How To Train Your Dragon Review

 

        I feel that this movie is the one to close out my look at animation. Although I dedicated the entire month of June to animation, don’t think I’m not going to be talking about them. With all that, How to Train Your Dragon is probably one of Dreamworks’ best animated film. It’s the only film that I know of to have an almost perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. And belongs in a line of acclaimed animated films of the 2010s. One last thing is that the film is very loosely based on the book of the same name by Cressida Cowell, you know how I feel about movies based on books. 

1. Hiccup

        We start the film by having the protagonist Hiccup gives us the rundown on the village Berk. An island comprised of Vikings who train to fight dragons. As the creatures come and take their sheep and food away. His father Stoick is the leader of the village and doesn’t see his son as warrior material. As we see the vikings fight the dragons, Hiccup spots an elusive dragon called Night Fury and manages to down it. 

        From there, the teen is told by his dad to train with the other teens to fight the dragons. In his spare time, Hiccup goes and finds the downed one and manage to see that the two are alike. This prompts Hiccup to study more of the dragon and to research on the other documented creatures. It’s one thing where the young man is an opposite to the other teens. Since he actively finds methods to stop a dragon without resorting to killing it. 

        Yes, he is awkward which is the opposite of the brawny and brutish nature as the others. The whole film really advocates that there is another way to dealing with a problem instead of violence. When the other warriors in training see that the dragons are harmless, they inevitably help our protagonist beating the bigger dragon.

        I feel that the moments between him and his Dad are too short. The obvious thing that is going on is that Stoick’s brutish ways go beyond reasoning since it’s implied that his wife was perhaps killed. I haven’t seen the sequels and I don’t know if that thread is ever picked up. Now, these two dueling things is the core of the movie, being empathetic and physical. Stoick even tells him to not be himself. Which as it turns out, Hiccup does be himself as he helps the village in the long run.

2. Toothless

        The dragon steals the show. It’s like a mixture between a dog and a cat. I think it’s the eyes that have that cat-esque thing going for it. In fact, the animators based Toothless' design on the black panther. I like how as the film progresses; Toothless is apprehensive with Hiccup. Eventually, the creature realizes that the teen is helping him by applying a prosthetic in its tail.  

        For as much as the Vikings have a book detailing every dragon they know, there are only warnings to anyone going near a Night Fury dragon. As I mentioned earlier, we see Hiccup going to Night Fury and getting it to be comfortable around him. More so that it makes him realize that dragons can be controlled and that there are other methods to tame the deadly creatures. 

        The moment when Hiccup is riding the dragon is the best. What make it work visually is that directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois brought in legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins. To make the film have a live action feel to it. When they’re flying especially when Hiccup and Astrid are flying among the clouds, you see that its something that looks life like. It’s probably the first time where I’ve read that the animators brought in a renown cinematographer to be in an animated film. 

3. Overall

        The film was a resounding success when it came out. It grossed nearly a billion dollars. And started a trilogy of films that are equally enjoyable and nearly made a billion dollars individually. There is also tv shows that continues the stories of Hiccup and the young warriors. This film is great, what do you want me to say?

        How to Train Your Dragon gets a four out of five. 

100th Review: Zack Snyder's Justice League

 

        I never thought I would ever make it to 100 movies. Honestly, it feels rewarding since I’ve started to slowly grow my brand, despite its small reach, and to really become educated about movies. Anyways, with all that, Justice League is possibly one of the only films to have so much behind the scenes drama. From directors switching, on set abuse, studio interference, a hashtag rallying cry that I swear would probably not go anywhere. Through corporate interests to boost subscription numbers, fans finally got their wish to see Zack Snyder’s Justice League. 

1. Upgrade

        So yeah, this version of Justice League is the updated version to the one that was released in 2017. With scenes that were supposed to be in, with the caveat of additional scenes which I’ll talk about. Plot wise, it’s the same thing. Better yet, the whole film is like Marvel’s The Avengers. A group of heroes form up to stop a guy with horns from getting a cube to activate a portal to bring a horde of aliens for an overlord to conquer the universe. 

        Having the unfortunate luxury to watch the studio cut of Justice League (2017) and this one. It’s clear that some of Snyder’s scenes were used in the cut that was released theatrically. Here, it is Snyder’s film, with the desaturated color to give his movie a unique vision of his own. When watching it be vibrant, the costumes just looked weird since they are shot in a specific way. 

        The entire soundtrack even got revamped for the film. Originally, composer Thomas Holkenborg was going to score the film but left. Which explains why when Danny Elfman did the score, he used the themes for Batman and Superman when they appeared. Here, Holkenborg returns and has that guitar riff in the soundtrack. It got annoying having to hear Wonder Woman’s theme, I’m not making this up when I had the captions on, it had “Ancient Lamentation Music” whenever Wonder Woman is fighting. 

        Obviously, the movie had to acknowledge that Superman is dead and how exactly to bring him back. The film acts as a sequel to Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice since we start this film by seeing Superman scream while letting go booms of sound activate the objects that drive the plot. It is refreshing to have the moments when the team is together actually be together in the room discussing their plans. When watching the studio cut of four years ago, most of them felt like they weren’t in the room. Here, the camera does a slow 360 degree shot of the heroes discussing if it’s possible to bring back the man of steel.

        If there is one or a couple of things that I want to say that is a problem for the film is the slow motion. It’s a staple for Zack Snyder to use slo-mo for the action scenes. And lord does it get grating. Those moments get annoying since I feel that it just pads the movie further in its 4 hour runtime. Like this one moment, where we see Barry Allen/The Flash applying for a job at a doggy daycare. Just moments ago, he was being awkward to a girl who left the daycare. Her name is Iris, the film doesn’t bring that up. Anyways, a car crash happens involving her, Barry rescues her. The weird part is him rubbing her cheek, I’m here like, dude you don’t even know her.

        Now, sometimes it works, but I feel that the slow motion is already an outdated way of making something like woah. What doesn't work is just how drawn out some of the scenes feel. Again, I think it's padding but, the film didn't really need to be four hours long. For instance, when the Amazons were invaded by the villain. They prepare a special arrow to alert Diana of the oncoming danger. We see the Amazons take out the arrow, light it up, and shoot it across their island to an abandoned temple. Like, c'mon, do we really need to have a procedural moment of it being opened and lit, we honestly get what's going on.   

2. Director’s Cut

        When the hashtag movement started just as soon as the studio cut was released, it made me think of other director’s cuts that exist. Now, director cut’s have been going on as far as when home video has existed. The overall idea is that the director’s cut is supposed to be a complimentary thing for a fan of the movie who wants to have more content like extra scenes in the film that were cut. Ridley Scott is probably the most famous since his movie Blade Runner was butchered when it was released in theaters. From there, there have been numerous versions of that film to come out. 

        Here, this is probably the only film that has a lot of publicity for fans advocating for a director’s cut of the film he made to be released. Before it was butchered by the studio, the “Snyder Cut” is the one where the studio was so afraid of marketing it. Perhaps they probably assumed that no one wanted to sit for a comic book epic spanning four hours. It’s just astonishing seeing the 2017 version and this one and seeing what was cut and put in for the film to be released in theaters. 

        Like, Snyder’s version has everything fleshed out, even the villain. The other version of Steppenwolf just wanted to use the Motherboxes to conquer the world. Here, it’s the same thing but it serves a bigger purpose. Steppenwolf wants to get the boxes to get in the good graces of the real baddie. The film gives him moments where he asks to be brought back in Darkseid’s graces. The problem with that is just we are told about his problems. It would be one thing where we see him being exiled and then having that relatability to where we care. 

        An unfair comparison is comparing Steppenwolf to Loki. What made Loki work in The Avengers is that we saw him in Thor. We know who he is, and where he is coming from. He’s not just invading Earth with his army. He’s doing it as a favor for Thanos, since he was going to be killed if he failed, which he did in the sequels, but that’s not the point. I think the overall problem is that they went too big in the Justice League villain wise. As much as I hated Lex Luthor in Batman v. Superman, he could’ve introduced the Legion of Doom to face off against the team. Something small since if in the hypothetical sequel, they couldn’t top facing off against Darkseid. 

3. A Thing About Aspect Ratios

        This part I’m going to break down. I hope that this better explains why the film looks like it does whenever you guys view it on HBO Max. Just off the bat, Snyder probably didn’t film with this format in mind. It wasn’t until his cut was announced to be released, he formatted the film to be on IMAX. Since viewing it on a High-Def TV, it looks like you’re watching an old tv show that wasn’t formatted to HD.

        So, as you look in the picture attached to this part, you can see just how it looks different. When viewing something on IMAX is like watching a film be an event. The whole footage of the film is shown since the screen is so massive. Watching it on the tv just looks weird, since you have a left and right black block that is supposed to be filled. Zooming in the film won’t do it justice since you’re going to get an extreme zoomed look of the film. 

4. The Two Worst Scenes in The Movie

        Thinking about the film more, there are two scenes that I really didn’t like. So, let’s start with the first one. It’s when we see Lois being visited by Superman’s mother Martha. Martha comforts her since Lois is depressed that Clark is gone. Martha gives her words of encouragement to pep her up. When she leaves, Martha changes into the superhero Martian Manhunter, who was disguising himself as Martha. It ruined a good moment between two characters to what amounted to nothing. What didn’t work is that Lois was basically lied to. More so that, the hero was seen in Man of Steel as General Swanick, the military character Clark meets. 

        It wasn’t until rumors began circulating that the General is the Martian Manhunter in disguise to live among humans. I have no idea why he even disguised himself as Martha to begin with. That’s the thing with Snyder, he could take something impactful, and just mess it up. I understand that it’s supposed to be for the fans, but it doesn’t cut it when he pulls the carpet out of the floor with that move. 

        Although this scene is even worse. It’s in the end of the movie. This is the continuation from the Knightmare sequence from Batman v. Superman. Where Batman is wearing a Mad Max get up, this time he is joined with other heroes and villains. One of them being the Joker. He has a monologue towards Batman saying how he messed up and having people close to him die. It’s such an unnecessary scene to put in the movie since it wrapped up as it did, with the heroes going their separate ways.

        Jared Leto returns from Suicide Squad, and it’s supposed to be a huge moment when these two finally meet, since that opportunity was wasted. You want to know how exactly it was reshot? Everyone is shot with close ups. Meaning that, the frame has one character in the shot or splicing them in since the pandemic is still going on. This scene was teased in the trailers since it has the Joker to get people to watch it. The scene doesn’t amount to anything and it’s a dream sequence.

5. It Doesn’t Matter

        With all that, the entire DC Film universe is such a dumpster fire. The original intent of this series was to compete with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since they beat them with The Avengers, it only made sense for Warner Bros. to make their own universe. It was supposed to be director driven, meaning that they had total control of the films they made. As an opposite with Marvel’s approach which had a path to where the overall story is going. With the directors just shooting what they are supposed to be shooting. 

        With Snyder’s first two DC films, Warner Bros. immediately panicked. It didn’t help that they butchered Suicide Squad when it came out in theaters. I think the big problem is that they relied on a director who has a controversial view of the heroes. There’s no humanity to them or moments where we can relate to them. To Snyder, the heroes are Gods, which explains the shot of the team after they defeated Steppenwolf. 

        So, the whole ending with the Knightmare sequence and Lex Luthor meeting another villain doesn’t matter. The whole film universe is going to be rebooted with a Flash movie. There’s even a Batman movie coming out with Robert Pattinson being the caped crusader. It’s obvious to anyone paying attention to this that Warner Bros. messed up big time and really didn’t understand why Marvel is so successful. They do, but they obviously chased after the money since they wanted to leapfrog character moments to get a team up of their own. 

6. Overall

        Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a massive improvement of what was released back in 2017. No one, not even a director should lose a daughter and be booted off a passion project because of studio bureaucracy that wanted money. I’m glad he finally had a chance to release his cut, but his way of making films and portraying these classic characters just rubbed me the wrong way. It’s clearly meant for his fans that wanted the film to come out. I’m glad that they got their wish, since they’ve been shafted for too long. 

        Zack Snyder’s Justice League gets a three out of five.  

The Prince of Egypt Review

 

        In the mid-90s, director Steven Spielberg, former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, and music producer David Geffen created the studio DreamWorks. The studio was established so that it can distribute its own films without the need for other major studios. They created an animated division. First, they debuted their film Antz, which is sometimes referred to as a rip off to Pixar’s A Bug’s Life. I won’t get into that drama. Their next film, was the one to differentiate themselves to Disney. And is considered a classic.

1. Story about Brothers

        You know that I know that this film is based on the biblical chapter called Exodus. Given that Moses’ story as a prince to savior is only worth about two or three pages long. So the film has to take some creative liberties to tell a dramatic story interwoven with a biblical story. At its core, the film is about the tragedy among two brothers: Moses and Rameses. 

        Moses was adopted to Ramses’ family and is the more carefree of the two. Ramses receives the punishment from his father Seti, due to him being the next in line for kingship. They both have this camaraderie where we don’t see them as distant or unaware of each other. We see moments where they race across the streets and play jokes on the priests. This aspect is important since to put it into context, the last adaptation of Moses’ story The Ten Commandments, had the two be distant. 

        It’s a compromise since the usual complaints about adapting any biblical story is that you have little to work with. Having the drama be the focal point is that it lines up with Moses’ story of letting the Hebrews go from Egypt. The arc of the two brothers grow since when Moses returns to Egypt, both men act like brothers who haven’t seen each other in a long time. The film never strays but keeps it on Moses’ perspective. 

        Another thing that is important to make the story about two brothers worth caring about is to give them depth. For Moses, he is a lighthearted person who realizes that he is the son of a slave. His brother on the other hand, is the one that is disciplined a lot. As we see him again, he has big daddy issues and maintains that he must keep his Egyptian tradition going of keeping the slaves. Which makes sense in his perspective that he can’t just let Moses’ people go.

        Among the drama, the film does a great way to show God’s wonders in animation. Like when Moses sees the burning bush and talks to God. One fact that I wasn’t aware is that Val Kilmer not only voices Moses, but as God. He doesn’t have a booming voice that one may think of God. More so that Kilmer’s voice has a calming nature to it when he speaks to Moses or himself. Anyways, the animators must’ve gone all in when showing the plagues happening. 

        Obviously, I must talk about the big moment. Every adaptation of Moses’ story must have the parting of the red sea moment. When director Cecil B. DeMille did The Ten Commandments, he used special effects at the time that were groundbreaking back in the late 50s. This sequence, while animated took the animation team two years. It is worth it just seeing it combine traditional and computer generated to simulate the water parting and crashing back.

2. The Last of The Great Biblical Movies

        I feel that now the genre has been overrun by propaganda films from the production company PureFlix. They have films mostly about faith, but the substance in them lacks since they’re really about nothing. Yes, they do have a trilogy of films called God’s Not Dead, but the main criticism is that they mostly present a topic such as faith but paint it in a mostly biased perspective instead of just having it be up for interpretation and makes people think.

        They even try to make the story of Samson into an action film. It seems that the way to make a good biblical film is to have it be a drama. Not just that, but to give characters more to do and depth instead of just relying on a specific audience to have an expectation on who the character is on the Bible. The Prince of Egypt works because it does something unique in the story by making it a brotherly tragedy while tying it together with the main story. Those two concepts never get tangled.

        I feel that the next evolution to these films is to have it be about a person dealing with their faith. Just recently, Hacksaw Ridge is heralded as a great World War 2 film. Also, that it contains concepts relating to faith since the main character has that streak about him of not killing. Martin Scorsese directs an adaptation of Silence, which is about having one’s faith questioned in a foreign land. 

        The overall point that I’m attempting to make is that there needs to be more care and attention when doing a biblical film or a film about faith. Having it be done authentically is one thing, and still people will complain about it regardless. The one thing that is ultimately important is the characters since in the context they are used is that they do more in their stories. As such, they need to be an active protagonist instead of a passive one in their stories when it’s adapted to film. 

3. Overall 

        The Prince of Egypt is one of last traditionally animated films to close out the 20th Century. It should be Dreamworks Animation's best film. Although, there can only be so much Boss Baby sequels. 

        The Prince of Egypt gets a four out of five. 

Underrated Gems: The Iron Giant

 

        In the mid to late 90s, Warner Bros. was having a series of box office bombs for their film slates. The films that they were pumping out were not grossing enough box office revenue to match or pass their filming budget. With their animated film Quest for Camelot not making enough financially. Warner Bros. decided not give the same marketing budget for their next film The Iron Giant. It costed them a chance to have an animated money maker in one of the most embarrassing mistakes a movie studio has made. 

1. A Boy and His Robot

        Once more I will say this. The film is loosely based on the novel by Ted Hughes. Since there is no dragon that fights the metal colossus. Anyways, the film takes place during the 50s, at a time when the United States is paranoid with communism. Sputnik, the first space satellite is orbiting Earth. A meteor comes streaking down to the Maine coast. A fisherman spots the meteor and then spots a metal giant who he mistakes as a lighthouse. 

        We follow the young boy Hogarth, who has an active imagination. His mom Annie works in the diner and one day tells him she has to work late. As Hogarth stays up and watches a B-Movie, the power goes out. He investigates and sees that a trail of trees has parted that looks ripped. He arrives at the electric grid. With the Giant behind him, it starts to eat the metal. Eventually, the Giant gets tangled, and Hogarth rescues him. 

        The next day, the boy sees the Giant and teaches him stuff. Since he realizes that the Giant’s memory has been erased. Meanwhile, the fisherman from earlier calls the Government and sends a weasel of an agent Kent Mansley to investigate. As the film goes on, Hogarth has a tough time trying to keep his new friend safe since the agent bothers and interrogates him on where the creature is. 

        This is obviously a diverging thing from an animated perspective. In those days, the animated film scene was littered with princesses and talking toys and such. Disney had their thing going on, as well as Pixar. There wasn’t a film that dealt with anything that was still in the public consciousness. Director Brad Bird was given the film to make his debut. Looking at his test footage for his work on The Spirit, most of the animated films has a very Brad Bird look to it. His film doesn’t have the Disney eyes or anything wacky, it’s mostly grounded with its approach.

