Film Review: Big Hero 6

Big Hero 6. Rated PG (mild themes and animated violence). 108 minutes. Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams. Screenplay by Jordan Roberts, Daniel Gerson and Robert L. Baird. 

Verdict: The perfect family-friendly start to the cinematic year. 

If there is a better family-friendly movie to kick off the year than this visually stunning and big-hearted story about a robotic nurse and his grieving young charge, then it is impossible to know what it might be. Inspired by the Marvel Comics superheros of the same name, Walt Disney Animation Studios have created a pure gem – combining astonishing feats of character design, animation and marvellous storytelling in equal measure.

Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) is a teenage robotics genius who roams the city’s back alleys finding robot fights so his inventions can win him lots of prize money. When his older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) introduces him to his own creation – Baymax the personal healthcare companion (Scott Adsit) – Hiro is inspired to create robots that will generate positive change in the world. But when Hiro’s newly-minted ‘microbots’ fall into the hands of an evil Kabuki mask-wearing thief, he must work out a way of regaining control of his invention before they are used for diabolical purposes.

From the first frame, there is an overwhelming sense that we are in the company of master filmmakers. Set in the futuristic city of San Fransokyo, the merging of Japanese and American icons and geography informs everything about Paul Felix’s inspired production design, which reaches a spectacular zenith when Hiro and Baymax travel into a dazzling virtual world toward the end of the film. Hall, Williams and editor Tim Mertens establish a perfect pace for the story, which ensures that there is never a dull or uninvolving moment.

The excellent screenplay refuses to shy away from the inherent drama associated with a perfect rites of passage story, and powering all the visual splendour is a deeply affecting story about the value of kindness, and why it is important that we care for one other.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2. Rated PG (mild fantasy themes and violence). 102 minutes. Written and directed by Dean DeBlois. Based on the novels by Cressida Cowell.

Verdict: This perfectly dazzling sequel is a must-see in 3D.

A sequel to the stunning How to Train Your Dragon (2010) was always going to be tricky. The first film (in what is now slated as a trilogy) was a complete story in its own right – a classic rite of passage tale about a young Viking, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), and the fearsome dragons he would learn to understand, tame and love.

Not that any reservations appear to have troubled DeBlois and his collaborators, for here we have the most perfect sequel imaginable – a film that not only looks and sounds magnificent, but one that takes the story of Hiccup (a perfect Baruchel again) and his clan to fantastic new heights of storytelling.

From the opening shot, DeBlois and editor John Carr are never less than in complete control, with a dazzling (in 3D it is mind-blowing) opening sequence of gravity-defying spectacle, as the clan’s young dragon riders participate in the annual Dragon Race. While Hiccup and Toothless are away exploring new worlds, they fall foul of a gang of dragon trappers who are working for the evil despot Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou). Using a ferocious alpha dragon’s powers of hypnotism to turn the peaceful dragons against their owners, Bludvist is threatening to take over every clan in the land.

Packed with high drama and spectacular action in equal measure, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a remarkable achievement. DeBlois refuses to shy away from the confronting events that occur in Hiccup’s perilous fight (and flight) for independence, and powered by John Powell’s ravishing score, the emotional stakes at play will challenge even the hardest of hearts.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Rated PG (mild themes and animated violence). 97 minutes. Directed by Rob Minkoff. Screenplay by Craig Wright.

Verdict: Whatever you do, hold off on the red cordial.

As ‘The End’ appeared on the screen, a little girl sitting down the front of the cinema yelled ‘Yay!’ with all the enthusiasm it was possible for her to muster. Such a spontaneous display of joy from members of the audience for whom films like this are primarily made are, like Mr. Peabody & Sherman itself, fantastic to witness.

Wright’s action-packed screenplay finds our genius inventor canine Mr. Peabody threatened with having his adopted human son Sherman removed from his care by a tyrannical social services bureaucrat, Mrs Grunion (voiced by The West Wing’s Allison Janney).

Sherman (superbly voiced by 10-year-old Max Charles) has bitten the school bully Penny (Ariel Winter), so Mr. Peabody (Ty Burrell) sets up a reconciliation dinner party with Penny’s parents and Mrs Grunion. But when Sherman takes Penny for a spin in the WBAC, Mr. Peabody’s state-of-the-art time-travelling machine, the past, present and future collide in spectacular fashion.

