Zootopia: A Reflection Of Our World?

Zootopia is an animated film directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush. The plot imagines an andromorphic world of animals where the predators and the prey have come together to forge a shaky society. Enter protagonist Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a young rabbit from a small town who dreams of being a police officer. She must overcome her own prejudices to rise to the occasion and prevent the breakdown of their society.

I can’t really review this film without talking about the social commentary aspect of it. Never since Animal Farm have I seen a film like this, clearly this film is talking about race/class-based issues in our society but is using animal stand-ins to make it family friendly. On the whole I go back and forth with whether I liked it, there were times when I thought the film was smart maybe even insightful and other times when they used the obvious themes for nothing more than cheap jokes; so I am undecided.

I enjoyed the lead performance; I think the character of Judy grew on me more over time. The partnership between Judy and a fox named Nick (Jason Bateman), is done well and I found myself really enjoying their dynamic I thought they played off against each other well. The supporting cast is also quite good, with Idris Elba being the one I would single out for praise.

Overall, a surprisingly real film that doesn’t shy away from talking about our reality.

Pros.

Judy and Nick

The world

The premise

Cons.

The social commentary felt heavy handed at times

Judy only becomes likeable midway through

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Moana: The Ocean Rises

Moana is an animated comedy adventure film directed by Ron Clements, Chris Williams, John Musker and Don Hall. The plot sees a Polynesian island becomes the recipient of a curse; this results in life on the island becoming increasingly worse. That is until one day a brave young woman called Moana (Auli’I Cravalho), sets out to find the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), and lift the curse forever.

Recent Disney Animation films have been hit or miss for me, so I was cautiously optimistic as I watched this film and I have to say it was much better than I thought it was going to be. Yes it had a fair few problem, but on the whole it was very solid.

So, straight of the bat the plot is very predictable, you can tell from very early on where it is going, and you will have seen many different films very similar to this one. Secondly, Moana herself to me felt quite bland she never really had much to her that made her standout; from the lead she was deeply underdeveloped. Luckily Maui and voice actor Dwayne Johnson steal the show, he is the reason this film works; without his easy charm the film wouldn’t be even half as good.

The songs are quite good, particularly the first song done by Johnson, who knew the man could sing as well. I found them all to be quite catchy and I enjoyed them, my only issue with them was that they were ten a penny, there seemed to be a song every five seconds and yes I enjoyed the most of them, but some of them just felt forced in.

Also, something I will penalise this film heavily for is that they wasted the legend that is Jeamaine Clement, they give his character one scene and then he never comes back; the horror.

Overall, standard Disney fare made better by the presence of the Rock and a few good songs, however it is far from perfect.

Pros.

The Polynesian influence

Dwayne Johnson

Some of the songs

Cons.

Too many songs

It feels too familiar

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Angry Birds Movie: Curse Breaker?

The Angry Birds Movie is an animated videogame adaption directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly. The plot sees pigs invade Bird Island and no one can see their dastardly intent expect for one angry bird. Red (Jason Sudeikis), must set out on a question to recover the lost eggs and defeat the evil pigs.

I think this was the film that proved that videogame adaptions could be done well, before Sonic. I played the hell out of Angry Birds and I really enjoyed this film, I enjoyed how the film was able to create personalities around the game characters, which were incredibly hollow.

I thought all of the characters were done really well, with Red and Might Eagle (Peter Dinklage), probably being my favourite. The humour of the film is well done, and I often found myself laughing, the comedy itself was surprisingly mature for a kid’s film. However, the thing I connected to the most was the heart of the film.

Red being shunned because be was angry, unlike all the other birds who are happy all the time, was a stroke of genius and it made it feel earned and genuine when the towns people came to appreciate him for how he is and it was said anger that let him rise to the occasion and save everyone.

Overall, this is a nice easy to watch film, that will make you laugh and maybe make you feel something. Not as strong as Sony’s Hotel Transylvania offerings, but still a good watch.

Pros.

Bringing the game to life

Red and the other characters

The comedy and the heart

Cons.

The comedy is a little juvenile at times

The film is poorly paced and feels too long even though it is only an hour and a half

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

How To Train Your Dragon 2: Hiccup The Horrible

How To Train Your Dragons 2 is an animated action and adventure film directed by Dean DeBlois. The plot sees Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), and the rest of Berk come under attack by a man who styles himself as the one true dragon master who sets his sights on taming an ancient all-powerful dragon and conquering the world.

