Puss In Boots is an animated film directed by Chris Miller. The plot sees Puss (Antonio Banderas), try to steal the magical Golden Goose from inside the giant’s castle from the tale of Jack and The Bean Stalk.

So, we can all agree the best thing about Shrek 2 was the introduction of Puss In Boots, who would go on to be one of the best characters in the franchise. With that in mind the idea of a Puss centred spin off seems like a very likely bet and that is what this film is.

The story as a whole doesn’t feel like it adds much to the Shrek world, and feels oddly self-contained. The new characters are fine, but again they’re nothing to write home about. Selma Hayek as Kitty Soft Paws is a nice on-screen partner for Puss, but even she can’t be memorable.

Everything new about this film doesn’t really work, but the returning character of Puss is still fun. The only thing that keeps this from being a bad film is the charm of Banderas, which is the film’s saving grace. It is nice seeing Puss get his own film, but it suffers without having the other well-known characters to bounce off.

Overall, a needless spinoff that is kept alive by the bandit esque charm of Antonio Banderas’ Puss, but one that you can give a miss.

Pros.

Banderas

A few good jokes

Cons.

The new characters aren’t interesting

The world feels small

Banderas can only take the film so far

The ending is so dumb

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Scooby Doo Camp Scare is an animated film directed by Ethan Spaulding. The plot sees Scooby (Frank Welker), and the gang head to Camp Little Moose, as Fred (also Welker), wants to relive some of his childhood and has become a councillor there, the gang naturally accompany him. However, once they arrive they realise something stalks the woods, something scary.

So, the first thing I noticed about this film was the animation is different to the other animated Scooby Doo films I have reviewed, not necessarily worse, but certainly newer looking in style. I found this to be jarring at the start of the film, but I found it to be less of an issue as it went on.

The drawn style of the female characters in this one is oddly sexual, they have Daphne (Grey Griffin), in a bikini and pan the camera up and down her body multiple times; you could be forgiven for thinking you were watching the soft core start of a very convincing porn parody. Other female characters suffer the same fate and it just feels a bit icky. Also they walk back some of the character development of Daphne and turn her into the jealous girlfriend cliché  

Switching gear, I found this to be much funnier than previous Scooby adventures, this film seemed to be crammed with innuendos and dirty jokes which I appreciated and that did in fact make me laugh.

The Scooby Doo formula is less strikingly apparent here, yes it still ends in the standard way that you would expect but it feels like more freedom was given to the creatives.

Overall, a fun ride, though a little creepy at times in a questionable sort of way.

Pros.

It is very watchable

More creative freedom

Has a few good funny moments

Cons.

Weirdly sexual

A shift in animation

3/5

Reviewed by Luke  

Scooby Doo and The Loch Ness Monster is an animated family film directed by Scott Jeralds and Joe Sichta. The plot sees the Mystery Machine gang head to Scotland to meet up with Daphne’s (Grey Griffin), family for the Highland games. However, the most infamous Scottish legend of all is terrorising the proceedings, the one and only Loch Ness Monster.

There is a certain safety in a formula, you know what you’re getting. I have talked at length about the Scooby Doo formula in other reviews and I think for the most part it works, but here it was a little too samey and left the whole film feeling very unmemorable and a little bland.

The Scottish accents were butchered to hell as well, so don’t watch if you’re an easily offended Scottish person. However, unlike in Monster of Mexico, I thought the Scottish side characters were treated as more than mere stereotypes and were okay. They felt like characters in their own right and not cheap clichés so that is a positive.

I also enjoyed the ending tease where it implied that Nessie was in fact real; after having been proven to be people in a costume moments before. I like the fact that this era of Scooby Doo shock things up and didn’t have every monster just be a person in a costume using unrealistic practical effects; the added supernatural mystery of these films gives them more substance.

Overall, a very standard affair, not the best Scooby Doo animated film, but not the worst either. I’m glad the local side characters don’t feel like harmful stereotypes and I think the ending adds some much-needed mystery to things.

Pros.

It is very watchable

The ending tease

Not having the side characters be stereotypes

Fun to turn your brain off to

Cons.

