Cryptozoo (2021)

Cryptozoo review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

Cryptozoo is sure to be looked back on fondly one day as a unique example of independent animation. Formed with a variety of techniques over the course of many years, a team of animators managed to pull off a trippy, fantasy film. It’s rough around the edges but there’s certainly a down and dirty edge to its surreal assembly. But trying to look at it as anything more than a visual showcase just makes the ambition crumble.

The premise is at least unique. A team of cryptozoologists tries to bring fantasy creatures to a safe environment away from societies they may frighten and government organizations that may want them. One creature becomes of great interest to the American government. The creature in question is one that can eat dreams, taking away the nightmares from those who dream them. With such a creature, the American government may use this power to remove ideas of revolution from the minds of the populace, keeping them in a docile state to maintain the status quo. It’s up to both the cryptozoologists and fantasy creatures to stop such a plot.

Yet the writing meanders all over the place with characters and their motivations. It reminded me of those Bill Plympton features that were lax on dialogue and heavy with ridiculous exaggeration, where the plots take wild twists. There’s little like that in Cryptozoo, which relies on a handful of absurdities amid its blocky and cutout animation style. I’d rarely say you’d have to get high to enjoy a movie but this might be the case. The many weird creatures and colorful locations of flat and odd designs are sure to be something that seems fun to trip out to.

Credit should be given for making the many animation sequences and fantasy creatures a weirdly charming feat to watch. Looking at the flat character's rounded features gives off this feeling of peering into a peculiar nightmare where you just can’t look away. I also dug into how the creatures are presented with their powers. A gorgon joins the adventure, attempting to use contacts and headscarf to hide both her stone-causing gaze and hissing snake hair. There’s also a boy with a face on his chest, flying griffins, and unicorns that viciously pierce the skin.

There’s certainly freedom present in this kinda animation. Consider how the film opens up with a couple smoking weed in the woods and having sex, happening upon the cryptozoo while naked. They sneak in, explore the creatures, and watch in horror as one of them is killed. That’d make for a good fantasy horror but it’s unfortunately used as little more than a bookend story, considering the many characters were presented with. Some are fascinating like the aforementioned gorgon but others feel far too standard, such as the bitter military commander who acts violently, cusses up a storm, and can’t wait to persecute as if it gives him a sexual thrill.

Cryptozoo has a lot of fascinating animation that could’ve used a better script to go along with its imagination. On a visual level, there are loads of charms to its adult urban-fantasy presentation with a homegrown appeal. The meandering storyline, however, makes one wish that there was something more than a strong portfolio at play here. Hopefully, this team of animators will continue onward into a firmer film with a writer and less so letting their talents become more of a pastiche as it is in this film.