Tag: Animation

REVIEW: ‘Coco’ Works Thanks To Heartfelt Story About Family, Memorable Music

When it comes to musicals, Pixar has usually left the genre to its counterpart Disney Animation Studios. With its latest endeavor, though, Pixar has taken a page out of the Mouse House’s playbook, creating a musical experience with “Coco.”

Keep in mind, “Coco” isn’t a traditional animated musical. However, it’s a movie very much about music and includes numerous songs.

The movie’s protagonist is Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), a boy who dreams of becoming a singer and guitarist like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). His family, though, is completely against music and musicians of any sort, finding it to be a curse on their family that began generations ago.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Coco’ Works Thanks To Heartfelt Story About Family, Memorable Music”

REVIEW: ‘Leap!’ Held Back By Formulaic Story, Weak Characters

I consider myself quite a bit of an animation fan, so I was fairly disappointed with the recently released “Leap!”

The film focuses on a young orphan girl named Felicie (Elle Fanning), who’s attempting to achieve her dream of being a famous ballet dancer in Paris. With the help of her best friend Victor (Dane DeHaan), the two manage to get away from the orphanage and make it to the City of Lights.

Felicie eventually makes it to the ballet dance school and there she meets a former dancer named Odette (Carly Rae Jepsen), who decides to help her get a spot in the intense learning environment. Not only does Felicie have to deal with a rough dance education, though, she also ends up having a rival with another young dancer named Camille (Maddie Ziegler).

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Leap!’ Held Back By Formulaic Story, Weak Characters”

REVIEW: ‘Cars 3’ Ends The Series On A High Note, But Continues To Fall Behind The Rest Of Pixar

The “Cars” universe has always confused the hell out of me and the latest entry is no exception. Like, why do the cars have doors and handles if there are no people? Why are there faster, more advanced cars? Are they built by other cars or is it cars evolving?

Those questions certainly came up with me from start to finish here, but the real important question is ‘was the movie any good?’

Well, not really, it more falls into the category of being just OK.

The movie once again follows the franchise’s protagonist Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson). A car who’s won multiple racing championships, McQueen is still competing and remains confident in doing so. However, as he enters his latest race, he finds himself falling behind the younger cars that appear to be far more advanced.

As a result, McQueen is always playing catch-up and this ultimately leads to an accident where he gets severely injured. What follows is McQueen’s quest for redemption and to regain his status as one of the best racers in the world. To do so, McQueen eventually finds help in professional trainer Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo).

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Cars 3’ Ends The Series On A High Note, But Continues To Fall Behind The Rest Of Pixar”

REVIEW: ‘The LEGO Batman Movie’ Is A Hilarious Take On The Dark Knight’s Recent Edgy Trend

He has the suit, the gadgets and the raspy voice. By all means, this is a “Batman” movie, but it’s certainly a lot more comical than its counterparts.

“The LEGO Batman Movie” starts off showing another average night in Gotham City, with a whole group of famous and not so famous villains launching an assault. Per usual, Batman (Will Arnett) comes in to put a stop to them, but in the process of doing so, things start to change. More specifically, hints of Batman’s lonely life begin to come in to play.

As the movie goes on, the film (in humorous ways) explores Batman’s tendencies to do things on his own rather than accept help from anyone else. This becomes more complicated, though, with the arrival of new Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) and Dick Grayson/Robin (Michael Cera).

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘The LEGO Batman Movie’ Is A Hilarious Take On The Dark Knight’s Recent Edgy Trend”

REVIEW: ‘Sing’ Largely Forgettable Besides Fun Musical Numbers

The makers of “Minions” took a different direction in their latest animated film, “Sing.”

The picture tells the story of numerous characters living in a big city, all having dreams of being a performer. However, the film especially shines a spotlight on Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), the owner of a theater that’s fallen on hard times.

In order to save the theater and turn around his entire business model, Moon decides to have a signing competition. As a result, many different people from unique backgrounds come out to compete.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Sing’ Largely Forgettable Besides Fun Musical Numbers”

REVIEW: Musical Scenes Are Greatest Feature Of ‘Trolls’ Movie

It’s nice to see something with the name Trolls and have it not be related to the internet in any way.

