Joel Fry-days: Stitch Head (2025, PG)

*Premise spoilers*

Like American Sweatshop, Stitch Head is a new-new Joel Fry project that came out earlier this year, although I held off on this review until I was finished posting my White Van Man reviews, as well as the Christmas-themed stuff. But this is fun, because it marks my first trip to the movie theater for Joel Fry-days! Stitch Head is only my second experience seeing Joel Fry on the big screen (well, it’s an animated movie, so “seeing” is relative)—the first was when I watched Yesterday in the pre-Our Flag Means Death days, before I knew who he was. While the film is a bit flimsy, I had a good time.

High on a mountain, looming over a small village sits the Castle Grotteskew. It’s home to a mad professor who’s obsessed with creating “almost-life” (patent pending.) The trouble is, the moment he animates his “greatest creation,” his mind is immediately whirring ahead to imagining his next greatest creation, with little regard for the monster he’s just brought to almost-life. This leaves Stitch Head, the professor’s first creation, to orient the newest monster to life in the castle and its cardinal rule: monstrousness leads to angry mobs. The only way to stay safe is to stay hidden and afraid. Until, that is, a traveling circus comes to town. Its ringmaster is on the lookout for new freaks for his show, and Stitch Head is lulled toward stardom by the promise, “They’re going to love you!”

It’s a good premise for a kids’ movie. I’m reminded of Quasimodo, a “hideous monster” locked away from humankind for his own good, longing to experience the world out there. Except here, even as Stitch Head is the one who hears the siren call of the circus, he’s also the one enforcing the “stay hidden and afraid” rule, so in that sense, he’s taking on Frollo’s role too. It’s not the Professor who’s making them hide away; the Professor is too busy on his next creation to pay them any mind. It’s Stitch Head who’s telling them to stay out of sight, for fear the humans will burn their castle to the ground.

For another thing, Stitch Head isn’t after the general experience of seeing and exploring the outside world. It’s that promise of love that sticks with him, love he’s continually denied by the inattentive Professor. What Stitch Head wants, more than adventure or excitement, is someone to care about him. And while the movie is about him finding it, naturally, it’s not in the way he expects.

It’s only 90 minutes, but the film still feels long. Significant lines of dialogue are repeated over and over again, and the action/chase sequences are stretched out to pad the runtime. As such, the whole feels somewhat less than the sum of its parts, and the result is a bit insubstantial. That said, I still enjoyed it. The good parts are quite good. The movie handles its serious scenes well, and I particularly like Stitch Head’s orientation video for new monsters and his interactions with a curious human girl named Arabella.

Asa Butterfield (a.k.a Otis from Sex Education) plays Stitch Head with a shy tenderness, a monster who’s resigned himself to a lonely life but who suddenly dares to hope for belonging. Tia Bannon does a nice job as Arabella, while Seth Usdenov has a blast hamming it up as Fulbert Freakfinder, the circus ringmaster. The film also features Alison Steadman, who I remember from her iconic turn as Mrs. Bennet in the Jennifer Ehle/Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice.

It’s another friend/sidekick role for Joel Fry. This time around, he voices Creature, a monster who’s brought to almost-life at the start of the film and instantly declares Stitch Head his “bestest best friend.” Creature is sweet—he’s all wild enthusiasm at experiencing almost-life, ride-or-die loyalty to Stitch Head, and quavery fear despite his size/strength (as he’s been taught.) I enjoy him counting his almost-life in minutes, his determination to push through his fear to “rescue” Stitch Head from the circus, and his unwavering conviction that the Professor must adore Stitch Head as much as he (Creature) does.

This is a cute performance. Fry voices the part with relish, shifting from dim-bulb comedy to earnest friendship on a dime. It sounds like this was probably a fun role to play, and I like that Fry is putting on a voice here. Although it’s still easy to recognize him, you can tell he’s doing something different with his voice beyond just using a slight accent.

Accent Watch

London.

Recommend?

In General – Maybe. I think kids will probably like it, and while it’s not as strong as it could’ve been, I still enjoyed it.

Joel Fry – I probably would. Creature is adorable!

