Tag Archives: Animation

Rise of the Guardians (2012)

09 Sunday Feb 2014

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On a frigid winter’s night,
A boy arises from the ice.
He can’t remember anything,
But he can fly without a wing
And play with ice, but at a price:
No one sees him or his plight.
 
Years go by, and poor Jack Frost,
Who has not gained his memory back,
Causes blizzards, ice, and snow.
None believe in Jack Frost, though.
One day, Jack’s thrown in a sack,
And, through a portal, he is tossed.
 
Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy,
Easter Bunny and Sandman,
The Guardians of Childhood,
Protecting kids both bad and good,
Have summoned Jack to help their plan
And join their group so legendary.
 
The Boogeyman, Pitch Black’s returned
To threaten children everywhere.
The Moon has chosen Jack to be
A Guardian, surprisingly.
Jack doesn’t care for such fanfare
And tells them all he’s unconcerned.
 
Nonetheless, Jack tags along
When Tooth is raided by bad dreams
That Pitch has sent, so that the sprite
Cannot fulfill her rounds that night.
As morning gleams, to kids it seems
Their hopes for fairy gifts were wrong.
 
Tooth reveals kids’ memories
Are hidden in their pearly whites.
So Jack thinks, if they stop Pitch fast,
The teeth he stole will show Jack’s past.
The latter night, the whole team fights
To gather teeth, which one boy sees.
 
The Sandman falls to Pitch’s blade,
And, though they all help to prepare
For Easter, Pitch beguiles Jack
By giving him his ivories back,
And fills the hare with great despair
By crushing all the eggs he made.
 
Children round the world begin
To think our heroes are not real.
Their powers fade as Pitch’s grow,
And they cannot defeat the foe.
Pitch seals the deal with evil zeal,
Finds a hole, and drops Jack in.
 
There Jack opens up his tooth
And sees his boyhood way back when.
He fell and drowned beneath the lake,
For his fretting sister’s sake,
He saved her then, can save again,
And learns his purpose with this truth.
 
Helping children not to grieve,
The Guardian’s efforts start to pay.
Sandman returns to beat up Pitch,
On whom the tables start to switch.
His fears that day drag him away,
And all the kids can now believe.
_______________________
 

Another box-office disappointment on the list, Rise of the Guardians turns the most beloved characters of childhood imagination into a legendary A-Team. The CGI animation and voice acting are excellent, and the filmmaker’s own imaginations run wild with clever concepts applied to explain the “secrets” of these mythical Guardians. Such innovations include an army of hummingbird-like fairies to gather teeth for the Tooth Fairy, wormhole-producing snow globes to justify Santa’s one-night travel around the earth, and magical “tunnels” summoned by the Easter Bunny as if he had an Aperture portal gun. All these concepts and the fantastical worlds of the various characters are introduced at such a rapid pace most of the film just washes over the viewer, creating a sense of wonder, the obvious goal of the entire film.

I’ll admit that, for the most part, the climax seems to repeat what came before, and, by then, the prolonged scenes of “wonder” start to drag. After the poignant revelation of Jack’s tragic backstory, the action and wonder seem recycled from previous scenes, with the exception of Pitch being dragged to hell(?), a la Ghost. It also falls prey to a cliché I notice in a lot of movies, particularly animated ones: the he’s-dead-no-wait-never-mind conceit involving the Sandman. The most glaring fault, though, is that it completely ignores the true meaning of Easter and Christmas, mentioning “hope” and little else. Granted, the Man in the Moon stands in for God in many scenes and this is a secular film, but it seemed obvious that the filmmakers were trying to step around that elephant in the room.

Though the Tooth Fairy fares best in this regard, Rise of the Guardians creates a version of these characters, not the iconic version that it might have been. Still, with some funny lines, impressive animation, and that all-important foundation of wonder, it’s a worthy family film that should have performed better in theaters than it did.

Best line: (Santa) “Merry Christmas!”  (Easter Bunny) “Happy Easter!”  (Tooth Fairy) “And don’t forget to floss!”

 
Artistry: 5
Characters/Actors: 5
Entertainment: 5
Visual Effects: 9
Originality: 4
Watchability: 5
Other (ending drags) -4
 
TOTAL: 29 out of 60
 

Tomorrow: #325: Doctor Dolittle (1967)

© 2014 S. G. Liput

Cats Don’t Dance (1997)

08 Saturday Feb 2014

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Danny’s a cat in the old 1930s
Who travels (by song) very far.
He leaves his small town for his Hollywood dreams
In hopes of becoming a star.
 
With singing and dancing his tools of the trade,
In no time he lands his first part
Alongside one Sawyer, a cynical cat,
And at first he does not win her heart.
 
They play the two cats in a Noah’s Ark film
With Miss Darla Dimple, the young
“Lover of children and animals,” who
By Danny is quickly outsung.
 
She calls her gargantuan butler named Max,
Who follows her every command.
He intimidates Danny to stick to “Meow,”
Engulfing the cat in his hand.
 
Yet Danny will not be deterred easily,
And, with help from a movie icon,
He tries to inspire his animal friends,
Whose colors and hopes have grown wan.
 
But Darla and Max try to sabotage them
To make sure they all know their place.
They flood the whole studio, casting the blame
On the beasts, who are banned in disgrace.
 
Then, after a long and lugubrious song,
Poor Danny decides to bounce back.
He invites all his buddies to Darla’s premiere
To get all their careers back on track.
 
As Danny’s preparing for after the film,
Max attempts to prevent his display,
But a chase on the roof puts Max on a balloon
And sends the hulk floating away.
 
When Danny and friends then announce their surprise,
A song and dance show for the ages,
Young Darla, the loud child actor from hell,
Can’t stop them, but, afterward, rages.
 
She lets out her part in the earlier flood
And is “dropped,” so to speak, in advance,
While Danny and Sawyer and all of their pals
Have proven that, yes, cats can dance.
___________________________
 

(For those still reading, thanks for sticking with me through this juvenile section of animated films.  Though I am a fan of animation, I assure you more adult fare is on its way.)

Cats Don’t Dance flopped at the box office, mainly due to very little advertisements promoting it, but it became well known in my house due to Cartoon Network’s “Cartoon Theatre.” Along with other films like Wakko’s Wish, The Iron Giant, and Balto, this film was shown over and over, week after week, until we were almost sick of it, and then it fell off our radar for years before recently resurfacing for some well-deserved appreciation.

Yes, the Warner Bros. animation is not Disney quality. Yes, several of the Randy Newman songs are rather forgettable, and Sawyer’s number is too slow and depressing. And yes, there are many unmentioned implications with the idea of anthropomorphic animals being treated as second-class citizens. Yet, despite all of these issues, the movie is fun–short, straightforward, entertaining fun. The changing of the color palette during the “Animal Jam” song was an interesting bit of artistry I had never noticed as a kid; the opening and closing songs are memorable and catchy; Scott Bakula’s Danny is endearing, and Sawyer is quite attractive for an animated cat; and the whole movie has such a fast-paced sense of enjoyment that I can ignore most of its faults. Whether to watch with the kids or just for sheer nostalgia, Cats Don’t Dance is an unsung classic.

Best line: (Darla in film) “Yea, as you walk through your valley of despair, fear not. For I am your little Ark Angel, and I will look after each and every little, teensy-weensy, itsy-bitsy one of you!”  [audience goes “awww”]  (Cranston the grumpy goat) “Shoot me.”

 
 
Artistry: 3
Characters/Actors: 5
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: 4
Originality: 5
Watchability: 5
 
TOTAL: 29 out of 60
 

Tomorrow: #326: Rise of the Guardians

© 2014 S. G. Liput

 

The Pagemaster (1994)

06 Thursday Feb 2014

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Richard Tyler is afraid,
Because he knows each risk statistic.
Since he’s wary of their treehouse,
Dad fears he’s too pessimistic.
Seeing danger everywhere,
Rich thinks he’s smart and realistic.
 
Caught one day in rain and hail,
Richard finds a library, where
He meets a strange librarian
Whose words intrigue and somewhat scare.
He gives the boy a library card,
And says there’s fun for those who dare.
 
Richard wanders through the maze
Of books and shelves and information.
Then a mural melts and turns
The boy into an illustration.
Richard meets the Pagemaster,
Who tells him of his destination.
 
Soon he also meets Adventure,
Who’s a surly living book.
Fantasy and Horror follow,
Joining Richard, and they look
For the exit of this giant,
Danger-loaded reading nook.
 
Escaping from such characters
As Moby Dick and Mr. Hyde,
Richard braves the fiction section,
With the EXIT as his guide.
Reaching Fantasy’s home aisle,
They must reach the other side.
 
As the four approach the exit,
They are ambushed by a beast,
A dragon, which ingests poor Richard,
But, by books, he is released.
Facing all his greatest fears,
Richard holds his own, at least.
 
Finally, they reach the exit,
At the end of their crusade.
Richard leaves the magic library,
Checking out the friends he made,
And his parents later find him
In his treehouse, unafraid.
_______________________
 

The Pagemaster is like Balto in combining live-action and animation to show different sections of the story. In Balto, events in the past were animated, while in The Pagemaster, it is the alternate world Richard visits. Its theme of books coming to life also seems like a precursor to Inkheart. I grew up reading juvenile versions of all the classics mentioned in this film (Treasure Island, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Gulliver’s Travels, etc.), and it was one of my favorite movies growing up, because the whole thing was like an Easter egg hunt, a challenge to find as many book references as I could. It also features many hilarious lines and a great cast, including Macaulay Culkin as Richard, Christopher Lloyd as the Pagemaster/Librarian, Patrick Stewart as Adventure, Whoopi Goldberg as Fantasy, and Frank Welker as Horror. Though Richard’s timidity and dialogue are a bit over-exaggerated, the voice actors for his book friends are absolutely perfect in their roles.

The animation and effects look a little dated, and there are some inconsistencies (What happened to the giant squid? Why are 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and Kidnapped not in the Adventure section? Why is the librarian acting so weird? Then again it is Christopher Lloyd.). Those not interested in classic fiction might not get as much out of it, but The Pagemaster certainly belongs on my list for the place of honor it held in my childhood.

Best line: (Adventure, trying to woo Fantasy) “How would you like to curl up with a good book?”

 
Artistry: 3
Characters/Actors: 6
Entertainment: 5
Visual Effects: 4
Originality: 6
Watchability: 5
 
TOTAL: 29 out of 60
 

Tomorrow: #328 – No Way Out (1987)

© 2014 S. G. Liput

 

#330: A Goofy Movie (1995)

05 Wednesday Feb 2014

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Max is Goofy’s teenage son.
He tries to impress everyone
At school by pulling off a stunt,
All because he doesn’t want
To end up like his dad, a Goof.
And so, he does a stylish spoof
Of none other than Powerline,
The greatest rock star of all time.
 
The principal is quite irate,
But Max is glad; he has a date,
A party with his crush Roxanne.
Who seems to be his biggest fan.
But Dad has other plans in mind:
The father-son vacation kind.
Concerned for him, Dad wants to go
And fish with Max in Idaho.
 
Max rides along against his will,
But says goodbye to Roxanne still,
And lies, unsure of what to say,
And says he’s going to L.A.
To dance with Powerline on stage.
(That’s stupid, even for his age.)
Roxanne believes and bids farewell,
As Max goes on the trip from hell.
 
His dad and he don’t get along,
Although they both do sing a song.
At every stop along the way,
Max is filled with more dismay.
At last, when Max has had enough
Of all this “fun” and bonding stuff,
While Bigfoot’s on the roof (don’t ask),
He undertakes a risky task.
 
While Goofy takes a noisy nap,
His son attempts to change the map
And have their route end in L.A.
When Goofy learns of Max’s play,
He feels betrayed, but, in heartache,
Forgets to set the parking brake.
The two of them end up afloat
Atop their Pacer like a boat.
 
They come to terms, the two goofballs,
And save each other from a falls.
Then Goofy helps his son to get
On stage with Powerline. (No sweat.)
They crash the concert in mid-song,
But both of them just dance along.
At home, Max tells Roxanne the truth
And lets her meet his dad, the Goof.
_________________________
 

A Goofy Movie starts out as a musical Grease wannabe before transitioning into a hellish road movie and then ending with a finale that belongs on MTV. Ultimately, though, it is a father-son buddy movie and builds on that relationship better than its previously reviewed sequel did. While Goofy was still rather overbearing in his Extreme second film, most of his actions were fairly reasonable parental activities (making breakfast, cleaning up, urging his son to study, etc.) that Max never appreciated and eventually rebuffed a tad too harshly. In A Goofy Movie, though, Max’s embarrassment and angst are a bit more understandable, since Goofy seems to be going out of his way to force Max to participate in things Goofy should know by now that he doesn’t enjoy. Max, however, also crosses the line by lying to his dad and indeed violating his father’s trust. Since both of them bear some blame, the reconciliation at the end feels less one-sided and more genuine.

The other reason this one is higher than An Extremely Goofy Movie is that it has a number of original songs. As a fan of musicals and animation, I love when they are combined, and the film manages some nifty little musical numbers, some of which are more memorable than others. “After Today” and “I 2 I” are the best of the bunch, though “On the Open Road” isn’t bad too–after all, where else can one see a corpse dancing and singing atop a hearse alongside truckers and nuns? I especially love “I 2 I,” which is sung by the Michael Jackson-like Tevin Campbell and certainly deserves a place of honor in my End Credits Song Hall of Fame.

Despite all these good points, A Goofy Movie may be goofy but is not always funny. The scene where Goofy and Max visit the opossum theme park is (as Max says) “pathetic” and is not fun to watch at all. Also, the film doesn’t have nearly as many good lines as its sequel, and the animation seems inferior to me, which is a shame considering it was released in the middle of the Disney Renaissance. Still, it is worth seeing at least for the great voice acting and the catchy songs.

Best line: (Max) “I’m not your little boy anymore, Dad! I’ve grown up! I’ve got my own life now!”  (Goofy) “I know that! I just wanted to be part of it. [calmer] You’re my son, Max. No matter how big you get, you’ll always be my son.” (Cue the “awwww” from parents.)

