France’s animated feature “Mia and the Migoo” is far too childish to intrigue adults yet too slow and dull for kids.
Jacques-Rémy Girerd’s poky hand-drawn film and its unattractively rendered characters have a purposely rough feel meant to appeal to the kinds of parents who believe children would rather play with painted wooden farm animals than a Wii.
The girl of the title is on a quest for her father, who has gone missing at a luxury construction site in the wild presided over by a wealthy developer whose son is about the girl’s age. The developer tries to destroy the “Tree of Life” that is getting in his way, and also provides shelter for the “Migoo” — friendly forest monsters who provide a reminder that we should be nice to nature.
The familiar story isn’t stolen from “Avatar” (the film was released in France more than two years ago), but the blundering pace, on-the-nose dialogue and thinly imagined characters make for a mucky hour and a half.