“A sleeping superhero is abruptly awoken by an emergency phone call in need of his expertise—a monster is invading the city. In the morning rush that ensues, our hero equips himself with the gear needed to save the day. As he and the monster begin to face-off, it's only then that he realizes he is woefully ill-equipped with the wrong suit. He is bewildered. Our hero is wearing his wife's magic girl costume and he has no idea how to use it…”
“Suit Up!” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
Putting forth the message that you can be a hero regardless of how you dress/act marks, gives Jiamin Wu animation “Suit Up!” a strong backbone to set its foundation. Consequently, the hero's ability to overcome embarrassment in wearing his wife's costume and fighting with ‘feminine' powers (bubble's, rainbow) is both comedic and uplifting. The moral importance and great execution of concept can not be stressed enough towards making this short a success, particularly when the rest of the film falls short.
The animation style within “Suit Up!” comes across as rough, with moments of awkward movement and static backgrounds that lack detail. However with all aspects of the production being handled by Jiamin Wu, the short takes on the charm of independent created cinema with its DIY approach. Ultimately, “Suit up!” won't meet the same standards of companies like Pixar or DreamWorks, but the same desire to create engaging and positive animation is well and a alive in the production.
Within animation and dialogue-free entertainment, the score and sound design becomes integral to creating a successful project. Sadly, the sound comes across as the most neglected aspect of the production, with effects and music just doing enough to convey the narrative. Given the comical nature and working in the realm of super-heroes, exaggerated sound effects and variation in music would have gone a long way in giving the film a more definitive personality.
At just over two minutes, the dialogue free animation project will fail to impress a wider audience due to rough style and presentation. However, Jiamin Wu does gift the audiences with a well crafted narrative that pushes the importance of being comfortable within your own skin and embracing what makes you happy outside of cultural norms. To this degree, the film will work wonderfully for kids who wont get caught up in the technical shortcomings and are able to take away the important messaging.