Minkoff’s (co-director of The Lion King) command of the story-telling is astonishing, even if the frenetic pace of the action occasionally threatens to become overwhelming. Under-pinned by the absurdist premise that a dog should be legally entitled to adopt a human, Wright’s screenplay and Minkoff’s account of it, doesn’t hang around in any one part of the world – past, present or future – long enough for the ridiculousness of it all to deflate the action.

Veteran composer Danny Elfman (who is best known as the composer of The Simpsons), delivers a marvellous score that powers the visual flights of inventive science fiction-based fantasy to perfection. Apart from the brilliant animation on display, the star of the show is Burrell (Modern Family), who finds an emotional range in his voice work for Mr. Peabody that is outstanding.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspapers Group.

Film Review: Turbo

Turbo. Rated G. 96 minutes. Directed by David Soren. Screenplay by Darren Lemke, Robert D Siegel and David Soren.

Verdict: An absolute winner for the whole family.

A cute little snail called Theo (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) who dreams of breaking out of his ordinary little garden-variety existence and winning the Indianapolis 500? What’s not to like? As it turns out, absolutely nothing – as Theo takes on his hero, the vain French-Canadian Indy 500 champion Guy Gagné (Bill Hader), in a supremely entertaining race to the finish line.

Lemke, Siegel and Soren’s screenplay boasts some hilarious moments (a crow’s rather unfortunate demise becomes excellent pay-back), but also wins points for holding fast to its motivational “No dream is too big, and no dreamer too small” through-line. The world of the film refreshingly departs from a typically white, middle-America and takes us into a poverty-stricken mall, where Tito (Michael Peña), a taco truck driver and his taco-making brother Angelo (Luis Guzmán) are struggling to make a living.

Together with the other tenants including manicurist Kim-Ly (brilliantly voiced by The Hangover’s Ken Jeong), mechanic Paz (Michelle Rodriguez), and hobby-shop owner Bobby (Richard Jenkins) who makes custom snail shells for their motley collection of snails, Tito shares Theo’s ambition to be more than anyone else believes is possible. What makes Turbo so engaging is its delightful assortment of original and charmingly idiosyncratic characters – all perfectly voiced by a uniformly excellent voice cast.

Soren, making his feature-length debut, delivers the story to the screen with immense skill and an obvious passion for the journey of his loveable characters, while also making an impression as the snail who can’t ‘tuck’ back into his shell. But if I had to pick a favourite character, it would be the ubiquitous snail White Shadow (Michael Bell), who for some inexplicable reason, made me laugh more than I have laughed in a movie all year.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Monsters University

Monsters University. Rated G. 110 minutes. Directed by Dan Scanlon. Screenplay by Daniel Gerson, Robert L Baird and Dan Scanlon.

Verdict: A long, laughless Pixar misfire that plays it deadly straight.

Prequels, like sequels, can be difficult films to make work in their own right – and this prequel to 2001’s hugely successful Monsters, Inc. suffers from running overtime (with young ones obviously struggling to stay the distance), and its over-populated character list that results in bloat and clutter.

Monsters University tells the story of how one-eyed monster Michael Wazowski (voiced by Billy Crystal) met his pal, the big blue monster James P Sullivan (John Goodman), at, well, university. Under the watchful gaze of Dean Abigail Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren), Michael and James must overcome their natural inability to be truly scary in order to keep their place in the university’s prestigious ‘scare program’. Finding themselves relegated to a group of misfits – the university’s Oozma Kappa fraternity who operate from a quaint suburban house – the unlikely group of timid monsters must use all their resources to ensure they have a future as the truly scary monsters they dream of becoming.

There is no doubting the effectiveness of the splendid animation on show here, but there is little of the sheer creative adventurousness we have come to love, admire, and expect from Pixar (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, WALL-E). Gerson, Baird and Scanlon’s screenplay is a limp, cheerless affair that gives the impression of being stuck in an endless loop of deadly earnestness that appears to be have been so keen to secure a G rating that its neglected to include anything of genuine interest.

The one sequence that comes close to inspirational, is when Michael and James inadvertently find themselves trapped in the human world – where in order to return to the monster’s realm, they must scare a group of policeman half to death. As beautifully done as it is (with a fine line about learning to accept our strengths and our weaknesses equally), it also achieves nothing more than to pad out a film that could have done with a major injection of laughs and some form of interesting conflict.

As it stands, Monsters University is a harmless and humourless affair that will keep the kids interested for at least half of its running time. Good luck with the other half.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Escape from Planet Earth

Escape from Planet Earth. Rated PG (mild animated violence). 89 minutes. Directed by Cal Brunker. Screenplay by Bob Barlen and Cal Brunker.

Verdict: A family-friendly adventure for the little ones.

With much to redeem it, but little to make it truly memorable, Escape from Planet Earth wins points for blissfully filling the gap in the market for films specifically aimed at younger children who might have occasionally found the recent animation offerings (such as The Croods) a little too dark and frightening. Escape from Planet Earth is a challenge-free zone, boasting an abundance of colour and movement that will keep its target audience buzzing with expectation and excitement.

While the alien population of Planet Baab are celebrating the success of the latest daring rescue mission by their hero Scorch Supernova (voiced by The Mummy’s Brendan Fraser), an SOS is received from the ‘Dark Planet’ (Earth). With Scorch’s geeky brother Gary (Rob Corddry) sacked from his position at Mission Control, Scorch departs on a rescue mission to the dangerous planet, only to discover that the evil General Saunderson (William Shatner) plans to exploit Baab’s reserves of weapons-grade ‘blutonium’ and use his new weapons to rule the galaxy.

Barlen and Brunker’s cheerfully derivative screenplay contains a couple of direct hits for the adult members of the audience, but it is essentially a laughter-free, action-packed caper with a fine thread about the importance of family. While Gary is seen as the under-achieving brother, he is also happily married to Kira (Sarah Jessica Parker) and their son Kip (Jonathan Morgan Heit) is typically torn between the love he has for his serious, responsible dad and his admiration for his famous irresponsible uncle’s exploits. Scorch, on the other hand, is more concerned with his heroic adventures (and their commercial value) than he is about settling down and raising a family of his own.

Brunker and cinematographer Matthew Ward (who are both making their feature debuts) certainly have futures in the world of animation, with some of the sequences (such as the one where Gary’s spaceship crashes onto Earth) delivered with supreme confidence and skill. But as is increasingly the case, it is Barry Jackson’s (The Ant Bully) production design that beautifully accounts for all the wonderful sci-fi inspired possibilities that remain the most memorable aspects of this charming, family-friendly, big screen adventure.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Film Review: The Croods

The Croods. Rated PG (mild themes). 98 minutes. Written and directed by Kirk De Micco and Chris Sanders.

Verdict: A visually dazzling adventure about the importance of learning from one another.

While live action filmmakers are often preoccupied with futuristic worlds riddled with explosive conflict and war-mongering, animators have been equally preoccupied with the distant past. From The Flinstones (1960–1966) to the Ice Age films (2002–2012), there is something liberating about imagining pre-historic possibilities – perhaps that the imperative for the results to be as ‘life-like’ as possible is eliminated. What we get instead, are pure flights of fantasy and imagination – hallmarks of the great, animated adventures of recent times.

Rise of the Guardians. Rated PG (mild fantasy themes and violence). 97 minutes. Directed by Peter Ramsey. Screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire. Based on The Guardians of Childhood novels by William Joyce.

Verdict: The picture perfect way to launch into the festive season.

If there is a more perfect way to launch the festive season on the big screen, it’s impossible to imagine what it might be. Rise of the Guardians is not only bravura, ground-breaking 3D animation, but also a story for children that refuses to shy away from the grand themes of fear, belonging and the importance of believing in the quintessential goodness in ourselves and each other.

When the Boogieman ‘Pitch’ (voiced by Jude Law) threatens to replace children’s dreams with horrifying nightmares forever, Jack Frost (Chris Pine), Santa (Alec Baldwin), Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) and Sandman (an unspoken role) must band together to defeat the evil spirits of fear and darkness once and for all.

Film Review: Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted. Rated PG (mild violence and crude humour). 93 minutes. Directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath and Conrad Vernon. Screenplay by Eric Darnell and Noah Baumbach.

Verdict: The Madagascar team are back in an inspired film that recalls the ground-breaking work of the animation master Walt Disney.

Beginning with Madagascar (2005) and a sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), this successful franchise has followed the lives of four animals – Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith). Having been shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar, many miles away from their home in New York’s Central Park Zoo, the series focuses on their attempts to return to the familiarity of their relatively comfortable home.