        The Giant is the soul of the whole movie. We are inferred that he was sent from somewhere, possibly to wipe out civilization. As we later learn that when it spots a weapon, its eyes start to shrink and go red. What I like is that Hogarth teaches The Giant about what he knows. Such as being a hero, as we see when he shows him his stack of comic books. The creature is like a child just learning what’s right and wrong. I’ll give it to Brad Bird for not really going to the level of stooping to patronizing levels to the kids and adults. 

        It’s obvious to have the government agent be the bad guy. With E.T. coming out a decade ago during The Iron Giant’s release, it’s always a trope that the government would be the antagonist. As I mentioned earlier, Mansley is a real slime bucket. It’s no wonder that he’s voiced by Christopher McDonald who was also Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore. He even abuses his authority to threaten Hogarth by removing him from his mom. What makes him work is that he’s not just a one-note villain. In context, there was a level of paranoia that was going on at that time. Even his superior laughs at him and chewed his butt out when seeing that the Giant is friendly and unintentionally launching an atomic missile where they are. 

2. The Giant’s Humanity

        This is the definite highlight of the film. Some may criticize this moment as being anti-gun or what have you. Since the Giant is coming to grips with human ideas, Hogarth tells him of about the idea of dying. When he and the metal man see hunters shoot a deer, The Giant is perplexed at the deer corpse. Ultimately, Hogarth tells him that it’s not right for anyone to kill. 

        When he thinks that Hogarth dies, he goes mad and shows his true form against the Army. It’s not so much him looking cool, but him lashing out since he thinks that the military “killed” Hogarth. Just the idea of him deciding who he wants to be is refreshing, because it shows a misunderstanding between the two forces. And gives the robot on what he wants to do instead of being designed for a specific purpose.

3. Why Did It Bomb?

        Doing some research after watching the film, it seems that Warner Bros. has no one to blame but themselves. As I mentioned earlier, they slashed the marketing budget for The Iron Giant after Quest for Camelot not doing well financially. The teaser poster is the only poster the film has which is on the top of the post. The studio didn’t even have a release date in 1999. When they did, there wasn’t enough time to market the film for audiences to be aware of it. 

        When it came out, it was beloved by both audiences and critics. One problem is that it opened 9th in the box office, resulting in it being a financial failure. The film is one of those rare instances where its cult classic status doesn’t mean that it was bad from the start. It just wasn’t made aware by the people who were curious to even watch it. 

4. Legacy

        Eventually, with its release on home video, the film became an animation darling for animation enthusiasts, and it developed its own fans. I remember seeing the film when I was visiting family in Washington state, and I loved it. And of course, seeing it on Cartoon Network from time to time. The film is beloved since it has an emotional core that really resonated with the audience and had drama for the adults who find it endearing.

        I’m glad that it never got a sequel. Just a stand-alone film that is perfect in its own way. The film has been referenced in various media. Like appearing as a visual gag on Family Guy. The giant even appeared as a cameo in Brad Bird’s Disney film Tomorrowland. Even Spielberg put the lovable colossus in his adaptation of Ready Player One. 

5. Overall

        This is one of those films where it will always be remembered and shared with for every generation. It’s such a shame that Warner Bros. did not want to pull the trigger and give The Iron Giant its time to shine. 

        The Iron Giant gets a five out of five. 

Finding Nemo Review

 

        It’s almost too hard to really have a definite favorite film when anyone brings up a personal favorite Pixar film to me. Like, if I were to rank them, it would be disrespectful to the quality of these films. Finding Nemo really pushed the animation to unreal heights when having the perspective be of all animals, a fish. 

1. Under the Sea

        The way the film starts is unlike anything that came before. Right there we see Marlin with his wife as they look at their babies. It then whiplashes when we see a barracuda look at them and at the eggs. Marlin tries to stop it but has one survivor of a son he names Nemo. Now, that is how you get the audiences hooked. 

        Marlin starts off as a very overprotective parent to his young son. Who has a small fin which makes him not swim well. When we see them going to his school, more like a traveling class, we get to see the other fish around the area. It treats the area as a city without any uses for signs or anything like human since they’re animals. We get to see the dads to the other fish and octopus, they really give Marlin a hard time, like asking if he can tell a joke. 

        The kids even dare each other to touch the boat they spot. Nemo defies his dad by touching the boat. Only to be captured by divers. The part when Marlin is frantically searching for him is just anxiety. With the music in the beginning hitting the notes where the stuff has really hit the fan. After that, we see him bump into the amnesiac blue tang Dory. Ellen DeGeneres steals the show as the forgetful fish. 

        As the duo go and search for Nemo, they meet an assortment of creatures. The Sharks are one of the few instances where they’re just not the ones we see in Jaws or any bad shark movie. All three of them even take an oath that “Fish are friends, not food.”. Well, except when Marlin accidentally hits Dory causing her blood to enter Bruce’s nostrils like a crack addict.