I really enjoyed the first How To Train Your Dragons, I thought it had great emotional beats and set up a dense world. However, to me this film is a step backwards in a lot of ways. The emotional beats don’t hit as hard as they did in the first film, the death of Hiccup’s father does not make you emote as much as the almost death of Toothless in the first film, which says all you need to know.

Another thing I didn’t like about this film was the characterization of Hiccup, he goes from an unsure kid with a good heart in the first film, to a cocky, know it all, who blatantly thinks he knows better than everyone else and whose bad actions leads to terrible outcomes.

Moreover, this film makes the world feel far less big than it did in the last film, the villain and the new characters introduced in this film make the world seem to be only as big as the Viking territories. If the villain came from somewhere else entirely in the world that maybe had other fantasy beasts then they could have successfully built on the worldbuilding of the first.

Overall, this film is disappointing.

Pros.

I liked some of the new characters

It furthered the first films story

Cons.

The emotional beats weren’t as strong

The world feels very small

Hiccup is unlikable

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Kung Fu Panda 3: Mastering Your Craft

Kung Fu Panda 3 is an animated martial arts film directed by Alessandro Carloni and Jennifer Yuh Nelson. The plot sees ancient bad guy Kai (J.K Simmons), break free of the spirt world and return to the mortal plane hell bent on stealing the chi of every Kung Fu Master thereby destroying his old nemesis Oogway’s (Randall Duk Kim) legacy once and for all. There is only one Panda who can stop him.

I enjoyed this film quite a bit, it might have been my favourite since the first. I enjoyed the intensely personal journey at the heart of the story. Though you have all this end of the world end of kung fu stuff going on all around, the heart of the film is Po (Jack Black), coming to terms with you he is and finding his place in the world.

I think the journey that Po goes on, the inspiration for the series, is masterfully done and is a true achievement for the creatives involved. The progression feels natural and earned, when Po meets his birth dad Li (Bryan Cranston), it feels earned after all the soul searching he did in the second film. Truly his is a masterpiece of storytelling across multiple films and a beacon for how to do sequels.

I also enjoyed that the focus was not souly on Po, yes, he is the main focus, but this film gave those around him the chance to shine as well and shine they do.

Overall, this is the perfect end to the trilogy and feels like a much-deserved end, the character work and development is nothing sort of a master class and Black nails the emotion.

Pros.

The journey

The ending

The emotional heart at the core of the film

Giving the side characters a chance to shine

The voice acting

Cons

The villain is a bit weak, but it is such a minor issue.

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Ralph Breaks The Internet: Maturing

Ralph Breaks The Internet is an animated adventure film directed by Phil Johnstone and Rich Moore. The plot follows Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), as they explore the internet. To Vanellope who is bored of the same old races in her game sees the internet as a wonderland of new opportunities whereas Ralph sees it and worries about losing his friend.

I think in many ways this is a step up for the first film, with a few issues just keeping it shy of getting the perfect score.

I enjoyed the personal feel of the film and thought Ralph’s arc of questioning his place in the new internet world and seeing it as a threat to the only friendship he has ever had feels earned after the events of the first film. The character actions make sense and feel like a natural next step for the Ralph, the emotional journey is handled in a deep and mature way which I also think is to the films credit.

I think the film uses the Internet in an interesting way that feels creative and full of imagination; I particularly enjoyed the scenes with the Disney Princesses and thought that they were the standout moments of the film. The new characters introduced here also standout Shank (Gal Gadot), is the perfect mentor character to Vanellope and already feels like an ingrained part of this world.

My issues with this film comes from the way it is paced. We get the same scene/ message over and over again, yes, they’re not exactly the same, but from a character development point of view they’re unnecessary and serve no purpose. To that point there are defiantly a number of sub-plots and underdeveloped side characters in this film that are used in a blatant attempt to pad the films runtime; which at close to one hour forty minutes seems far too long.

Overall, a solid sequel that builds nicely on what the first film sets up.

Pros.

The Disney Princess scenes

Using the internet in a novel way

The character development

Feeling natural and not like a tacked-on sequel

Cons.

Pacing issues that become very noticeable.

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Monsters Vs Aliens: Who Cares? Clearly Not Dreamworks

Monsters Vs Aliens is an animated action film directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon. The plot sees aliens attack Earth and the only people who can turn the tide and save the planet are a group of government sponsored monsters.

I had been looking forward to watching this film for some time, saving it if you will, but my oh my was I disappointed when I put this on. Other than the clearly 50’s inspired premise and design which I enjoyed and appreciated; I thought this film was aggressively average.

Nothing about this film stands out, the premise is played out you have seen it before and better. The character arcs are a retread of the same old tired clichés, there is nothing new to them. The cast though star studded does very little to leave an impression and the roles feel like they could be played by anyone.

