Ferdinand: John Cena’s Charm Has Limits

Ferdinand is an animated family film directed by Carlos Saldanha. The plot follows a Bull called Ferdinand (John Cena), who doesn’t like to fight. In the Spanish world of bull fighting that proves to be a liability and Ferdinand soon finds himself facing up to some unpleasant truths.

So, I really enjoy Blue Sky Animation, I am a big fan, yes, I know they didn’t make this and that it was actually made by 21^st Century Fox Animation, but I saw their name attached and thought I would check it out. My takeaway? It is a very meh film, sure it is a nice turn your brain off kids movie, but if you’re looking for any substance or originality you’re looking in the wrong place.

The plot feels very been there done that. I can name a whole host of other movies that have a lead character who doesn’t like or can’t do something that his world revolves around. The unoriginality in and off itself is not the damming thing, plenty of films feel samey, my issue is that this film can’t seem to be bothered to do anything new with the premise beyond an unfamiliar location.

Overall, John Cena’s easy charm can’t be called upon to make this a good film. As far as animated films go maybe give this one a miss, you and or your kids won’t gain anything from watching it.

Pros.

I enjoyed the Spanish flair

Cons.

Boring

Seen it before

Kate McKinnon was at her most annoying

The emotion feels hollow

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

Cats: Eye Bleach

Cats is a musical drama film directed by Tom Hopper. The film is a big screen adaption of the famous theatrical musical of the same name.

So, yes I watched this to see if it was as bad as everyone said and yes, I can confirm for you all it is trash. Copies of this film should be burnt and we as a species would be better if we could erase it from our collective memory. Here’s how I got there.

Right from the off, the design and look of the Cats themselves is off putting, they’re too humanoid and also weirdly sexual. I don’t know if Furriers where the secret target demographic for this film, but it is weird, the casts are often shaking what would be their human sexual organs and yeah, its uncomfortable.

Secondly there is no real plot, from the opening moments of the film we are bombarded with songs telling us about what cats are and what their world is, but they don’t really explain anything, and you have no idea what is going on. There is also a song very early on in the film that takes place in a graveyard and I personally found something very disconcerting about this one, like it made me panicky and troubled and I can’t really tell you why.

I understand that it is a musical, but the constant songs get to be a bit much, there are other musicals that have actual lines of dialogue in-between their songs, but this is not one of those films. The acting is blatantly not there, most of the actors seem to either be there for an easy pay day or because they were forced into it (at least that is how they appear when they are on-screen as they clearly don’t want to be there).

Overall, this is as bad if not worse than you have heard.

Pros.

It is bizarre.

Cons.

The furriness of it

The design of the Cats themselves

The lack of a basic plot

The repetitive non-sensical songs

The terrible performances.

0/5

Reviewed by Luke

Rise Of The Guardians: Forgotten Dreamworks

Rise Of The Guardians is an animated film directed by Peter Ramsey. The film sees the immortal guardians of children, Santa Clause (Alec Baldwin), The Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), The Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), and Jack Frost (Chris Pine), team up to defeat the evil entity know as Pitch (Jude Law).

So for the most part this was very generic family fantasy fare, the plot went the way you would think it would with an unlikely outcast hero rising to the occasion to save his friends and the world from evil. Same old same old. In many ways I don’t need to tell you what happens in this film because without seeing it you will be able to predict it.

The characters are likeable enough and the voice actors are giving it a valiant try to inject some personality into otherwise quite vacant character husks. However, the script certainly does the film no favours and often feels like it is caught between two different ideas; mainly in regard to tone.

The one positive I will say for this film, is the animation itself is great. It is very distinct and has it owns style that separates it from the rest of the DreamWorks line-up. I especially enjoyed how they showed the nightmare powers of Pitch on-screen, I thought it was very visually interesting to look at and that it also had an impressive scale.

Overall, very standard fare, you will have seen many other animated films just like this. The cool animation and strong voice acting won’t be able to change that fact. Very much a meh.

Pros.

The voice acting

The animation style

Cons.

Incredibly predictable

The characters feel very one dimensional

The tone cannot stay consistent

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Scooby Doo And The Monster Of Mexico: South Of The Border

Scooby Doo And The Monster Of Mexico is an animated family film directed by Scott Jeralds. The plot sees Scooby (Frank Welker), and the gang head to Mexico for Day Of The Dead, however, once they arrive things start to go awry and of course a monster rears its head.

This is classic Scooby Doo, this to me is the Scooby Doo I grew up on; showing my age a bit there. No racing, no forced needless crossover, no Simon Cowell, just good old fashion mystery solving.

I thought the monster was a touch generic, they could and should have gone into the backstory and the legend of the monster more; that would have made it standout better in the wider Scooby Doo Universe. That said I enjoyed the Mexican twist on the classic Scooby Doo formula, I thought it gave it a nice sense of place and distinct personality.

Unfortunately that Mexican twist proves to be a double-edged sword. Though it has positive aspects, it also leads to the furthering of outdated stereotypes. This could have been a lot worse, but when it occurs on screen it does stick out, giving you pause. It certainly hasn’t aged well.

Overall, this is a fun Scooby Doo adventure that shows why the classic formula is so great, however it ages poorly and could do with further development in certain areas, these issues stop it from being perfect Scooby Doo ala The Witches Ghost.

Pros.

Classic Scooby Doo

A distinct sense of personality

Fun and entertaining

Cons.

The use of Mexican stereotypes

The monster is quite bland

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

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