Warnings

Scary moments for kids, plenty of “don’t try this at home,” gross-out humor, mild suggestiveness, and thematic elements.

Y tu Luna también: Wizards: Season 1, Episode 10 – “Our Final Act” (2020)

*Episode premise spoilers.*

Season finale time! It’s pretty good, although it can lay on the themes a bit thick. Also, it’s very much intended to lead directly into the fourth and final(?) project in the franchise, Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans—more on that next time.

Douxie returns from his dragon quest of last episode to find their safe haven in disarray. The Arcane Order has captured most of his friends, and even though the world-saving priority is to protect the Genesis Seals, Douxie naturally doesn’t want to leave them to their fate. With limited backup, he searches for a solution that would allow him to do both.

Our character of the week is Arthur, played by James Faulkner. Like Morgana, he’s been carried from his namesake era into the present day. Throughout the series, Arthur has been framed as a would-be good guy who nevertheless stands in opposition to our heroes. He’s deeply suspicious of trolls and magic, Merlin notwithstanding, and in his own time, he oppressed otherworldly elements in the name of protecting his kingdom. Big fearmongering energy.

The finale has a little of everything. Action, with big magic battles and clever gambits. Humor, such as Steve attempting a prison break when he and the others are held in blocks of ice— “Hold on, big guy,” he shouts to AAARRRGGHH!!!, flicking his lighter, “I’m about to bust you out!” Emotional moments, especially with Douxie, Jim, and Claire. An earnest if somewhat oversauced message about prevailing with the power of friendship.

Most everybody gets a moment here or there, but the episode firmly reiterates that above all, this is Douxie’s show. While it’s filled with costarring Trollhunters characters and references to mother show lore, the others are mainly here to fill out the big battle scene—Douxie is the one making the tough choices and the big plays.

Still not a ton of Krel, but this is probably his biggest appearance in Wizards. He’s the lone ally who escapes capture by the Arcane Order, so he’s left to fill Douxie in on their current predicament and offer a hand as they prepare for Douxie’s next move. When Douxie finds him, I like how Diego Luna’s performance balances Krel’s fear and anguish after their big loss with his drive toward practicality; even as Krel relates what happened with a kind of stunned dismay, he still finds presence of mind to show Douxie playback from the fight that Ricky Blank recorded. He is going through it, though. As the scene continues, Krel sits on a table, shivering as he holds himself with all four arms.

Krel also acts as a sounding board for Douxie and gets to do a bit of tech-wiz stuff, cheerfully exclaiming, “Akiridion tech and magic are so compatible! Who would’ve thought?” But, perhaps because the finale needs a strong “Douxie stands alone” moment, we don’t really much of Krel and Douxie actually working together. After this opening, the episode just sort of pops back in on them once the plan is set, and Krel’s role in it going forward isn’t very active. As someone who loves Krel as a character and generally thinks most Diego Luna projects should have more Diego Luna in them, I would’ve wanted more.

Last thoughts on Wizards before moving onto Rise of the Titans.

Recommend?

In General – I think so, although again, it’s probably more satisfying if you’ve also seen Trollhunters. But either way, Douxie is a good protagonist with a strong arc, and the story goes to some interesting places.

Diego Luna – Even though Krel is disappointingly underused in this, I’m still gonna say yes. I’m not one to turn down opportunities to take whatever Krel I can get, and Luna’s performance remains terrific despite his limited screentime.

Warnings

Violence, scary moments for kids, a little gross-out humor, and thematic elements.

Other Doctor Lives: 28 Days Later… (2002, R)

I’m gonna be honest: this is the first time I’ve ever seen this movie. That seems weird, ‘cause 1) I remember it was a big deal when it came out and 2) I’m a fan of Danny Boyle. But if you’ve been around this blog for a while, you might know that zombies are A Problem. It’s why I only managed to watch World War Z (because Peter Capaldi was in it) through heavy multitasking and inattention to the screen for long chunks of the movie. It’s why I had to really talk myself into myself into seeing In the Flesh and Warm Bodies, despite all the great things I’d heard about them. It’s why I still haven’t watched The Last of Us, even though my pop culture circles were raving about it for months when it first came out (and I love Pedro Pascal’s work.) But this is Other Doctor Lives, and for Christopher Eccleston, I was prepared to power through.

