When you think of Spanish animation films not many will jump to mind, not highly known for their animation skills, you might, however, remember Justin and the Knights of Valour back in 2013 so by rights you wouldn’t expect much from Capture the Flag, a Spanish 3D computer animated sci-fi adventure but you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
With Capture the Flag first being animated in English it saw its first release in Spanish back in August of last year and with Director Enrique Gato taking the helm after his big box office smash for an animated Spanish movie in 2012 Tad, The Last Explorer, he corners the market for preteens again with this cutesy little comedy caper the kids will love and even the adults will have a little chuckle over.
Young Surfer Mike is a 12-year-old boy with lots of guts and determination, being the son and grandson of astronauts it’s obvious he would have ambitions. First of all, on his list, however, is to get his Dad and Grandfather talking again with the aid of his trusted best friends, the ginger-haired technical geek Marty who comes with a very much put upon Lizard who thinks he is Godzilla, and the cute level headed Amy. The opportunity arises when evil billionaire, Richard Carson hatches a plan to exploit a clean energy source, Helium 3 which is obtained from the Moon. He announces to the world that the feats of the Apollo XI astronauts were all a hoax and he will be leading a mission to the moon himself. In order to counteract his plan, Mrs President calls for an emergency mission herself to stop this man from rewriting history.
This will certainly go straight over the younger audience’s heads but straight away we see a woman in the position of leadership in a female president, coming in a time when women are at the very forefront of wanting better roles which states them as a strong independent woman rather than ditzy, weak-willed characters is refreshing. This isn’t the only time in the film this issue is addressed when Amy becomes the first ‘woman’ in history to land on the moon. The message here is loud and clear it’s just a shame it comes in animation form, Hollywood take heed.
A group of astronauts are put together including Mike’s Father which is aided by a group of older astronauts to get them ready for the mission. Tensions run high between Mikes Father and Grandfather which is made worse when Mike’s father has an accident which means he can no longer be a part of the mission. Carson tries to sabotage the mission which only see’s Mike, Amy and Mike’s Grandfather trapped on the rocket which launches into space and sees’s the three take on the evil Carson to bring him down.
The animation here is the winner, he vibrant colours and realness of each character with the exaggerated noses is a feast for the eyes. Most of the humour to is delivered by the one character that has no lines. The cute animation Lizard, you just can’t go wrong with an animated Lizard.
Capture the Flag is out in UK Cinemas 29 January.