 
Artistry: 2
Characters/Actors: 6
Entertainment: 5
Visual Effects: 4
Originality: 4
Watchability: 5
Other (songs): +3
 
TOTAL: 29 out of 60
 

Tomorrow: #329: The Pagemaster

© 2014 S. G. Liput

Balto (1995)

03 Monday Feb 2014

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Balto’s just a wild mutt
To those who call Alaska home.
Half-wolf, half-dog, he is the butt
Of jokes and scorn all over Nome.
 
His comrade Boris, who’s a goose,
Has raised him since perhaps his birth,
And, though his warnings are profuse,
Balto wants to prove his worth.
 
He races well and angers Steele,
A lead sled dog and “glory hound,”
Who taunts his nemesis with zeal
Whenever Balto is around.
 
But Jenna and her human Rosy
Like poor Balto nonetheless.
When the two canines get nosy,
They learn Rosy’s in distress.
 
She and other kids in Nome
Have caught diphtheria, indeed.
A sled dog team must now bring home
The antitoxin that they need.
 
Steele’s the lead dog for the trek.
A blizzard causes them to stray,
Nearly brings about a wreck,
And hurts their musher, by the way.
 
As Rosy worsens, Balto goes
To find the team and be their guide,
But, when he does, he is opposed
By Steele’s resentful, selfish pride.
 
Yet Balto still does take the lead,
Though Steele attempts to get them lost.
The team braves dangers that impede
But pushes on at any cost.
 
Managing to bridge the gulf
Between his dog and lupine sides,
Balto taps his inner wolf
And proves himself the best of guides.
 
At last, the sled team makes it home,
And Balto’s hailed a hero true.
He saved the kids and proved to Nome
Just what an underdog can do.
_____________________
 

Balto, the last of Spielberg’s Amblimation films, is not nearly as well known as that other classic 1995 cartoon Toy Story, but it is still a lesser classic that I fondly remember from my childhood. The characters are rather stereotypical (the misunderstood hero, the sympathetic girlfriend, the silly comic relief sidekick, the arrogant antagonist), yet most of them are both lovable and memorable, and the voice actors bring them to life. The best aspect of the movie is its placing these familiar archetypes within the real-life story of Nome’s 1925 diphtheria outbreak and the origin of the Iditarod sled race. The stakes are set high as Rosy’s health is shown declining, and, though anyone who knows the tale will find the ending predictable, the journey is nonetheless fun and exciting. The best scene is easily the avalanche/ice cave/stalactite part, which might have provided some inspiration for similar scenes in Ice Age. Its live action beginning and end also serve to make it unique.

That being said, the story is nowhere near historically accurate (Balto was a purebred Siberian Husky and only ran part of the distance to Nome); this makes Balto one of the multiple animated films that have indulged in revisionist history, such as Anastasia, The Road to El Dorado, and Pocahontas. Though the animation is better than previous Amblin productions, like An American Tail and The Land Before Time, it was not up to Disney’s standards at the time. Despite these flaws, including some very unrealistic elements (how on earth did that medicine not break?), Balto is an adventure that can be enjoyed by the whole family and certainly has been by mine.

Best line: (Boris the goose, after a harrowing escape) “Balto, I was so scared. I got people bumps.”

VC’s best line: (Boris again, with advice) “Let me tell you something, Balto. A dog cannot make this journey alone. But maybe a wolf can.”

 
Artistry: 4
Characters/Actors: 6
Entertainment: 6
Visual Effects: 4
Originality: 4
Watchability: 5
 
TOTAL: 29 out of 60
 

Tomorrow: #331: WarGames

© 2014 S. G. Liput

 

An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000)

01 Saturday Feb 2014

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College is waiting for Max, Goofy’s son,
While Daddy will miss him, he’s eager to run.
For Max cannot wait to be more than a Goof
And to get out from under his silly dad’s roof.
 
Max leaves with his friends, hardly saying good-bye,
And savors his freedom without Dad nearby.
He, P.J., and Bobby (those are his friends’ names)
Are favored while practicing for the X-Games.
 
The three also enter the envious view
Of the snooty fraternity Gamma Mu Mu,
And Max makes a wager with Bradley, their chief,
That they’ll beat the Gammas or else suffer grief.
 
Meanwhile, ol’ Goofy gets easily fired
And, with no degree, finds he cannot get hired.
Therefore, he needs college, so where should he go
But Max’s own classroom (and with an afro!).
 
Now needless to say, Max is not overjoyed,
And his father’s intrusion just gets him annoyed.
He lets his dad join with the Gammas one day,
And that, plus a girlfriend, keeps Goofy away.
 
But Max’s plan backfires when his own dad
Excels at skateboarding and makes him look bad.
They argue, and Goofy starts making mistakes
But soon bounces back, comprehending the stakes.
 