It doesn’t grab you

It is forgettable

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke  

Open Season is a family animated film directed by Roger Allers, Jill Culton and Anthony Stacchi. The plot sees show bear Boog (Martin Lawrence), go on step to far and get sent by his human owner to go and live in the woods. His life of comfort and domesticity has left him soft; how will he get tough enough to survive in the wild, especially in hunting season.

I remember, vaguely, watching this when it came out in the cinema. It left very little impression on me then and watching it now, I can say it does leave an impression, but an odd one.

So, there is an off-kilter nature to this film, maybe it was just me, but I didn’t find this film funny or charming like family films often try and be, instead I found it to be sad and even melancholic at times. It felt like there was something off just beneath the surface of it. Maybe that was my viewing of it.

None of the voice cast do a particularly good job, Lawrence tries but his material seems like a parody at best, and the rest fair far worse. Ashton Kutcher as Elliot, Boog’s deer side kick is thoroughly annoying and doesn’t have any real redeeming qualities. The rest of the voice cast is wasted, veterans like Patrick Warburton are just reciting clearly joyless lines and it is painful.

Overall, something seems off about this film, it is not terrible, I have seen far worse animated fare, but it is incredibly average and depressing.

Pros.

Lawrence is trying   

It is watchable

Cons.

None of the characters are likable

Kutcher is annoying

The supporting cast are wasted

I left watching this feeling depressed

1/5

Reviewed by Luke   

The Lego Movie 2 is an animated action and adventure film directed by Mike Mitchell. The plot see Emmet (Chris Pratt), try and become tough so he can still be appealing to Wild Ride (Elizabeth Banks), however in doing so he accidentally ends the universe.

If you’re thinking that premise feels familiar that because it is. In the first film Emmet has to become a certain type of person, in that case the mythical chosen one, to impress Wild Ride and gain confidence; the story telling is recycled.

As are a lot of other beats from the first film such as the emotion family stuff in the real world, though this time it is far less impactful.

Repetition never makes a film better and that is very true here, this film probably shouldn’t have been made it lacks a lot of the charm and the heart and soul of the first film. The story feels forced and the characters feel like they’re back for the sake of it. They introduce a new villain an evil queen played by Tiffany Haddish, who they use for a “clever” twist, when they reveal that she isn’t the real villain of the film and that it is actually evil Emmet from the future. Yes it is dumb and obvious and no the film pointing that out doesn’t change the face; it just makes it lazy storytelling

Another thing that bothered me were the songs. The first film used them sparingly and to make a point, here they are ten a penny, there incessant and it gets annoying quickly.

Overall, a very subpar sequel that really didn’t need to be made.

Pros.

The characters are still mostly likeable

Cons.

The repeated character arc

Side-lining a lot of the best characters from the first film

The very obvious twist

The songs

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Lego Movie is an animated action and adventure film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. We follow the tale of Emmet (Chris Pratt), a construction worker who is just like everyone else: he follows the rules of life and suffers for it. However, one day he meets master builder Wild Ride/ Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), who tell him that he is destined for greatness.

Can I just say before we get into this that the live action section in this film, when we see the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell), is actually just the avatar of a dad in the real world who goes down and plays with Lego’s after work, is shockingly well done and poignant. I enjoyed the analogy; I thought the father son stuff was a very sweet turn that also brought with it a great surprise.

I also enjoyed the social commentary and punchy dialogue that features in almost every scene, it often made me laugh and took me off guard as I was not expecting it from a kid’s film. Furthermore, I think the level of imagination in this film surpasses the director’s other effort Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs by a mile.

Obviously, the film is very wholesome with a nice message that everyone could do with heeding and has sweet characters that you want to see more of, but these are things I’ve come to expect from good family films, so I won’t go on about them.

Overall, a gem of the early 2010’s for sure, proving the talent of both the directors and everyone involved, very much a lightning in a bottle firing on all cylinder’s type affair.

Pros

The real world section

The smart dialogue

The imagination

All of the characters are likeable and have distinct and varied personalities

It made me laugh a few times

Cons.

Some of it is a little cliched

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke