Cryptozoo main backdrop
Cryptozoo main poster

Cryptozoo

Visit website

6.1/10 • 49

2021-08-201h 35m

AnimationFantasy

Cryptozookeepers try to capture a Baku, a dream-eating hybrid creature of legend, and start wondering if they should display these beasts or keep them hidden and unknown.

Directors
Dash Shaw
Writters
Dash Shaw
Editors
Dash Shaw, Alex Abrahams

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Lake Bell

    Lake Bell

    Lauren Grey (voice)

  2. Michael Cera

    Michael Cera

    Matthew (voice)

  3. Alex Karpovsky

    Alex Karpovsky

    David (voice)

  4. Zoe Kazan

    Zoe Kazan

    Magdalene (voice)

  5. Louisa Krause

    Louisa Krause

    Amber (voice)

  6. Angeliki Papoulia

    Angeliki Papoulia

    Phoebe (voice)

  7. Thomas Jay Ryan

    Thomas Jay Ryan

    Nicholas (voice)

  8. Peter Stormare

    Peter Stormare

    Gustav (voice)

  9. Grace Zabriskie

    Grace Zabriskie

    Joan (voice)

Reviews2

View Reviews
Manuel São Bento Avatar

Manuel São Bento

Jan 30, 2021

5/10

If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog @ https://www.msbreviews.com When I think of 2D animation, I imagine beautiful tales told through a unique drawing style that allows for more expressiveness and clear emotions. I remember the recent Wolfwalkers, which was one of my favorite films of 2020. I expected Cryptozoo to follow a similar formula, boasting bright messages regarding the world's treatment of nature, animal cruelty/exploration, excessive hunting, and of course, discrimination based on someone's appearance. With all of this said, I never anticipated such a shocking, violent, bloody depiction of what looked like a fun adventure that parents could show their children. Unless your kids are all grown-up by now, I do NOT recommend showing this movie to them. I don't write this with a negative tone. Please, don't misinterpret my words. Dash Shaw develops his original concept in an unconventional yet captivating manner in an attempt to educate the viewers through visually brutal sequences, which I must leave a disclaimer for sensitive people. The social commentary is evident and meaningful, but it's preached in such an unnecessarily explicit way that it negatively impacts me. Although the ending partially compensates for this next issue, I don't really agree with most of the main character's motivations. Lake Bell offers wonderful voice work as the protagonist, Lauren Grey, as does everyone else in the cast. Nevertheless, it genuinely bothers me that Lauren couldn't understand what she's doing wrong until everything explodes in front of her face. I found it nearly impossible to truly root for any character, excluding all the cute animals, which actually leads me to end this review on a positive note. Even though the style of animation is confusing during certain action scenes, it's still incredibly engaging and one of the main reasons why I felt captivated until the very end. As an animal lover and firm believer of their rights myself, I must show appreciation and gratitude towards the film's ending, which undoubtedly transmits the best possible message concerning the animal kingdom's freedom. The last few minutes are even more elevated by the fact that it carries so many other critical taboo subjects developed throughout the runtime, which ends up educating audiences in the most simple of ways. Beautiful score by John Carroll Kirby. Cryptozoo is undoubtedly one of the most shockingly violent 2D animated movies I've ever seen... and I write this both as a compliment and a disclaimer to sensitive viewers. Dash Shaw delivers what might be one of Sundance's most divisive films both due to its visual content and its narrative/character choices. The voice work from the entire cast deserves praise, namely Lake Bell, but the characters everyone portrays are extremely hard to root for or even agree with their motivations. Despite the ending fixing this major problem, the entire movie revolves around a mission and a purpose that not only I believe it's wrong, but the main character should have also realized her dream was not going to work as soon as she explains it out loud. The hand-drawn animation is slightly confusing at times, but it elevates an overall tricky film to analyze. I'll take the essential messages concerning nature, animals, and even discrimination with me, and I hope everyone else does too. Rating: C+

Media

  • Cryptozoo poster
  • Cryptozoo poster
  • Cryptozoo poster
  • Cryptozoo poster
  • Cryptozoo poster
  • Cryptozoo poster
  • Cryptozoo poster

Recommendations

  • Holy Spider main backdrop

    Holy Spider

    7.3

  • Shivers main backdrop

    Shivers

    6.4

  • Cinderella main backdrop

    Cinderella

    6.8

  • The Prestige main backdrop

    The Prestige

    8.2

  • Coco main backdrop

    Coco

    8.2

  • Marriage Story main backdrop

    Marriage Story

    7.7

  • The Super Mario Bros. Movie main backdrop

    The Super Mario Bros. Movie

    7.6

  • Parasite main backdrop

    Parasite

    8.5

  • John Wick main backdrop

    John Wick

    7.4

  • Dune main backdrop

    Dune

    7.8

  • Oppenheimer main backdrop

    Oppenheimer

    8.1

  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse main backdrop

    Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

    8.4

  • The Shawshank Redemption main backdrop

    The Shawshank Redemption

    8.7

  • Back to the Future Part II main backdrop

    Back to the Future Part II

    7.8

  • A Quiet Place Part II main backdrop

    A Quiet Place Part II

    7.5

  • Pulp Fiction main backdrop

    Pulp Fiction

    8.5

  • The Witch main backdrop

    The Witch

    7.0

  • Back to the Future main backdrop

    Back to the Future

    8.3

  • Train to Busan main backdrop

    Train to Busan

    7.7

  • The Intouchables main backdrop

    The Intouchables

    8.3

Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
$30,226.00
Keywords
adult animation