Movie Review - Incredibles 2

I am not a fan of Pixar films. They've made a few good ones (Cars, Cars 2, Monster's University, and Ratatouille), but most of them feel like they came from the same cookie cutter or were just well done derivatives of other films and genres. The first Incredibles movie felt like this: a fan fiction version of the Fantastic Four.

Incredibles 2 is a 2018 cgi, science fiction, superhero adventure film from Pixar. It is rated PG for violence, killings, and inappropriate language and is appropriate for older children and up.

The Good

Not Derivative. Most superhero films feel like a fan fiction version of some previous film, a parody, or homage. This film was fresh and original. It was its own thing. If I were describing it to a friend, I can't think of another superhero film that I could compare it to.

Dark and Serious. This movie has a much more serious and dark tone. I see you murder on the screen, death, much stronger violence than previous film, and inappropriate language. This helped to set this film apart from the first and made it more exciting to watch.

Characterization. The main characters all had a lot of development and felt very fleshed out.

Action & Pacing. This movie had a lot of well constructed action and was excellently paced. It never dragged or seemed to move too quickly.

The Bad

Dark and Serious. I know I said this was a strength, and it was, but it's also a real departure for Pizar away form the all-ages appropriate family film. I think this has to happen to keep the movies from getting stale, but it could also mean the magical era is over and future films won't have the appeal as older films. Only time will tell.

Supporting Characters. While the main characters were really interesting and well fleshed out, the supporting characters were little more than one-dimensional plot devices. I think the filmmakers could have developed them a little bit more.

Surprise Twist wasn't a Surprise. I'm not sure if the filmmakers meant the reveal of the real villain and their motives to be a surprise for anyone over 8, but it was hinted at so strongly from the beginning that I was waiting for it to happen. It wasn't a surprise, and so the shocking reveal was blah.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the villain had been stronger. It wasn't a bad villain, but it wasn't much of a challenge and the least interesting conflict of the movie.

Overall

Incredibles 2 was much better than I thought it would be. It was its own, unique creature and not a cheap rip off, parody, or homage to an early superhero film. It was also very different from the first while still retaining all the qualities of the first that made it so endearing. The villain was the weakest conflict of the film and could have been more interesting. The pacing, action, and animation were all very well done and held my attention from start to finish. I give this film a solid 4.5 out of 5 boxes of popcorn.

    

Movie Review: Cars 3

I am not a fan of Pixar movies. They are too formalistic for me, ie. they religiously follow a formula making them so predictable that they become boring. But the first two Cars movies were fun, so I was excited to see what they'd come up with for number three.

Cars 3 is a 2017 action, family, 3-D animated film from Pixar. It's rated PG for mild violence and is appropriate for all ages.

The Good

Visuals. This film looks amazing. Pixar is the master of creating gorgeous 3-D graphics. From the characters to the backgrounds to the action, everything couldn't look better.

Racing Scenes. The racing scenes are extremely well done. They're fun, they're well filmed so you can see what is happening, and yet they manage to somehow put you into the driver's seat so you feel like you are on the track yourself.

Mentor Theme. The main theme and message of the film revolves around mentors and inspiring the next generation. The first 3/4 of the film involve Lightning  remembering his mentor from the first film, Doc Hudson, and all that he learned. The last quarter focuses on Lightning moving into a mentor role himself.

The Bad

Cruz Ramirez. The idea of the Cruz character, a wannabe racer who doesn't have a chance without Lightning opening the way for her, is a really smart direction to go. Unfortunately, they picked a lousy character for that role. Cruz is annoying, winey, unlikeable, and unbelievable as a racing champ. I wish the school bus had sent her to the big car lot in the sky.

Weak Villains. The new rookies are supposed to be the villains of the film, but they aren't very mean and don't spend much time on screen, which is unfortunate, because they have so much potential. The filmmakers had two choices: portray the rookies as truly mean bullies (the obvious less interesting route) or show them as the misunderstood cool new generation that doesn't mean to cause problems but do. Unfortunately, Pixar took a very walk-on-eggshells approach afraid to make them too mean and not willing to make them misunderstood ultimately making them lukewarm villains at best. A hero is only as good as his villain, and these villains that should have been so awesome were unnecessarily weak.

Lack of Conflict and Peril. I never once worried that Lightning wouldn't come out on top. None of the obstacles were that hard for him to overcome. It cheapened his victory at the end.

Moping. Lightning spends most of the movie moping. It really slows the pacing down to where it feels like the film is dragging much of the time. It reminded me of the second Twilight film. Not really what I'm looking for in a fun family flick.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the movie had better utilized and developed the villains into a true threat. I wish there was real peril for Lightning to face and actual struggle to overcome the obstacles. I wish they had replaced Cruz with a character the audience could actually like and root for instead of against.

Overall

Cars 3 is an entertaining flick that brings a nice conclusion to the story begun with the first film. The racing scenes are amazing, and the theme of mentors is fitting and well developed. Unfortunately, the new villains are weak and not menacing, and the new hero is so unlikeable you want to see her fail and are disappointed when she succeeds in the end. I give it 3.5 out of 5 boxes of popcorn.