He aces his tests with both vigor and vim,
And splits from the Gammas (or they split from him).
The X-Games arrive, and, when Brad tries to cheat,
Max needs his own dad so that they can compete.
 
Despite Bradley’s minions (who wear camouflage),
The Goofs circumvent almost all sabotage,
And, even when Bradley thinks he’s in first place,
Max comes from behind him to win the whole race.
 
Brad gets his comeuppance, and Goofy gets dates,
And, after a year, Max’s dad graduates.
No longer a kid, nor his dad a buffoon,
Max and company dance to a seventies tune.
___________________________
 

Most kids’ movies have elements intentionally thrown in for the parents, cleverly disguised mature jokes or retro pop culture references that fly over the heads of most minors. Yet An Extremely Goofy Movie incorporates these features into the plot by putting Goofy himself in the place of the nostalgic parent. By depicting the generation gap between modern Max and old-fashioned Goofy, the film offers something funny and relatable for every age group.

A direct-to-video sequel to A Goofy Movie, An Extremely Goofy Movie was actually better received according to Rotten Tomatoes. With a great retro soundtrack and some good clean humor, it’s a family film that might be many children’s first introduction to 1970s culture. Some pathos is even thrown in concerning Goofy missing his son (my mom teared up one time after Max left his dad high and dry at the beginning). Plus, the voice-acting is top-notch.

Yet, one thing that does bother me (and especially my VC) is Max’s obvious disdain for the dog(?) who raised him. Granted, Goofy is a bit overbearing and certainly embarrassing, but he didn’t deserve the scorn his son aimed at him. By the end, Goofy apologizes for his faults, while Max can only go so far as to think maybe his old man isn’t so bad after all. There’s no remorse for the way he treated his dad, and, by the last scene, it’s still clear he’s eager to be rid of him. Also, the film’s depiction of college as mostly fun with some studying is unrealistic. Still, it’s quite good for a direct-to-video movie and is underrated, in my opinion.

Though it was released in 1975 and I have heard it elsewhere, the song “Right Back Where We Started From” always makes me think of this movie and the characters dancing and is definitely in the End Credits Song Hall of Fame.

Best line: (Bobby, asking a question I’m sure many have asked) “Do you ever wonder why we’re all, like, wearing gloves?”

VC’s best line: (the beret girl’s way of encouraging Max) “Max, Max, Max, admit defeat, and defeat will surely admit you into permanent custody, my man.”

 
Artistry: 2
Characters/Actors: 6
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: 5
Originality: 4
Watchability: 5
 
TOTAL: 29 out of 60
 

Tomorrow: #333 – Good Will Hunting

© 2014 S. G. Liput

 

Summer Wars (2009)

28 Tuesday Jan 2014

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On an Earth where an internet world known as OZ
Is used universally by the whole globe,
Each nation and person enjoys an account,
Including a man who controls a space probe.
 
But more on that later; right now, there’s a boy
In high school named Kenji, a timid math whiz,
Who visits the home of the great Jinnouchis
Because of one Natsuki, a classmate of his.
 
Her own great-grandmother’s about to turn ninety,
And so she’s devised a duplicitous ruse.
Her family thinks Kenji is her fiancée.
When she begs him to lie, Kenji cannot refuse.
 
He plays along with her and warily meets
Her quirky, extended, and loud family.
He’s quite overwhelmed, but at night he receives
A code-bearing e-mail and solves it deftly.
 
The next day, the news has him labeled a hacker;
They say that he broke into OZ’s mainframe.
When the family also sees through Natsuki’s lie,
They’re quick to reprove and give Kenji the blame.
 
But Kenji’s the prey of identity fraud;
A program of sorts has hijacked his account.
In the digital world, it reveals itself as
A renegade A.I. they cannot surmount.
 
Since everything, traffic lights, e-mail, and such,
Is routed through OZ, which was once thought secure,
The havoc the A.I. commits in that world
Reflects in our own planet’s infrastructure.
 
The A.I., called Love Machine, steals many more,
Several million accounts, and it gets ever stronger.
The Jinnouchi family tries to ignore
Its effects, but quite soon they cannot any longer.
 
For Granny, their matriarch who’s tough as nails,
Insists it’s a war that they all have to fight,
But, because OZ is down, they all realize too late
That she died of a heart attack late in the night.
 
The women want only to prep for her wake,
While the men crave revenge, so they work separately.
They move a plan forward to trap Love Machine,
But, because of a stupid mistake, it gets free.
 
Defeating King Kazma, an OZ fighting champ
Who belongs to a kid in the Jinnouchi clan,
The A.I. takes hold of a certain account
Controlling the space probe, as part of a plan.
 
It targets a nuclear power plant with it,
And starts a countdown for the terrible boom.
They have just two hours to get the account
That controls the space probe, or it means certain doom.
 