        Really, the interesting thing about the movie is the animals themselves. They all adopt stuff that are human. Mostly, they have that compassion to help which Marlin sees when being rescued from jellyfish and seagulls. Especially the whale to which Dory speaks to and it speaks to tell them to get out. It humanizes them without it feeling a bit too on the nose, like humanizing them could’ve been an easy thing to mess up. Also, they’re animals, that angler fish has no regular eyes and just acts berserk to our duo. 

        One thing that is admirable in terms of the story is that Marlin grows up. He’s not just some character who we follow and is just the same when we see him in the beginning through the end. Marlin has to realize that he has to let his son grow up, something that he’s told when Crush and Dory tell him that he has to be willing to let go.

2. Tank Gang

        To give us more of a break from the main story, Nemo is brought to the diver’s fish tank. We get to see the motley crew of fish and crustacean in the tank. They have all been bought from various stores and eBay. The leader of the group Gill has a plan for the other fish to escape the tank. It really helps us get a breather to really see just what the tank gang are up to.

        Most of them have their own quirks like the one who is infatuated with bubbles and another who sees her reflection and thinks it’s her twin. I really like Gill since I thought he was a loner until he decides to let Nemo try to execute his plan. He shows the dangers of having exotic animals as pets, for the scars he has on his body and fins. There’s a certain motif at play like nature vs. nurture because they help Nemo get adjusted. More so on Gill who tells him to calm down when he’s stuck and to clog the filter. He really helps Nemo gain confidence and grow up as a kid. 

3. Beautiful Animation

        For a film that was released back in 2003, it still looks gorgeous. Just seeing the light through the water shine on the various reefs must’ve required a retooling of the animation computers to really work overtime to crank out the visuals. This really made Pixar the absolute premier animation studio. Most of the fish look presentable with the usual Disney eyes, even the ones who are mostly feral. It’s literally visual art to look at. 

        I might as well say as this film came out, Dreamwork’s Shark Tale was released later and comparing the two is no contest. Shark Tale is just ugly to look at, even the way the fish’s face look so badly rendered, not even Will Smith could save that movie. I think the one thing that really separates the two movies is that one focuses on a more grounded approach. It’s a simple story that is at its core a rescue movie. While the other is an odd reflection of human life. Like, there’s an underwater Time Square with fish branded apparel. 

4. Overall

        This film is possibly the one that made Disney buy Pixar. During its time, it was behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in terms of box office gross. The animation is so gorgeous, and it’s really everything that encompasses Pixar animation. 

        Finding Nemo gets a five out of five. 

Monsters Inc. Review

 

        Monsters Inc. is also another favorite from Pixar. It has balance between every emotion you can think of. And an energy crisis sub-plot that is relevant right now, if you live in a certain Lone Star State. With the three Pixar films that I’m talking and going to be reviewing, they’re mostly relics in my childhood that I really want to go in depth with a clearer mind to really understand just why in my mind they’re classics. And to really represent my alma mater somehow. 

1. Mike and Sulley

        These two are the best part. Mike and Sulley are a small green one eye monster and a blue spotted hairy monster who are big in the company they work for. Mike is usually full of himself and coaches Sulley on how to properly scare. Since Sulley, is the main monster who scares effectively is looking to be the record holder for scares administered. All that goes south when Sulley spots a particular door. A little girl scares Sulley and brings her with him. 

        Most of the comedy works as an opposite of what we are told. It’s established that kids are dangerous to monsters, even their clothes are proved to be a massive threat. Especially for one monster, George who goes through a “2319” procedure. When the duo sees the little girl, she just laughs at how the monsters are very afraid of her. This is where we see the two characters grow up.

        With Sulley, he acts like a father figure to the little girl. He really understands that she’s not a threat and that she fears the monster she is assigned, Randall. The lovable monster really cares for her, and moments like when he is surprised by just how much she has a penchant to escape. Like this one part where he sees her getting in a garbage pile, and sees the trash being compacted. He faints and realizes that Boo was with a little kid tour group the whole time. 

        Mike meanwhile, wants nothing to do with the girl and just wants her out of their lives. I think what’s surprising is that he’s willing to sell her out to Randall, when he wants Wazowski to have her in her room. I like that most of the contention is when they have differing plans on what to do with her since she’s not supposed to be in their world or dimension. Not that Mike is the bad guy, but he really wants Sulley to get the record since it means something to both monsters. Eventually, he realizes his mistake and helps Sulley. 