   

Movie Review: The Lego Batman Movie

I loved the original The Lego Movie and Batman's appearance in it. So when I heard he was getting his own film, I was pretty excited (especially considering Batman's last two appearances on the big screen left me a bit disappointed).

The Lego Batman Movie is a 2017 action, comedy, superhero film. It's rated PG and is appropriate for most audiences.

The Good

Humor. The humor was brilliant. The jokes were all so funny and original and covered such a broad spectrum of subjects and types of humor. Every single one worked.

References. This movie made more references than I thought possible to stick into two hours. It made references to every big screen appearance of Batman (including the original black & white serials from the 40s), the numerous TV appearances, and several classic comics. It included over two dozen Batman villains from the major players to the minor ones most people have probably never heard of. It also included references to other movies from Harry Potter to Gremlins to Iron Man. It also had references to music and other genres. I doubt anyone could catch all of them on the first or even second viewing. I can't believe the number of SuperFriends that made cameos.

Opening & Closing. This movie broke the fourth wall at the beginning and the end to make a comment on action movies, epic movies, and movies in general that was so funny and perfectly set the tone.

Action. The action does not disappoint. It was everything one could want from a Batman anything (movie, cartoon, comic). I can't see any live action movie even coming close to the level and fun the action in this movie achieved.

Visuals. This movie was gorgeous to look at from set design to costume design to character design. The colors, the lighting, the camera angles, and ever other visual was so well thought out and composed. I loved all the versions of the characters and settings the filmmakers used with the exception of Harley Quinn. They used the current comic book look which is one of my least favorite versions, but that's a personal matter of taste.

Music. This movie uses many different popular songs, well-known soundtracks, and a slew of original songs. The original songs were so fun and catchy. The popular songs were so well used. And the tracks from the original Superman movie was fun and a nice touch.

The Bad

Heavy-handed Moral. This story had a message underneath all the jokes that was literally spelled out several times in both words and images. You'd have to be brain dead not to have caught it the first time or the seventh time. It got annoying fast.

Robin. Robin was obnoxious from the lame character design to the poor characterization. He was obnoxious and kind of weird. With such likable characters, I'm shocked and saddened that they couldn't have done more with Robin. He's one of the best characters in the comics and cartoons. This was probably the worst version of him I've ever seen.

Prosaic Moral of the Story. The resolution to the emotional conflict was so prosaic and tired. For such a clever, original movie it felt out of place and kind of insulting. It wasn't enough to ruin the movie, but it did cause me to groan and shake my head.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish they hadn't beaten me over the head with the moral of the story. All the humor, the references, the jokes, etc. weren't heavy handed. So not only was it annoying, it was out of place.

I also would have enjoyed slowing down the action scenes a little more so I could have enjoyed all the characters and references. It was a little too frantic.

Overall

The Lego Batman Movie is a masterpiece. It was funny, it was clever, it was original, it included so many villains and other parts of Batman's world that we've grown to love. The action was exciting, the story solid, and the pop culture references brilliantly done. I give it a solid 4.5 out of 5 boxes of popcorn.

Movie Review: Big Hero 6

One of the fun things about watching TV shows and cartoons from Japan is to see their unique take on Western culture. They are experts in taking very common Western ideas such as superheroes, Christianity, and science fiction and giving them an incredibly fresh and fun spin. While Big Hero 6 is an American production, it is based on an idea by Man of Action (creators of Ben 10) who have a healthy dose of Japanese influence in their work.

Big Hero 6 is a computer-generated, action, adventure, comedy, science fiction, family film produced by Walt Disney Animation inspired by an obscure Marvel Comic created by Man of Action. It is rated PG and is appropriate for all ages.

The Good

Approach. Superheroes are big, and so you see a lot of people jumping on that bandwagon. Unfortunately, most of those attempts end up little more than love letters to the Silver Age of comics or a bad pastiche of the 1966 Adam West Batman (such as the Disney Pixar film The Incredibles). Big Hero 6 avoids the overused cliches and goes the route of a Japanese reimagining of superheroes like the anime Tiger & Bunny or Science Team Gatchaman. While it isn't the most original idea, it is a refreshing change with many more possibilities. The characters have new powers such as the magnetic discs, laser blades, a medical droid, and a fire breathing mascot suit instead of the usual stretching, flying, super strong, and freezing powers.

Production Design. The designers cleverly merged Tokyo with San Francisco creating a new world called San Fransokyo with the best of both worlds seamlessly combined into a world that is both familiar and fantastical. And the robot designs were a nice change from the usual mecha or homage to the 30s and 40s. The visuals were probably the strongest aspect of the film.

Characters. While the characters begin as usual cardboard stereotypes that regularly appear in this type of show (a White kid, a Black kid, an Asian girl, a mexican girl, a super capable protagonist who is living below his potential, a silly girl, and an angry girl who can fight). Fortunately they leave their "types" behind and become much more likable and unique. While none of them are groundbreaking in their characterizations, they stay far enough away from stereotype representations of their respective cultures and instead act like a group of normal friends would.