With the help of an uncle who made Love Machine
And whose claims of his innocence keep falling flat,
It’s Natsuki who challenges it to a match
Of Koi-Koi, a card game that she is good at.
 
By wagering OZ accounts, little by little,
They quickly win back all that Love Machine stole.
While failing the game though, it targets the probe
On the family’s home before losing control!
 
In the final few seconds, with math as his aid,
Young Kenji succeeds in diverting its course.
It misses (just barely), but, saving the day,
Kenji’s now a boyfriend that they all can endorse.
 
With Love Machine squelched and no longer a danger,
The uncle confesses and takes the results.
And, though they’ve lost Granny, they’re glad to have Kenji
As part of their home, so the family exults.
_____________________
 

Summer Wars is a Japanese animated movie that manages to be funny, sad, and exciting in a way that few anime films are, in my opinion. The best parts of the movie feature its wonderful endorsement of family, particularly forgiveness and facing the hard times together. Granny’s posthumous note to her relatives is particularly poignant and eloquent. While I didn’t know most of the Jinnouchis’ names by the end, the filmmakers did an excellent job at giving most of them a unique personality, much like in Meet the Robinsons.

Also fascinating is the film’s indictment of relying too much on technology. It is stated that usage of OZ is as pervasive as cell phone ownership, and people tend to use their accounts for business purposes, thinking that their information and identity are safe. The scenes where Love Machine does seemingly simple things in OZ, such as knocking over some dominoes, producing real-world havoc ranging from faulty fire alarms to confounding traffic, were particularly insightful. With Facebook, Twitter, and the like being so ubiquitous, the concept of OZ and its misuse seems very plausible. Also, the Madhouse animation, while not up to Studio Ghibli standards, is much improved over that of Millennium Actress eight years earlier.

However, there are two things that really bug me about Summer Wars. First of all, there is some adult content, including several (mostly light) obscenities and some scenes of near nudity. Also, I particularly don’t appreciate America being cast as the bad guy, since it is said the United States Department of Defense bought Love Machine from the uncle and were testing its abilities on OZ before the A.I. got out of hand. While I’m not saying such a thing couldn’t happen, the film paints the U.S. as being foolish and incompetent.

Despite these shortcomings, Summer Wars is very entertaining. Though a few moments in OZ devolve into something reminiscent of a Saturday morning cartoon (such as Digimon), it is nonetheless thought-provoking while also fusing fun and the importance of family.

Best line: (to Kenji, after he’s accused of hacking OZ) “Please tell me you didn’t break the Internet.”

 

Artistry: 5
Characters/Actors: 6
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: 6
Originality: 4
Watchability: 5
Other (adult content and anti-American subplot): -5
 
TOTAL: 28 out of 60
 

Tomorrow: #337: Psycho

© 2014 S. G. Liput

 

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

25 Saturday Jan 2014

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Susan assumes that her future is bright.
Her wedding tomorrow can’t help but excite.
Her Derek, a weatherman, is a delight,
And they’re going to Paris, the City of Light.
But then her friends scare her midway through the night,
And then Derek proves that he’s not such a knight.
She’s eager for Paris, but Derek says, “No,”
He would much rather go for a job in Fresno.
 
But Susan supports him, not wanting to fight.
Despite that, the day is still going all right.
But then she gets crushed by a meteorite,
And then Susan glows and grows to a great height,
And then she gives everyone quite a bad fright
And then several SWAT teams have her in their sight.
The government drops her and takes her away,
Effectively ruining her wedding day.
 
She wakes up in some secret government base,
And meets several monsters, confined in disgrace.
The strange Missing Link, who assumes he’s an ace,
A mad scientist with a cockroach’s face,
A blob and a giant have lived in this place
For years, for they frighten the whole human race.
A General Monger explains to poor Sue
She’s a monster and now she must stay out of view.
 
A tentacled alien named Gallaxhar
Detects some Quantonium close to our star.
He sends out a robot to Earth (since it’s far),
Which freaks out the world, from Brazil to Qatar.
But Monger puts forth a suggestion bizarre:
Let monsters fight E.T. and beat out its tar.
So all of the monsters are quickly sent in,
And, main thanks to Susan, they do somehow win.
 
Now having been freed, Susan locates the man
Who loves her, but Derek’s no longer a fan.
Her growing so large was not part of his plan,
So the wedding and all he is now quick to can.
Soon Susan realizes she’s done much more than
She ever would have with Derek’s whole “plan.”
But then Gallaxhar abducts Susan (the cur!).
He wants the Quantonium, which is in her.
 
She’s drained till she’s small, like before she had grown.
Gallaxhar can now mass-produce many a clone
To conquer the earth and to make it his own.
The three smaller monsters, however, are flown
To his ship, and, to clones, all of them are unknown.
So they blend in and rescue poor Susan, who’s prone
To just getting pummeled by energized stone.
Again, height and strength the Quantonium lends,
But, this time, she wants it to rescue her friends.
 