Film Review: Ice Age: Continental Drift

Ice Age: Continental Drift. Rated PG (Mild animated violence and coarse language). 92 minutes. Directed by Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier. Screenplay by Michael Berg and Jason Fuchs.

Verdict: The Ice Age gang are back in a virtuoso display of 3D action and adventure.

It’s hard to believe that it is ten years since the lovable characters in Ice Age (2002) burst onto the screen. The original’s mammoth success spawned two sequels – Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) – and now the gang are reunited in a virtuoso display of 3D action and adventure. The 3D format is so successful here in fact, that it makes the 3D version almost compulsory.

When Scrat the squirrel (Chris Wedge) decides to bury his beloved acorn in the ice, he inadvertently triggers a cataclysmic chain of events that reshapes the continents and separates Manny (Ray Romano) the mammoth from his partner Ellie (Queen Latifah) and their daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer). With the constant threat of environmental and ecological disaster inching ever closer, the characters must fight the elements (and some classic foes – including Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage’s marauding, swashbuckling pirate Captain Gutt) in their desperate race to be reunited.

Sid the sloth (pictured, voiced by the brilliant John Leguizamo) remains a masterpiece of character animation and voice work, while the debut of his Granny (Wanda Sykes), is nothing less than inspirational. Granny’s idiosyncratic zeal for life gives the film a much-needed thread of almost surreal absurdism – keeping it well away from The Lion King and Happy Feet 2 territory when it matters most.

What is obvious from the first frame of this fourth instalment in the Ice Age franchise, is the immense amount of skill and confidence behind the scenes – led by directors Martino (Horton Hears a Who!) and Thurmeier (Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs). The voice work – without exception – is spot on, while Renato Falcão’s (Rio) cinematography and James Palumbo (Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs) and David Salter (Finding Nemo, Toy Story 2) editing are all faultless.

Environmental issues have been a constant feature of the recent Hollywood studio output for their young audiences, and if Mr Berg and Fuchs’s occasionally brooding and intense screenplay plays it with a capital D for Disaster, it also manages to offer an important sense of hopeful optimism. Integral to the film’s entertainment value, too, are the messages about the critical importance of family, great friends and the rightful place that life-changing adventures have to play in our lives.

Film Review: Puss in Boots

Puss in Boots. Rated PG (mild violence). 90 minutes. Directed by Chris Miller. Screenplay by Tom Wheeler.

Created by Frenchman Charles Perrault and first appearing in a collection of eight fairytales published in 1697, Puss in Boots – a heroic, swashbuckling cat – has long been a source of childhood fascination. It might also be argued that the enigmatic Puss has rarely been so perfectly realised than in his scene-stealing supporting role in DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek films (he debuted in 2004’s Shrek 2). Superbly animated and brilliantly voiced by Antonio Banderas, Puss was the perfect foil for the grumpy, green ogre and his loyal donkey – and his instant rapport with his co-stars and audiences of adults and children alike, immediately sparked rumours of a spin-off. Has the seven-year wait been worth it? Uncategorically, yes.

Puss in Boots is never anything less than a dazzling triumph of character animation and storytelling for all ages as Puss (a perfect Mr Banderas again), his childhood friend Humpty Alexander Dumpty (The Hangover’s Zach Galifianakis), and Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) join forces to steal the, now, middle-aged hillbillies Jack and Jill’s (Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris) magic beans. The beans, as we all know, will grow into a giant beanstalk that our heroes will climb to reach the goose that lays the golden eggs – untold wealth that can be distributed amongst the good people of their hometown, San Ricardo. But Mother Goose has other ideas.

Mr Wheeler’s screenplay is a delightfully engaging and equally involving mash-up of popular nursery rhyme and fairytale characters, and Mr Miller (Shrek the Third) capitalises on every single opportunity to bring the collision of instantly recognisable characters to life. Editor Eric Dapkewicz (Flushed Away, Monsters vs Aliens) expertly nails the pace, while the choreography by Laura Gorenstein Miller is so good that, at times, it is almost impossible to believe you’re actually watching animated characters.

Henry Jackman’s (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class) flawless original score perfectly captures every mood and location, while the skills of production designer Guillaume Aretos and art director Christian Schellewald ensure that the entire film is a stunning visual treat. Amongst the unforgettable luxury of riches are the eye-popping beanstalk sequences that easily qualify as the most spectacular animation we’ve seen this year.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Film Review: The Lion King

The Lion King. Rated G. 89 minutes. Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. Screenplay by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton.

