sight.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
The Ribbon Hero
Key Information
- Director: Yuki Igarashi
- Animation Studio: Twin Engine
- Country of Origin: Japan
- Rating: PG13
- Release Date: 8 August 2026 (on Netflix)
Trailer
The Review
In hindsight, I made the right choice not to cover The Ribbon Hero at Annecy, because after seeing it on Netflix, I felt underwhelmed by the overall experience I got.
Honestly, the biggest issue I have with the movie is the writing, because despite being a movie adaptation of a Tezuka manga, this movie felt way too over-stimulating, with way too many story elements to focus on, which was made even worse as the writers failed to develop most of them to a level that felt satisfactory. I noticed clear plot holes throughout the writing and with a near two-hour runtime, there was more than enough time to develop the writing to make me care about the story and its characters, but unfortunately, most of the writing are just not great.
With that said, there was no denying how amazing the animation and soundtrack are. The animation utilised a variety of animation styles that are very well-produced, with a lot of fantastic animation sequences. In particular, the final 20 minutes of the movie is one amazing animation sequence after another and salvaged the otherwise underwhelming animation.
I also loved how hard the soundtrack went and helped to set the tone for the movie, even if the writing held back the potential of the soundtrack. As for my level of enjoyment, even though the animation is amazing, the writing makes the overall experience very underwhelming. It is such a shame that the writing held back the amount of potential the concept has, which is a tremendous shame.
Overall, I wished I enjoy The Ribbon Hero more as the animation is spectacular, but the overall writing makes it one of the weakest animated movies from this year’s Annecy Film Festival, even if I did not see it at the actual festival. It is still worth seeing it on Netflix for the animation alone, but that is all there is to it.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
A Story About Fire
Key Information
- Director: Li Wenyu
- Animation Studio: Shanghai Animation Film Studio
- Country of Origin: China
- Rating: PG
- Release Date: 28 April 2026 (in China)
Trailer
The Review
There is a reason why I had been hyping up top-tier Chinese animated movies for some time now, and after seeing A Story About Fire, I honestly feel this glazing of the Chinese animation industry was well worth it.
In terms of the writing, A Story About Fire has a lot of narration and for some moviegoers, excessive narration may put them off, but the narration and voice over is needed to carry the story that may feel simple on the surface, but ended up becoming more than the concept itself. While the pacing may get slow at times, it is at least not too slow, and the pacing improves as the movie progresses. Still, the character development is very good, as with very few main characters in this movie, the character development felt more focused and has some depth compared to the first two movies in this Rundown. I also appreciate how the story progresses, as it is a rather complicated but fulfilling story that requires rewatches to fully understand the story, especially for moviegoers unfamiliar with the original source material.
However, it is the animation that is the centre of the entire movie. This is an animated movie that takes inspiration from classical Chinese ink drawings that existed for many centuries, and the fact that this was a hand-drawn animated movie on ink paper that took 5 years to draw all the frames in this movie deserves some applauding. Hand-drawn animation aside, there are so many fantastic animation sequences that blend the styling of this movie with other animation styles that transform A Story About Fire into a visual spectacle with a lot of substance to back it up. In fact, the final 20 minutes was where all hell broke loose, and the animation took on a wildly exciting form that is indescribable in the best way possible. Honestly, I highly recommend seeing this movie for the animation alone.
The soundtrack and sound editing are nothing to be scoffed at. There are so many music tracks inspired by traditional Chinese music that help to enhance the overall experience. As for my level of enjoyment, as someone that have been glazing a lot at Chinese animation, A Story About Fire is yet another reason for that. I had been quite tired of the lack of amazing Chinese animated movies so far this year, but with A Story About Fire, I had restored my faith in Chinese animation once again.
Overall, considering how much I had been clamouring for a top-tier animated movie from China this year, A Story About Fire is exactly that: an innovative, highly experimental and top-quality animated movie that showcase a new side of Chinese animation, and I hope China continues to embrace more experimentation in their animation styles. See this movie in the biggest and highest quality theatre screen possible, because A Story About Fire is DAMN worth the cinema ticket price!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
A Mighty Adventure
Key Information
- Director: Toe Yuen
- Animation Studio: Zero One Film
- Country of Origin: Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia
- Rating: G
- Release Date: 22 August 2026 (in Hong Kong)
Trailer
The Review
Considering I had to fly from my home country of Singapore to Hong Kong, just to cover that movie, I am happy to report this was worth the hassle of heading there, because A Mighty Adventure is a reminder why I had been a sucker for the Minuscule series.
If you have seen the Minuscule cartoons or especially the two Minuscule movies, chances are, the formula would be familiar for A Mighty Adventure: a group of insects finding themselves in new habitats, and in this case, it is a trio of insects finding themselves in the middle of a city (which is actually a combination of Live-Action scenes shot in Taipei and Taichung that became the backdrop of this animated movie), and the story itself is simple and charming in spite of the lack of dialogue. In fact, even with no dialogue whatsoever, it is easy to appreciate the story and character development as the grasshopper, spider and butterfly find their way home. It also helps that because of how simple the story is, it adds to the charm this movie succeeds in providing.
I also love the blending of the live-action sequences with the 3D CG animation. We already covered two hybrid animated movies this year with Iggy the Eagle and Dandelion’s Odyssey, but A Mighty Adventure is yet another reason we need more hybrid animated movies to return. It is clear there was a lot of thought put into how the animation needs to be incorporated into the live-action sequences and that had resulted in a nearly photorealistic style that would not be out of place if this movie was a documentary. The carefree and fun styling helps to enhance the simplistic charm this movie was aiming for and there was no major flaws I could pick up regarding the animation. Was this animation style something we had seen before? Yes, but it was well executed enough for me to not feel bothered.
The soundtrack plays an important role in the movie to set the tone, especially for a movie without dialogue, and the soundtrack did just that in the movie. As for my level of enjoyment, considering I flew to Hong Kong just to see this movie, I am very happy with this experience overall. Sure, there was not a lot of people in my screening (explained partially by the fact that I saw this in a less touristy part of Hong Kong), but I still had a great time with this movie, especially when considering I saw that movie almost after I landed in Hong Kong.
Overall, A Mighty Adventure was truly worth the adventure I took to see this movie, pun intended, with it being well-rounded in pretty much every element. Hopefully, this gets released in more countries, because this is yet another great hybrid animated movie to root for.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Conclusion
While there was one clear disappointment in this Rundown, I covered two animated movies that I can highly recommend for, one with a distinct hand-drawn animation style that pays homage to a Chinese cultural element, and another that is a simple but charming insect adventure.
Well, after this Rundown, I am ready to return back to yet another island-hopping adventure, so tune in next time where I visited another new island, this time the island of Nakali for the next DreamWorks blockbuster. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
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