The spaceship explodes with a wonderful blast,
And the monsters are welcomed as heroes at last.
Now Derek hopes Sue won’t remember the past
And will grant him an interview, but not so fast:
His wheedling ways she has gladly surpassed;
She prefers her new life, though it’s such a contrast.
When Paris needs saving, they all fly away,
For monsters have proved they can now save the day.
___________________
 

Monsters vs. Aliens is straight-up parody, lampooning science fiction and B-movies from the 1950s and beyond. With an outlandish plot and silly characters, it’s a film meant for moviegoers with a sense of humor. It sends up everything from Starman to The Fly to the Godzilla movies and probably several films I’ve never even seen. Despite the multitude of spoofs piling up so quickly, Monsters vs. Aliens nevertheless manages to create a decent plot with any holes safely patched with another joke.

Unfortunately, it also falls into the same trend as television cartoons like The Simpsons and The Fairly OddParents, which paint nearly every character as a jerk or an idiot. Except for Susan, almost everyone, particularly men (from the President on down), are sissies, dimwits, or pinheads who are generally unsympathetic. I know that herein lies much of the humor, but it’s a trap that other comedies often avoid.

Still, it’s definitely funny, from spoofing the constant screaming in B-movies to playing the theme to Beverly Hills Cop for the alien probe, a la Close Encounters. Also, unlike Megamind, which had few memorable scenes, several action set pieces stand out, such as the destruction of the Golden Gate Bridge and the explosion of Gallaxhar’s ship. Though the character development is lacking (compared with other Dreamworks films like Megamind), the humor shines and earns Monsters vs. Aliens a place on my list.

Best line: (General W. R. Monger, speaking of Area 51) “This place is an X-file, wrapped in a cover-up and deep-fried in a paranoid conspiracy.”

 
Artistry: 2
Characters/Actors: 3
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: 6
Originality: 5
Watchability: 5
 
TOTAL: 28 out of 60
 

Tomorrow: #340: Flightplan

© 2014 S. G. Liput

Despicable Me (2010)

19 Sunday Jan 2014

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Gru is a villain who’s proud and content
To be wicked and vile (with a foreign accent).
When another one-ups him, he vows (since he’s mad)
To ransom the moon and to prove that he’s bad.
 
He pilfers a shrink ray from someplace unknown,
To warrant the evil bank granting a loan.
Right after he steals it, it’s stolen again
By some nerd named Vector, who shrinks Gru’s airplane.
Gru tries everything to recover his prize,
But simply cannot catch his foe by surprise.
 
Yet three little girls selling cookies, he sees,
Are waltzed right inside Vector’s fortress with ease.
So adopting these orphans becomes his new plot
For stealing the shrink ray without getting caught.
While Margo and Edith and Agnes are wary,
They hope for the best, though Gru seems mean and scary.
 
At first, he’s aloof and won’t stoop to play dad.
He couldn’t care less while he’s being so bad.
With cookie-shaped robots, Gru steals the shrink ray
And hopes that he’ll now send the children away.
But, at an amusement park, all have a ball,
So perhaps children are not that bad after all.
 
The bank still won’t fund him, so Gru’s spirits tank
Till his sweet little girls give their small piggy bank.
Gru now has a mission to fund and arrange
With the children’s donation and lots of spare change.
But Doctor Nefario, Gru’s ancient cohort,
Fears Gru’s going soft with these girls to support.
He sends them away, and Gru sadly agrees.
He’s too evil for stories and drinking of teas.
 
Gru takes off for the moon in his own homemade rocket,
And comes back to Earth with it tucked in his pocket.
But when he discovers the girls have been seized
By Vector (of course), he is greatly displeased.
With someone to fight for, Gru easily smashes
Through Vector’s defenses, so Vector then dashes
Away in his ship with the three girls in tow,
And that’s when the miniature moon starts to grow.
One action scene later, they’ve vanquished their foe.
When the girls trusted Gru, he did not let them go.
 
So the moon ends up back in its usual place
(With Vector on top of it, dancing in space).
And Gru finds there’s more than just proving he’s bad.
He winds up becoming a pretty good dad.
_____________________
 

Despicable Me is a CGI adventure-comedy in which, to be quite honest, I had little interest at first. My VC, who left midway through, was also not impressed. The little yellow minions are more annoying than funny, the beginning isn’t all that interesting, and most of the film makes evil villains seem silly and cute. Like Megamind, the villain plays the main role and is aghast when a worse villain shows up, but, while the previous film had the desire for romance and little else change the bad guy for the better, here it’s the love of the three cute girls that manages to melt Gru’s heart.

