U - 103mins - Animation/Comedy/Family - 10th August 2011
Well it has been a while since my last post so sorry about that- I'm sure you were just lost without my views on what you should be watching so I'm going to make up for it with a couple of reviews and new movie trailers thrown at you all in one day. First up are those blue critters they call "The Smurfs".
Despite me trying to be as neutral as possible before settling down to watch a film I found myself preparing for the long haul when I decided to watch The Smurfs. As a kid I never really got into them but did occasionally catch a TV show or two so wasn't flying completely into the unknown like some of the more recent comic book characters that I have reviewed.
PG - 100mins - Animation/Comedy/Family - 28th January 2011
It has been well over 10 years since the Walt Disney Animation Studios branch of Disney has had anything to shout home about as they have struggled to live up to their past successes (Lion King, Aladdin all the way back to Snow White in 1937) and compete with the modern animations of it's sister company Disney Pixar.
Tangled is based on the Brothers Grimm story of Rapunzel (the film's title was only changed from Rapunzel shortly prior to its release) who as traditional tales go was locked away in a tower with only her long flowing hair as a chance of rescue. As a baby, Princess Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) is kidnapped by Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) from the palace for her magical healing powers that have been passed onto her. Locked away in a tall tower and believing she's Gothel's daughter, she longs only for one thing- to get out into the world and see the floating lights that appear every year on her birthday.
As luck would have it Flynn Ryder (Zachary Levi), a thief, finds his way into her tower when hiding from the palace guard and Rapunzel fearing he is one of the evil monsters her mother has warned her about knocks him out. When he comes to she strikes up a deal that in exchange for him escorting her to see the lights and keep her safe, she will let him go and return his stolen loot.
The best thing about this film is the characters and their mannerisms. Gothel is vanity personified with snide remarks aimed at Rapunzel, Ryder the perfect amount of cockiness and all of the token extras play their part well. My two favourite though say absolutely nothing and easily steal the show. Both the chameleon (Rapunzel's best friend) and a guard's horse, Maximus are fantastic. Seeing a horse which acts more like a dog got me going but this was topped by the chameleon who seemed to have an expression that summed up the mood perfectly every time. A little legend!
In terms of graphics, they are some of the best I have seen in an animation with the detail in her hair in particular being most impressive. But then this should be expected as Tangled does now hold the record for most expensive animation and second most expensive film ever made coming in at a noteworthy £157.5 ($260) million.
As with all Disney, there was a couple of sing-a-longs thrown in for good measure and although they will not live long into the memory in the way that others have, (hakuna matata anyone?) they were still catchy and you will find yourself tapping along or humming a tune or two for a while after the movie has finished.
This movie got me laughing and even having watched it a second time I was still giggling away throughout. It works for both adults and children and the witty way in which it was written appealed to me greatly. I will happily be watching this again so it has most definitely worked its Disney magic on me. Disney might well be back!!!
And in related animation news, the new Tintin trailer has just been released and it's looking darn impressive to say the least. Want to see it? Click here. Next up I look at the less well known sci-fi drama/thriller Primer. So check it out below.
Farm
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U - 95mins - Animation/Comedy/Family - 1st April 2011
What with Easter fast approaching, there was bound to be a movie that tried to exploit this market just as there is every Christmas with the swathe of below average Santa Claus movies. Hop gave me some hope that it might rise above the average though as it was made by the same people that brought us Despicable Me (but then again they also gave us Alvin and the Chipmunks, twice and soon to be thrice!)
This movie has obviously set it's target market at the kids and so there is no shortage of lovable furry characters and simple smirks to be had at their bumbling about. This means the movie isn't going to make you think all that hard. It follows two main characters- a rabbit E.B. (damn that's original although I'm embarrassed to say it took me longer than it should to make that connection) voiced by Russell Brand and Fred O'Hare, James Marsden, (spot the next connection), a human, in both the animated and real worlds. Both have overbearing fathers who want something for them that they themselves do not.
Deciding that being the Easter bunny is not the life for him E.B. makes for the big lights of Hollywood to try and show off his skills as a drummer and prove his father wrong. There he runs into Fred and their relationship gets off to a slow start. E.B. is very much the protagonist causing problems all over the shop that Fred has to keep resolving which is where I think most of the laughs are expected to come from. Add to the mix the pink berets (a crack squad of ninja bunnies) and a couple of token celebrity experiences from the Hoff and Hefner and there is enough to keep the plot moving forward.
The animation holds up quite well and there are only a few times in the movie where you can sense that the animators just didn't quite make it work. I'm still not totally convinced by movies that put animated characters in the real world when the movie is not an action adventure or sci-fi but they are getting better at it with Paul being a good example of the tide starting to turn.
It was slightly disappointed that Hop leaned so heavily on the template that made Despicable Me a relative success. Despicable Me has the excitable yellow minions and Hop has just added feathers and in some cases another eye to give us the chick minions lead by Carlos (Hank Azaria). Although they provide some of the better comic moments they don't really have that same impact as the critters from Despicable Me.
Now don't get me wrong this isn't a bad movie, it's just that anything aimed so one dimensionally at children with no real overlay for adult jokes or anything other than 'aww look at the cute fluffy bunny' is not really going to get me going. If you've got young kids then this will be an ideal way to spend an hour and a half otherwise wait for it to hit the TV screens.
Next up is the romcom How Do You Know [my review]. Haven't really reviewed many in this genre yet so thought I'd add to it. As always, cast your eyes below for the trailer.
Finally a big thanks to all those who are reading my articles as this site just broke the 1000 visits barrier today!!! Cheers everyone!
Farm
Are you fanatical about film? Then follow this site on Twitter @ FAbFilms