        This is animator Pete Doctor’s first film for Pixar. He manages to do a great job on the character dynamics. I inevitably saw his subsequent films and the main motifs is that his film focuses on duos or groups of characters working in tandem. They usually go through something crazy or unexpected, which is to say is a recurring thing for Pixar films. I just wanted to give a big spotlight on the director since the whole process, is yes, a group effort. Though the director is ultimately the one who has the vision.

2. Energy Crisis

        Now the sub-plot is one of the things that flew over my head. It’s relevant now for the obvious reasons if you live in Texas. Anyways, it’s established that the company prioritizes monsters scaring kids to give their city energy it desperately needs. So the boss, Mr. Waternoose wants them to be like Sulley as he sees the lovable monster as The scarer the company needs. 

        I feel that the whole sub-plot really establishes the world. Like when we see the duo walk to work as Mike wants to use his fancy new car. We are reminded of it, as it’s a front-page story for their newspaper. It also shows just how much Boo contributes to the plot of the story. Like when Mike makes her laugh, her laughter makes the power max out to the point their place has an outage. 

        This is when we see that both Randall and Waternoose using their new machine which extracts screams from children. It was horrifying seeing it on Randall’s assistant since he looked drained and his whole complexion being pale. Come to think of it, this might be the scariest thing Pixar may have came up with, and I really don’t want to see that on a kid. 

3. Boo

        She is the heart and soul of the whole movie. Her real name is Mary, named after her voice actress Mary Gibbs. The interesting tidbit is that they got the daughter from one of the Pixar workers to do the voice. The problem with that was she couldn’t stand still in the recording booth. To work around that, the sound crew followed her around the studios.

        Using the recordings they felt was good enough for the final cut of the film. It must’ve been a challenge to write a script or a scene with the sound footage that they had. In Inside Out, Pete Doctor reuses the recordings for the character Riley when she was small. 

4. Overall 

        Obviously, the film was a massive hit. It spawned a prequel and an upcoming show on Disney+. One last bit is that Sulley was named after my alma mater’s president. More so is that, in the university’s visual arts building there is a statue of both characters on display. With pennies being placed on Sulley’s furry statue. You guys wouldn’t get it since you’re not Aggies. 

        Monsters Inc. gets a four out of five.

Toy Story Review

 

        In the 90s, Disney owned animation. They were already releasing hit after hit during what’s called “The Disney Renaissance”, it only seemed appropriate for a studio to revolutionize animation by doing it again. This time with computer generated images as the only next evolutionary leap. Toy Story is a beloved film in animation, and as they say “The rest is history.”.

1. Child’s Play

        It’s obvious that you and I have watched this film more times that you think you know. The film is my personal favorite animated film. I guess because I liked toys so much that the film really resonated with me. So, let’s just skim through the plot. Woody is Andy’s favorite toy. A western cowboy who is the leader of the toys. When Woody realizes that his owner’s birthday party is earlier than expected, he tells his friends, who proceed to freak out. 

        Woody tells the Green Army Men to do reconnaissance on the party. As the presents are opened, a surprise from his mom throws the soldiers off. The kids then go to Andy’s room and places Buzz on his bed, unintentionally knocking off Woody. Buzz Lightyear is a space ranger toy who thinks he’s real. The sheriff is jealous of him, and hilarity ensues. 

        The best part of the film are the main characters. Woody is the eyes and ears for us, while he intends to be the good leader, he is easily jealous when Buzz comes in and spends more time with Andy. Buzz is the oblivious type who thinks he is an actual space ranger. The funny moments are Woody just giving Buzz a hard time. Like, it would have been one thing to make Woody just a dick, but it serves a purpose since he is scared to not be the favorite.

        Like, the whole studio is prided itself on just great characterization of their characters that they’re well rounded instead of being one dimensional token types. Toy Story manages to really go there when for example Woody and Buzz are at a gas station, which prompts Woody to panic that he’s a lost toy. I might as well just talk about my favorite scene. 

        Both our heroes are in Sid’s house. They see his dog Scud, Woody hides in a closet while Buzz hides in Sid’s dad’s room. He sees a toy commercial of himself, with the moments of them highlighting the toy’s abilities. Buzz starts to realize he isn’t real. The heartbreaking thing is when he tries to fly. I think the Randy Newman song really helps drive that emotional moment. Everything about him is a lie, with his arm being detached. Eventually, it takes Woody to really pep him up by saying Lightyear isn’t just a toy, he’s a cool toy. 

        Just the evolution between them is fascinating since they didn’t tolerate each other to being the most beloved duos ever in film. It’s something where it’s hard to replicate since you need the actors like Tom Hanks and Tim Allen to really have that synergy and chemistry to really nail the camaraderie. 

2. Groundbreaking Animation

        For 1995, this was impressive for its time. The only moment when there was early CGI was in Disney’s Tron, but that was only used when the main character was in the video game. This film managed to make it work without it coming across as creepy or just hastily put together. The characters are animated well enough that Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, actually invested into Pixar. 

