A comic book enthusiast battles for the woman he loves in an animated world of monsters and rival boyfriends…
Rarely do we get a big, live-action animated film. From the classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit to the cult favourite Scott Pilgrim vs the World, we have not yet had a film that has reinforced the genius of this genre. Saving Sally might just be the one.
An official entry into the Metro Manila Film Festival 2016, Saving Sally follows our teenage protagonists Marty, an aspiring comic book artist and his friend Sally, a beautiful and badass inventor. Marty lives in a world of his own imagination and visualises people as monsters and fantastical creatures, like a real life comic book. Sally meanwhile is a skilled inventor who creates whacky gadgets but unfortunately suffers under abusive parents. Marty is in love with the quirky Sally until she gets a dream boyfriend Nick, breaking Marty’s heart and sabotaging his artistic work. Will Marty win the girl he loves? Can he save Sally from the bizarre monsters of his outlandish world? Can Sally literally escape her own demons?
The live action and animation blend perfectly which is always an important component of these films. The 2D animation is outstanding and creates a bold, colourful and dazzling movie. The actors never seem like they are in front of a green screen and mix right into the comic book environment, there is a crisp contrast where actors stand out just enough without looking out of place. An example includes light shining on the actors’ heads on a sunny day in the animated world, little details like this add a sense of realism.
It is refreshing to see a film that embraces 2D animation again harkening back to the days of Roger Rabbit and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
Sadly films that invest so much into the visual department fall into the trap of neglecting other important aspects, namely the plot and acting. The acting mainly from Ramos and Marcos, as well as the rest of the cast, is weak and could have been better. It’s very awkward and makes it hard to invest into the love story of Marty and Sally.
This takes us to the plot which is incredibly slow, uninteresting at times and clichéd in some places. Although it follows the standard tale of unrequited love involving an awkward guy and mysterious girl, the story really goes nowhere and bores you increasingly throughout. There is no action or big laughs that grab your attention, the plot is literally a “will they won’t they” between Marty and Sally. Editing could have been better as several scenes of the pair going back and forth should have been cut. Using Scott Pilgrim as an example, which had a very similar plot, what made that film work were the action sequences and hilariously strong performances from the cast. Saving Sally focuses mostly on two characters as the cast is so small, and sadly Ramos and Marcos don’t carry it well due to their subpar acting. Romance movies can work if the main couple are engaging enough, but nothing much happens in this plot to maintain attention spans.
This really would have worked better as a short film, ironically it started as a short story.
Despite this, there is still a lot to like about Saving Sally. The soundtrack is engaging and fun, the animation is still incredible and we also have little symbols peppered throughout the film that add to the significance of a scene. These are clever symbols that can be missed easily but when spotted, really add that quirky touch. Additionally we have some great laughs courtesy of charming characters and raunchy visual gags.
Saving Sally is a marvel of animation and shows the right way to marry it with live action, what lets it down is the slow plot and average acting. But hell, it needs to be seen purely for just how stunning it is, the effort in this 10 year project shows in every drawn line.