Action. The action was fun and really good for a family film. The super powers were ones we don't see often, and the robots acted in ways we don't usually see robots act which was nice.

The Bad

Story. The story followed the usual pattern and character arcs you see in every cgi film these days. While it wasn't boring, so much more could have been done.

Ending. I saw the ending coming from pretty early on. There were several twists, none of which were shocking or unexpected. Even the cameo by Stan Lee after the credits was so strongly foreshadowed by his portrait that it lost a lot of the punch it could have had.

Jokes. The little children in the theater were laughing hysterically for large parts of the movie, but for those of us over twelve, the jokes weren't as clever or as funny as they could have been. For such a fresh approach and brilliant production design, the jokes were a major letdown.

The Villain. The villain had a really cool visual look and a great power. Unfortunately they do so little with him that you're left shaking your head at yet another squandered bit of greatness. And the "twist" of who is and why he became a villain are so cliched and overdone.

Animated Short. One thing I love about Jonh Lasseter being in charge of Disney Animation is his love for animation and its rich history. So many wonderful shorts have been created under his guidance breaking new ground and trying out new ideas. From an artistic and technical standpoint, the animated short about a man's life and relationships as seen thru the eyes of a dog was successful. From an entertainment point of view, I could have done without it. I've never been a fan of computer-generated 3-D animation rendered in a flat cell style, and this short did nothing to change my mind. Another lost opportunity.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I would have liked to see more creativity. While there were some funny jokes, the plot followed a pretty typical pattern with the expected emotional arcs and reveals we see in almost every animated family movie. Guardians of the Galaxy showed us you can deviate from the usual script, do something completely different and original, and still have a major hit. I wish others would take the risk. And the villain had such a strong visual look and such a cool superpower that made for a few cool action scenes, but so much more could have been done. And the redemption at the end was kind of weak.

Overall

Overall, Big Hero 6 was a thoroughly entertaining movie that will delight young and old. It is a refreshing take on the superhero genre. While the story was nothing special and the "twists" at the end predictable from pretty early on, the production design was a visual treat, the action pretty fun, and the characters likable. I give it a solid 4 boxes of popcorn out of 5.

Movie Review: The Book of Life

I'm always up for a good Halloween flick. I think the ghosts and goblins and witches and skeletons are lots of fun. I detest anything mexican, because it always tends to be really boring and the same thing over and over, but The Book of Life was a pleasant surprise.

The Book of Life is a 2014 computer-generated, animated, comedy, romance, family movie based on the Day of the Dead from producer Guillermo del Toro, the director behind Hellboy, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and Pacific Rim. It's appropriate for all ages.

The Good

The Visuals. The Visuals were stunning! From the colors to the scenery to the costumes, everything was a visual feast to behold. The figures were designed to look like hand-carved wooden puppets which fit the culture behind the film.

The Characters. The characters were fun and interesting, especially, Manolo and Joaquín, both suitors for the hand of the beautiful María. Manolo is a musician from a family of bull fighters, and Joaquín is a soldier from a family of fighters. They're a little cliched but still fun enough to be likable. The main supernatural characters, one representing good (La Muerte) and the other evil (Xibalba), were beautifully designed and had enough character to make them interesting.

The Story. The movie begins with a field trip to a museum that is used as a framing sequence for the movie with a set of wooden puppets of the characters as a nod to the style used. The museum tour guide acts as narrator with a few breaks back to the framing sequence for dramatic effect. The pace moves quickly enough that the story never drags but never too quickly to enjoy what's going on or develop the story.

The Action. This movie had of lot of quality action scenes from the multiple bull fighting sequences to the multiple battles with the bandits.

Family. This movie had a strong message for family and families working together but wasn't preachy about it, which you almost never see nowadays. It was a refreshing change.

The Bad

Old Jokes. Most movies in this genre are clever and witty with a lot of original jokes and winks to pop culture. This had none of that. Everything was cliched and recycled from other shows.

María. María is the cliched pretty girl that is strong willed and skilled in fighing. There is nothing new or original about her, and one has to wonder why two cool dudes like Manolo and Joaquín would want her after they get old enough to know better.

Villain's Change of Heart. The main villain has a change of heart at the end (no surprise there), but there seems to be no reason or motivation for it. He just suddenly goes from bad to good because it's convenient for the plot.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I really would have enjoyed original jokes and witty dialogue. This one had funny jokes--20 years ago. I was really surprised that they recycled old jokes that aren't funny anymore and witty twists that have been done enough times to make them not witty anymore. I guess that fits with the whole mexican culture it's based on--nothing new and lots of the same thing over and over.

Overall

Overall I was thoroughly entertained by this movie. It was a visual treat with great characters (for the most part) and a story that was fun to watch. None of the twists or surprises were surprising but they weren't so cliched they were boring either. The message of families helping each other was well portrayed without being preachy and a nice change from other films and shows. I give it a solid 4 out of 5 boxes of popcorn.