‘The Land of Sometimes’ Review – More Formulaic Than Imaginative

What happens when the producers of Toy Story and How to Train Your Dragon come together with music geniuses Tim Rice and Pete Hobbs and a star-studded voice cast? You should have an award-winning animated musical that will whisk you away completely. However, instead, you get The Land of Sometimes, an adventurous fantasy that feels more formulaic than imaginative.

In this feature, you’re going on a magical journey with twins Elise (Alisha Weir) and Alfie (Andrei Shen), who are living with their mother (Jessica Henwick) and father (Calum Callaghan) on the highest hill you can find in a remote countryside. What is a loving and joyful family soon turns into a broken one when the father, who’s a sailor, goes missing. Overwhelmed by grief and anger, the youngsters wish they could go on an adventure to forget their pain. Just like in many animations, their wish comes true. This time, it’s thanks to the wish watch they’ve gotten from their mother, as they summon the Wish Collector (Ewan McGregor), who zips them off to the Land of Sometimes.

However, as you can already predict, their wish doesn’t come without any hidden perils. That predictability, along with the wish element, is the main letdown of this feature. You have the wishes, the rules of the land (the wishes must be made before winter comes), their adventurous companion and the fact that the children must decide what they truly want most in life, as they only have a handful of wishes. The bland story feels like it’s been done many times before and much better. While animation is the perfect genre to let your imagination run wild and create a world and story families want to escape in, that’s sadly not the case in this movie.

Watching this feature also sometimes feels like you’re on a hallucinatory trip rather than an adventure, but that’s not only because of the beautiful, eye-catching colours. This flaw is, once again, tied to the story itself. It seems the writers try to interweave multiple characters from different movies into Francesca Longrigg’s original audiobook, on which this movie is based, but don’t fully succeed in doing so. The Wish Collector could have easily been Willy Wonka’s twin brother, while Ursula from The Little Mermaid seems to be making an appearance in this feature. The Peter Pan spirit rings out clearly as well, too

The siblings meet so many bright friends and dark enemies on the vivid, mysterious island, where four seasons appear during one day, that after a while, you lose track of who is who. That’s mainly because the lively bunch of supporting characters doesn’t fully come to life or leave a lasting impression. Whether it’s the Watch Maker, the cunning fairy Mediocris, the oh-so-lovely purple dog-like creature or even the mother, they don’t serve any other purpose than just being present and allowing more A-listers to join this movie.

That spectacular cast list certainly is extremely long, as it includes Helena Bonham Carter (Nolly), Asa Butterfield (Your Christmas Or Mine 2) and Mel Brooks (The Producers), but it’s only Weir (Abigail), Shen (Matilda: The Musical) and McGregor (Doctor Sleep) who can put their stamp on this inconsistent and overfilled story. The young actors deliver beautiful performances and form the perfect duo you want to go on an adventure with. Their giggles, laughs, and loving brother-sister conversations will definitely melt even the coldest hearts. Seeing how they stay true to themselves, even in the most challenging times, highlights the importance of being yourself no matter what.

Their innocence and strength complement McGregor’s eccentric presence wonderfully. His musical numbers, like most of the songs, are more distracting than elevating, which is an unexpected disappointment, considering a few of them are the work of Tim Rice. Nevertheless, it’s great to hear him once again bursting into song. While his performance as the Wish Collector certainly isn’t as memorable as his Lumière in 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, he’s a wonderful guide for the adventurous siblings.

Creating your first animated feature can be a daunting task, and it was no different for director Leon Joosen. While the story feels uneven and overstuffed, the strong lead performances and vibrant colours show Joosen’s strength as a director. The Land of Sometimes might not be number one on the parents’ watchlist, but young viewers will definitely enjoy the strange creatures and magical atmosphere.

The Land of Sometimes is out on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, and Fandango At Home on the 7th of April, courtesy of Shout! Studios.