For every overly silly or unsuccessfully-trying-to-be-funny scene, there’s one with more depth and meaning later. From the constant disparagement Gru’s mother directed at him, fueling his desire to please her through villainy, to the naïve girls’ undeniably sweet donation toward Gru’s cause, there are certainly elements to which anyone can relate. My favorite scene is the climax, in which Gru’s desire for the girls’ safety is proven much stronger than his villainous ambition.

The animation isn’t bad and is actually quite detailed, though not as pleasing to the eye as Pixar’s or even Dreamworks’. The voice acting is spot-on, with Steve Carell barely recognizable with that Eastern European accent. Plus, it does have some real humor mixed in, such as self-referencing the orphans’ situation to Annie. All in all, it’s not a great animated film, but it’s a pretty good one. Despite some dark humor and overt silliness (I’m not a fan of the minions), it still deserves a place on the list.

Best line: (Agnes) “Will you read us a bedtime story?”  (Gru) “No.”  (Agnes) “Pretty please?”  (Gru) “The physical appearance of the please makes no difference.”

 
Artistry: 3
Characters/Actors: 4
Entertainment: 6
Visual Effects: 6
Originality: 4
Watchability: 5
 
TOTAL: 28 out of 60
 

Tomorrow: #346: City of Ember

© 2014 S. G. Liput

Dinosaur (2000)

17 Friday Jan 2014

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The egg of an iguanodon is stolen from its nest,
And an island is eventually the place it comes to rest.
There it hatches, and some lemurs cannot leave him all alone,
So one Plio takes in Aladar to raise him as her own.
 
He grows big as a dinosaur, the only one around,
And commiserates with Zini, whose romance won’t leave the ground.
But meteors that strike nearby incite catastrophe
As shock waves devastate the isle and decimate their tree.
Though one family survives astride the faithful Aladar,
They’re the only ones who make it: Plio, Suri, Zini, Yar.
 
They are ambushed soon by raptors till they join a roaming throng,
Finding safety in their numbers so they gladly tag along.
All these dinosaurs are headed by the chief iguanodon,
Who is Kron, though I must mention too his right-hand man Bruton.
Kron believes the strongest make it and he will not change his mind,
So he often leaves the weakest and the elderly behind.
Aladar, who thinks survival of the fittest is absurd,
Joins the old, slow-moving misfits at the far back of the herd.
 
He finds water for the company and woos Kron’s sister Neera,
The most eligible beauty of the late Cretaceous era.
When the weaklings fall behind, they find some refuge in a cave,
Including Bruton, who was injured and too weak for Kron to save.
When two Carnotaurs surprise them in the most hopeless of traps,
Bruton holds them off and kills one when he makes the cave collapse.
All the others keep on going, and they find the nesting grounds,
Which are lush and green and fertile, but a rocky wall surrounds.
 
Aladar decides to go back to the herd to bring them here
Through the other way, and tell them that a Carnotaur is near.
Kron is none too pleased to see him, but the rest change loyalties
And they stand up to the Carnotaur (by bellowing) with ease.
On the edges of a cliff, Kron fights against the giant beast,
And though Aladar joins in, both enemies end up deceased.
 
All find happiness (and lemurs) in the valley’s choice location,
And it ends as it first started, with the newest generation.
_______________________
 

Dinosaur is a beautifully animated and photographed tale of survival that puts meticulously created CGI dinos on live-action backgrounds, thirteen years before the recent Walking with Dinosaurs made the technique seem new. The first seven minutes of wordless glory rival the beginning of The Lion King, combining jaw-dropping visuals with a marvelous score that is not nearly appreciated enough.

When it first came out, many criticized the filmmakers’ choice to have the animals talk. While this does detract from the film’s realism, it also makes clear Dinosaur’s laudable message of standing up for the weak in the face of a “survival of the fittest” mentality, which is sadly gaining ground in the world in the form of euthanasia.

The story itself is good, though unremarkable, and reminds me of the story of Moses (a newborn is separated from his people, is found and raised by another, rejoins his people, and eventually becomes their leader to the promised land). Most of the effects are nearly perfect, though some crowd scenes and close-ups are very obviously CGI. Plus, why they had the opening Carnotaur scene involve anything other than a stegosaurus (a la Fantasia) is beyond me. Despite a short running time and some scenes and dialogue obviously meant for kids, Dinosaur is more serious than other Disney films, as evidenced by the deaths of several characters. It might have risen to the level of respect of WALL-E had its creators somehow told the story wordlessly, but Dinosaur remains a lesser-known gem in the Disney canon that is certainly worth a look.

Best line: “If you’ll be my bride, I’ll groom ya.” (one of Zini’s groan-inducing pick-up lines)

 
Artistry: 4
Characters/Actors: 3
Entertainment: 6
Visual Effects: 8
Originality: 2
Watchability: 5
 
TOTAL: 28 out of 60
 

Tomorrow: #348: Prometheus

© 2014 S. G. Liput