Another thing that bothered me about this film was the animation. I have been watching a lot of animated films recently, so maybe I am hyper focused, but there is something off about the backgrounds in this film. They look bad unrendered or out of focus or something, I can’t quite describe it but they are noticeably bad and they really bring you out of some scenes; especially in the opening 10 minutes.

Overall, you will lose nothing if you don’t watch this film and you will gain nothing if you do, so don’t bother.

Pros.

I enjoyed the 50s theme

Cons

The cast is wasted

The jokes aren’t funny

The bad backgrounds are distracting

You have seen it before

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2: A Little More Cloudy

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 is an animated family film directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn. The plot continues the story of the first showing the aftermath of the food disaster. The machine Flint (Bill Hader), created was not actually destroyed and has made sentient food that is going to take over the planet. Or is it? Everything is not as it seems and Flint and co are dragged into a world of intrigue.

I thought this was very meh, it felt like a sequel that didn’t need to be made. It failed to recapture the emotion of the first film especially between Flint and his dad and felt like it retread a lot of characters beats from the first film.

Something that I thought was odd and just want to point out is the relationship between Flint (Bill Hader) and Sam (Anna Faris). So at the end of the first film they’re a couple in a romantic sense, but in this film you could easily just think they’re friends; they don’t even hold hands. Personally, I thought it was odd and ruined both of their characters a bit; maybe it was done in a effort to make the film even more PG then it already is.

The imagination is also less impressive this time around because we have seen it all before, yes the food creatures are cute, but the design of them is not all that different from the food itself so it does not feel like a lot of effort has gone into the design.

Overall, this is by no means a bad film, but it is lesser than the first film which already had problems.

Pros

The premise is still kind of neat

The food creatures are cute

Cons

It doesn’t justify its own existence

Ignoring the Flint Sam relationship

The side characters are even more bland

2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Kung Fu Panda 2: A Tale Of Maturity And Learning

Kung Fu Panda 2 is an animated martial arts family film directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson. The plot sees new Dragon Warrior Po (Jack Black), go on a voyage of self-discovery after finding out that he was adopted. Said journey brings him to an evil Peacock called Shen (Gary Oldman), who wants to wipe out Kung Fu and take over China; Shen also knows what happened to Po’s parents.

I admire this film for a lot of reasons, namely that it is a sequel that justifies its own existence being just as good if not better than the first film. Much like another DreamWorks sequel Shrek 2 this film doubles down on the characters and expands them in interesting ways. The mythology behind Po’s parents raises a lot of intriguing questions for the lore of this world and the response by Po as a character furthers his arc as he grows in maturity.

My one critique of this film would be that it does not show the same level of care and development towards the other characters, namely the Furious Five. I enjoyed the scenes that Po and Tigress (Angelina Jolie), have together and think that they have a promising amount of on-screen chemistry. However, as a character Tigress is vacant, the same can be said for Po’s other martial arts friends they do cool stuff, but we know very little about them and they suffer as a result.

Overall, it is nice to see Po’s character journey continue in a worthy sequel.

Pros

World building

Po’s journey

Justifies its existence

Is just as good if not better than the first film

Cons.

The wider cast are left out in the cold

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs: Eat It Up

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is an animated family film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The film follows Flint (Bill Hader), an inventor who dreams of becoming a famous scientist. One day Flint invents a machine that can make food rain from the sky, everything seems to be going well, until the machine starts to malfunction.

I have been meaning to watch this for some time and a few nights ago I did, I have to say for the most part I enjoyed it, but there were a few issues that kept it from being great.

Firstly the imagination is commendable, I thought it was wonderfully unique and I have never seen anything else like this. The animation is also great, I thought it looked distinctive and well proportioned; the food also looked really appetising.

Secondly, this film has a lot of heart. I thought it handled the theme of fathers and sons really well and the final scene between Flint and his father was moving and brought a tear to my eye. However, the same flair for emotion wasn’t carried over into the other characters and Flint’s relationship with the other characters particularly Sam (Anna Faris), was weak and unconvincing.

My main issue with this film was the humour, it really didn’t land for me. Humour is subjective I know, but the humour in this film skewed towards kids and I didn’t find any layers to the comedy that might have appealed to me or other age groups.

Overall, a good effort with a lot heart, but the childish humour and the poor character development stop this film from being as good as it could be.

Pros.

The father son relation between Flint and his dad

The animation

The imagination

Cons.

The comedy

The poor side characters and weak interpersonal relationships

3/5

Reviewed by Luke