Instead, it’s the latest animated feature to hit the big screen and it’s based off the old toys with wild hair. As the name suggests, the film tells the story of Trolls, a race of happy-go-lucky beings who live in harmony, that is when they’re not under attack from the Bergens, giant creatures who only find joy from eating trolls.

Fortunately, at the film’s outset, the Trolls haven’t had to deal with the Bergens for two decades. One day they’re discovered, though, and a number of Trolls are captured by a vicious Bergen Chef. As a result, the Trolls Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and a rather grumpy Troll named Branch (Justin Timberlake) go on a rescue mission/adventure.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Musical Scenes Are Greatest Feature Of ‘Trolls’ Movie”

REVIEW: The Political Satire In ‘Sausage Party’ Works, Everything Else Not So Much

Director Greg Tiernan and actor Seth Rogen take animated pictures to a whole new level with this feature, mixing ideas of a raunchy comedy and a Pixar-like adventure.

The film takes place in a supermarket like any other and shows that all of the food and items in the store are sentient. Additionally, the products view humans as gods, meaning that when they are bought and taken out of the store they’re going to a sort of heaven.

Much of the flick revolves around the characters Franks (Rogen), a sausage and Brenda (Kristen Wiig) a bun. The movie picks up with them getting lost with other foods in the store when a mishap happens preventing them from being purchased. In the process, they start to learn some of the truth behind what the humans do.

Continue reading “REVIEW: The Political Satire In ‘Sausage Party’ Works, Everything Else Not So Much”

REVIEW: Great Storytelling, Characters Make ‘Kubo And The Two Strings’ One Of The Summer’s Best

“Zootopia” might just have competition during award season from this flick.

“Kubo and the Two Strings” follows the story of the titular character. Kubo (Art Parkinson) is a young boy who lives near a small village with his mother, who was forced to flee from her family because her marriage was viewed as a betrayal. In her escape, though, Kubo’s mother was injured, resulting in her dealing with memory loss.

Despite this, she still has magic powers and those powers were passed on to Kubo. The main conflict launching Kubo on his adventure begins when his mother is killed by her sisters. To protect himself from his mother’s family, Kubo is sent to find a magical suit of armor.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Great Storytelling, Characters Make ‘Kubo And The Two Strings’ One Of The Summer’s Best”

REVIEW: ‘Collision Course’ Shows That ‘Ice Age’ Series Is On Life Support

It just never ends.

In the latest installment of the long running “Ice Age” series, the sabertooth squirrel Scrat causes a chain of events that sends an asteroid toward Earth. As this is happening, there’s a bit of drama with the Ice Age crew.

Peaches (Keke Palmer), the daughter of Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah), is planning to get married to her fiance Julian (Adam Devine) and in the process wants to leave home. So not only do the parents have to worry about the asteroid, they also have to worry about their kid leaving.

This movie feels like one of the most manufactured pieces of media that I’ve ever seen. The movie’s main conflict, the child wanting to leave home with a guy that the dad doesn’t like, is so incredibly generic and “Collision Course” doesn’t do anything new with it.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Collision Course’ Shows That ‘Ice Age’ Series Is On Life Support”

REVIEW: If Not A Pet Owner, A Person Can Skip The ‘Secret Life Of Pets’

Illumination Studios, responsible for the “Despicable Me” franchise, is back with animals this time.

“The Secret Life of Pets” takes place in New York City and follows a group of animals living in an apartment complex with various owners. More specifically, the film is about Max (Louis C.K.), a dog who lives a comfortable life with his owner.

Conflict starts up, though, when his owner brings home a new dog named Duke (Eric Stonestreet). The two don’t exactly hit it off and their tension between each other ends up getting them lost and in trouble with the pound.

Continue reading “REVIEW: If Not A Pet Owner, A Person Can Skip The ‘Secret Life Of Pets’”