        Nowadays, the complaints that are lodged at it is that it doesn’t look good. The dog looks weird, and the humans are just Andy but with different looks. I’m willing to suspend that since no one has ever seen something like this, ever. There have been talks or rumors from Pixar to update the look of Toy Story. Just upgrading the look of it to make more presentable, I feel that the animation is like a time capsule since it shows just how far the technology has come. Since, if it were updated, most of the charm would be lost on just the animation and how quaint it felt. 

3. Legacy

        Not a lot of people were aware but, Pixar was not under Disney’s corporate umbrella. They were their own company who had a deal with Disney to distribute their films. It managed to rake in loads of money for the company and make a name for Pixar. That’s why Disney wanted to make more sequels of Toy Story since its now a high Intellectual Property. I’m glad that the sequels are all equally good. 

        With its success, a new competitor to challenge them emerged, Dreamworks animation. They got the first award for Best Animated Feature with Shrek. From then on, Pixar has been homing in their own raking of that award. It felt only natural that with Toy Story success, the traditional hand drawn animation had met its fate. Disney Animation still made traditional animated movies, but it just didn’t get the same reception as Pixar’s due in part I guess was their willingness to be bold. Now that Disney has updated their studio with CGI, they own animation.

4. Overall 

        This is a classic. In every stretch for the word. No other variation can accurately describe just how great and influential Toy Story is. 

        Toy Story gets a five out of five. 

The Breadwinner Review

 

        The month is almost ending with looking at animation. Specifically, this brief inspection on foreign film has been something to behold. To me, it is a conscientious decision to not look at anime films. I think that the overall exposure is great for starters, but I feel that the style outshines other talented foreign films from Europe and elsewhere. The Breadwinner wraps up my look of foreign animated films. Although, it will not be the last.

1. Parvana

        I might as well have a disclaimer since this film is based on a novel by Deborah Ellis. It seems that every great film is based on a book or some written document. Anyways, the film takes place in Afghanistan during the Taliban rule. A young girl Parvana is with her father who is a hawker at the market attempting to sell their items. 

        At their home, a soldier of the Taliban, Idrees and his group arrest the father Nurullah on charges that he was insulting the young soldier. Making the situation worse, no women could be walking alone in the streets. Their oldest son Sulayman had died years ago. Parvana decides to go and find food. She has trouble since no one will sell her anything. She decides to cut her hair and pass as a boy.

        Later, she finds another boy who in turn is a girl with short hair as they do odd jobs to raise money to get Parvana’s father out of prison. This is probably the most interesting aspect about the film. The idea of passing as someone else. I have seen it before in another animated film like Disney's Mulan. It is an important detail to note since Parvana tries to get her father out. Usually it’s a literary plot device, but in the context of how its used in this movie it manages to work. Especially when she finds someone else who I literally did not see anticipate such a reveal since I thought the child was a boy. 

        I was not expecting the level of off-screen violence to occur as well. Especially when both Parvana and her mother are walking to the prison, they are stopped. The Taliban soldier beats her up and threatens to arrest her if she was walking without a man. This is the part that is messed up for the people who are not aware of the backward customs of the Taliban. Since they misinterpret the religious teachings and treat women as nothing more but second class. 

2. Another Story

        Not only are you getting Parvana’s story, but you also get another story. This one is told by Parvana to calm down her baby brother Zaki. Her story involves a boy who must rescue his villages seeds for the crops from creatures ruled by an elephant king. As you hear and watch the story being told, the details are added on the spot. 

        It’s not just Parvana who tells the story, also her mother continues the tale when her young daughter falls asleep. As well as the girl's friend Shauzia who interjects to make it more exciting. The whole story isn’t just something that the main character tells to really come to grips with what’s going on. It’s actually contributing about the whole film and what it is really about.

        This idea of persistence is the main theme in the entire film. Because Parvana is trying to raise enough money to bribe a prison guard to let her father out. And in the story that she tells, the boy is attempting to get the food for his village amid terrifying odds. It is the drama that works and how much Parvana is willing to sacrifice to provide for her family.  More so that an invasion amplifies the situation for the girl to get to the prison, before her dad is executed. 

3. Overall

        I left so much out because, I really want you guys to watch it. This is a great animated feature that should’ve won the Academy Award for  best animated film. It lost to Disney and Pixar’s Coco. I feel to better remedy any bias is to establish a best international animated feature award so that any foreign can have a chance to win and to have more audiences be exposed to the different styles in animation elsewhere. The Breadwinner is the easily on the top of my favorite animated films. 

        The Breadwinner gets a four out of five.