Awesome / Missing Link

• Lionel's Establishing Character Moment, where he not only discovers the Loch Ness Monster, but bravely ropes up and rides it in order to rescue his assistant single-handed.
• When Lord Piggot-Dunceby discredits Sir Lionel's belief in mythological creatures (and breaks his mold casting of a Sasquatch footprint), what does our young explorer have to say to that? Sir Lionel is silent for a brief moment, before answering, "Well... I say.. You're wrong." These are the men he wants to someday join in the membership of their club, but that doesn't stop him from disagreeing with them. The whole story begins because he finds the courage and self-respect to disagree with Piggot-Dunceby.
• During the scene where Lord Piggot-Dunceby says "Your word means nothing", Sir Lionel simply retorts "My word is everything. What is yours worth?". That sentence alone is enough to make the members of the Optimates Club turn uneasily to Lord Piggot-Dunceby, as though doubting for just an instant that he's worth their praise. The rest of the conversation, Piggot-Dunceby is sweating, wordlessly answering the question. It's a battle of honor, and even for a selfish man, honor is the one thing Sir Lionel has that Lord Piggot-Dunceby doesn't. It challenges everything the latter believes in, making Sir Lionel's mere little wager impossible to walk away from. Even a simple refusal would be to concede defeat. He must either accept or admit he has no honor. That's how good Sir Lionel's word is.
• When he and Lionel first meet, Mr. Link demonstrates he has the intelligence to learn fundamental skills like reading, writing, and speaking completely alone. The audience already knows this (otherwise we wouldn't really have this movie), but it's not every creature who has the drive to pick up these skills. Is it any wonder Sir Lionel is amazed by Link's aptitude?
• The movie averting the Liar Revealed trope is very commendable (especially in a kids animated film, no less). In a different story, Sir Lionel would've hidden his intentions to bring proof of Sasquatch from Mr. Link, or underhandedly gone back on his word and taken him to London instead of Shangri-la. Rather, Sir Lionel is forthcoming about his motives and even finds a compromise with Mr. Link. He's just that honorable.
• Willard Stenk has a villainous one for being a skilled fighter and adversary, despite being lanky and a good few inches shorter than Sir Lionel.
• When faced with the bad guys' ferocious, slavering dog, Mr. Link gets down on all fours and lets out the most bestial roar to end all roars! It's so loud, it can be heard miles from town. This intimidates the dog so badly that it decides to instead attack its owner, who was about to make him fight Mr. Link.
• After his first confrontation with Stenk, Sir Lionel is stopped by a thug who No Sells all of his punches. Lionel responds by prompting his horse to kick, sending the thug flying.
• During the scene when he is stealing the map, Lionel is caught by Adelina, who throws a metal pitcher at him. He deflects it, causing it to hit the butler on the head, making him accidentally fire his gun at the safe, finally opening it and knocking it out the window. Well, mission accomplished!
• When Adelina starts shooting back at him, Stenk acts pretty smug about it. But, too quickly for his liking, her aim gets better, and he finds himself having to take cover. If that's any indication, Adelina has good enough aim to match with a professional assassin.
• Adelina holding her own against Stenk during their shoot-off, as well as this line she shares with Lionel:
  Adelina: [It's] something you once told me: it's time this unhappy bird (...) to break out of her cage!
• Sir Lionel tricks Stenk into taking the train going farther out west, disguisinv his scent for a while so he, Mr. Link, and Adelina can travel the other direction to New York.
• A villainous one for Stenk for not only figuring out the heroes' deception eventually, but covering the distance between him and our heroes in a startlingly short time.
• The entire action sequence on the cruise ship! There's even one scene where, in a fashion similar to Inception, the waves sway the boat on its side for a moment, and Lionel and Stenk run atop the doors to the cabins belowdecks.
  • The Captain of the ship deserves some serious credit for navigating the ship through not one, but TWO giant waves successfully. And like mentioned above, the boat was on it side for a moment, and it still managed to scale the wave and get to it’s destination.
• In Superman fashion, Link ripping off his shirt in order to reveal to Gamu he's a Sasquatch.
• Adelina's speech to Sir Lionel may be scathing, but her much-needed words finally drive home the point that Lionel can never hope to be a great man if he can't even be a good one.
  Adelina:You know what I think? [whispers right into Sir Lionel's ear] I think the Great Lionel Frost is a myth...
• Sir Lionel telling Sir Piggot-Dunceby to his face that he no longer wishes to join the Optimates Club, nor is he ashamed of being incapable of belonging to such a club. Rather, he's "evolved" to want something more out of life than acceptance from a bunch of stuffy old imperialists who need proof to believe in his discoveries. When Piggot-Dunceby accuses that Sir Lionel must be crazy to no longer worship "Great Men" who "shape the world", we get this retort.
  Sir Lionel: It's funny. (chuckles) I actually used to think that. But now... now I rather think the world shapes us.
  • And as a small bonus moment, Susan was responsible for Sir Lionel's "evolution". That's right, the Missing Link made a man evolve.
• Right before Sir Piggot-Dunceby can further break the bridge they're on, Susan stops him and delivers this obvious but spot-on remark:
  Susan: You're a bad man!
• During the climatic scene, Sir Lionel demonstrates the strength to hold himself, Adelina, and Susan over a cliff versus gravity! That's about one thousand pounds, by his hands! And all the while, he has to keep Stenk from pushing him over the edge.
• Susan and the Elder Yeti exchanging Death Glares. It's as though Susan is wordlessly saying "I will never belong with you, nor do I wish to any longer..." ...right before he blows raspberries at the Elder Yeti, proving he's indeed nothing like them. It makes up for the Yetis evading punishment for their cold treatment of our heroes.
  Susan: Your utopia SUCKS!
• The very scope of the yetis' fate: Shangri-la's bridge to the world has literally been destroyed. Seems like they've gotten exactly what they wanted, to be cut off from the world of men. But that means they will never be able to leave their valley and reach out to the rest of civilization, even if they wanted to. They don't know it, but they're going to miss out on the world. All in all, it's the highest, most subtle, most mature form of Laser-Guided Karma ever conceived.
• When they part ways, the movie subverts the male and female leads getting together by the end of the story. It makes a point that in reality, it takes time to rebuild a relationship (especially when one of the party is a grieving widow) but that doesn't mean they are obligated to get together. Sometimes, the girl doesn't have to "get the guy" to have a happy ending.

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