Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa

This was a great film. No doubt I will watch this multiple times because of the enjoyment I had watching this epic animation. I do not understand the hate this film is getting because this film is quite literally flawless.

Young Leonardo Da Vinci and Lorenzo are having fun with their friend Lisa. Her home burns down while they are away. Leo hopes to help her family rebuild. He is joined by Lisa as they set off on a quest. The Italian animation is really only second rate. It's more comparable to present-day TV productions. The designs are fine for that level of production. As for the characters, Leo is a little naive. Quite frankly in real life, he would probably use his mechanical know-how to help rebuild the house. The story is somewhat random. They could have gone on the treasure hunt without burning down the house. Better yet, the treasure could be some sort of long lost invention. This is definitely trying to be Goonies. I don't even want to figure out all the logic problems. It's cute but it's not actually good. It feels flat.

This movie has a lot of problems. Small kids might still find some fun in it but I'd definitely not recommend watching this. There is horrible pacing - everything seems rushed to the next action scene; there hardly is time to let previous scenes sink in. Without spoiling too much: The antagonist's plan is overly and unnecessarily complex - which is a good fit to the protagonists not grasping the situation earlier. They also often act when it is convenient to the plot - instead of the moment it would make sense from their perspective. There are some moments which would make good "funny background scenes" but instead are pushed to the foreground and just feel lost there. The movie isn't very nice to the female characters. They have not been given an active role. "Mona Lisa" being listed as "mission" in the title is a good reminder that she simply is a token / MacGuffin / tagalong. At some point the movie decides that it wants to be partial-musical and throws out-of-nowhere songs at the viewers. Paired with the flashbacks this seems like padding the time - and I don't consider the songs to be very good, either. Regarding the educational aspect: There is some "da Vinci invented this" and "da Vinci painted that" thrown in - but apart from one invention and the girl being named "Mona Lisa", there was zero need to tie this to the great inventor. On the positive side: The animation is okay and some jokes are funny (even in their childish way). It's not the worst kids' movie out there - but if you have better ones available, you should prefer those.

This was a great film. No doubt I will watch this multiple times because of the enjoyment I had watching this epic animation. I do not understand the hate this film is getting because this film is quite literally flawless.