When Jim wakes up from a 28-day coma following a traffic accident, he wakes to a London that’s entirely different from the one he’d previously known. The streets are eerily empty, walls are plastered with pictures of missing persons, and the headlines of stray newspapers littering the streets shout about evacuation. While Jim was in his coma, a “rage virus” was accidentally unleashed on the human population. Anyone infected becomes unthinking and violent within seconds, driven wild with a desire to bite other humans, passing on the virus through their blood. Jim manages to connect with a few determined survivors, and they search for anywhere they can be safe.

The use of the “28 days later” is probably what sets this film apart the most from other zombie stories. While many start either at the inception of the apocalypse or already in the thick of it, possibly with flashbacks to happier days, Jim wakes to an apocalypse in progress, but he never saw it begin. He was in an accident, he lost consciousness, and when he opened his eyes, the world was different. It’s not clear how exactly he survived for nearly a month in that situation—when he comes to, the hospital has been overturned and deserted—but either way, he’s dropped into the middle of things while lagging behind everyone else. He lacks knowledge of what happened, and furthermore, he lacks ruthlessness. When he first meets Selena, he’s appalled by her callous attitude towards killing the infected, to killing someone she’s been rolling with on the undetermined possibility that he might have been infected. But Jim hasn’t spent the last month watching people he knew and loved turn into monsters. He hasn’t had to kill to survive, scavenging non-perishable food from ransacked shops and living constantly on edge and on guard. He’s in for a brutal, whirlwind education, but it also gives him a different perspective than most of the people he encounters.

As with a lot of zombie stories, the film uses the apocalyptic backdrop, not just to provide endless waves of monsters for our heroes to fight, but also to comment on humanity. We see the tiny moments in which survivors are able to remember they’re living for more than just violence, the brief reprieves from the grimness and fear that allow them to enjoy extremely simple pleasures. And we see how survivors have hardened, how some of the most reprehensible things our band of survivors encounter doesn’t come from the infected. That’s hardly a new idea—“The greatest monster is man,” and all that—but the film explores it effectively.

I remember that the first time I ever saw Cillian Murphy was in the trailers for this film, and even though I didn’t actually see him in a movie until Batman Begins, the image of his striking face had stayed with me. He does a nice job as Jim, often overwhelmed and panicked but fighting to hold onto as much humanity as he can, for as long as he can. Naomie Harris plays Selena well—she’s a cynical badass, but we glimpse at some of the horrors that made her that way. The film also features Brendan Gleeson as Frank, a thoroughly unbadass survivor who’s tried to hide rather than fight, who gives Jim and Selena shelter at a vital moment.

Christopher Eccleston doesn’t appear until the second half of the film, but he makes a big impact on the story. The survivors find their way to a makeshift military base run by Major Henry West, who’s doing what he can to keep his men alive and keep the infected at bay. He has a nihilistic view of the current state of England, remarking that what’s happening now is simply “people killing people,” not so different than what it’s always been. He appears as a brave, intelligent protector, but can our heroes trust him and his soldiers?

The film goes to some ugly places, and West is a part of that, so it can definitely get uncomfortable to watch. But Eccleston is just excellent here. West is calmly reassuring, thoroughly unsentimental, and quietly funny. It’s clear that his men regard him highly, and he projects an air that he can handle things. When he reveals to Jim that they’ve captured one of the infected and have been keeping it chained up in the yard, he gets very close to the infected man without flinching (while knowing precisely how close he can get and still maintain his control.) As soon as he comes onscreen, West keeps you guessing.

Accent Watch

RP, pretty good. I heard a few Northern vowels, but not many.

Recommend?

In General – If you’re into zombie movies, I think so. This is a fairly “grounded” take on the genre, and to my admittedly uninitiated eyes, it seems like a good one.

Christopher Eccleston – Yes. Eccleston draws your attention the whole time he’s onscreen. He’s so good here, somehow warm and chilling at the same time.

Warnings

Graphic violence, language, cruelty to animals in laboratory conditions, and strong thematic elements.