Having stormed the box office when it was first released in 1994 (it is still the highest-grossing hand-drawn animation film ever made), Disney’s The Lion King is back in cinemas to captivate another generation while re-captivating those that first fell in love with it in the ‘90s.

Digitally modified for screening in 3D (an additional layer of ‘dimension’ has been added to the 2D original which delivers elements of the supreme artwork to the ‘so close I can almost touch it’ foreground), The Lion King has withstood the technological tampering to remain an enchanting rites of passage story.

With the birth of his cub Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), Mufasa (James Earl Jones) must ensure that his evil brother Scar (a perfectly sinister Jeremy Irons) understands that Simba must eventually assume his rightful place as the leader of the pride. Scar immediately joins forces with his henchmen – hyenas Shenzi (the brilliant Whoopi Goldberg) and Banzai (Cheech Marin) – to re-determine the course of the young cub’s destiny.

Certainly one of Disney’s darkest affairs (with the death of Mufasa giving even the death of Bambi’s mother a run for its money), The Lion King kicks into hyperdrive once the, now exiled, adult Simba (Matthew Broderick) meets the flatulent warthog Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella) and his theatrical companion Timon the meerkat (Nathan Lane). Timon and Pumbaa’s impromptu burlesque to distract the enemy hyenas (“Are ya achin’/for some bacon?”) is still a sensational example of Disney’s determination to entertain their adult fans as much as the younger ones.

Hans Zimmer’s (Inception, Pirates of the Caribbean) score is still as close as it is possible to be to the perfect accompaniment to all the colour and movement, while Elton John and Tim Rice’s songs each serve the story beautifully – but none more so than the spectacular The Circle of Life sequence that remains not only one of this film’s most memorable, but one of the finest opening sequences of any animated film ever.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Postscript: One of the many examples of how Timon and Pumbaa's famous hula song and dance act from The Lion King has achieved cult status can be watched here.

Film Review: Rio

Rio. Rated G. 96 minutes. Directed by Carlos Saldanha. Screenplay by Don Rhymer, Joshua Sternin, Jeffrey Ventimilia and Sam Harper.

Three cheers for this bold, colourful, romantic, musical comedy adventure that literally bursts onto the screen in a non-stop fiesta of bravura 3D computer-animation. It’s hardly surprising that Rio has raced to the top of the worldwide box office (taking over $300 million to date) – such is its very welcome ‘G’ rating and its determination to be a refreshingly unsentimental and almost impossibly lively take on the age-old ‘rites of passage’ formula.

When domesticated Macaw ‘Blu’ (delightfully voiced by The Social Network’s Jesse Eisenberg) is found to be the last surviving male of his species, he reluctantly returns to his native habitat (Brazil) to breed with ‘Jewel’ (voiced by Anne Hathaway). When exotic bird smugglers threaten to bring an end to the breeding program, Blu and Jewel (with the help of a gorgeously idiosyncratic supporting cast) must escape the clutches (and cages) of their criminal captors and fight for their freedom, their independence and the survival of their species.

Saldanha (the Ice Age movies), cinematographer Renato Falcão, editor Harry Hitner and composer John Powell (Shrek, How To Train Your Dragon) deliver astonishing levels of creativity and skill to the screen. From the moment Rio de Janeiro’s native birdlife bursts into song, frame after frame is beautifully realised – with the lighting, in particular, simply extraordinary.

While the musical numbers don’t come anywhere near the more memorable ones in films such as Disney’s The Lion King, the sadistic sulphur-crested cockatoo ‘Nigel’ (wonderfully voiced by Jemaine Clement) gets a show-stopper about his failed career as a television actor, while Powell’s samba-infused score sets the perfect mood and tone for the spectacularly achieved locations – from tropical Brazilian jungles to the natural and man-made spectacle of Rio de Janeiro and, in one fabulous sequence, its famous carnival.

If Avatar and How To Train Your Dragon set the benchmark for 3D rendering of magnificent aerial sequences, there are some equally dazzling aerial escape and pursuit sequences that ensure Rio reaches its big, heartfelt conclusion while not sacrificing its marvellously entertaining thrills along the way.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.