Film Review: Planes: Fire and Rescue

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Planes: Fire and Rescue. Rated G (some scary scenes). 84 minutes. Directed by Bobs Gannaway. Written by Bobs Gannaway and Jeffrey M Howard. 

Verdict: An excellent, but much darker, follow-up to Disney’s wonderful world of Planes. 

In this sequel to Planes (2013), Dusty Crophopper (Dane Cook) is spending his post-race glory in relative peace and quiet amongst his friends in Propwash Junction. But when his gearbox fails at high altitude and cannot be repaired or replaced, Dusty’s days as a world champion racer are suddenly numbered. 

Realising that he might never be able to race again, Dusty flies to Piston Peak National Park to learn how to become a certified fire-fighting plane. And when lightning creates a monster firestorm in the national park, Dusty learns that his daredevil racing heroics also have a place in his newfound career.

Like Planes, Mark Mancina’s fantastic score and the cavalcade of planes, cars, trucks and trains are superbly realised, with the 3D camerawork simply exceptional during the many aerial sequences. Gannaway captures not only the vast aerial sweep of the story, but also the sequences of powerful drama that some of the younger audience members might find a little overwhelming.

Gannaway and Howard’s action-packed screenplay certainly doesn't shy away from reaching for dramatic highpoints, and once the firestorm well and truly takes hold of Piston Peak National Park, there are very few places where either we, or the characters, can hide.

Setting the better part of the story in a National Park’s fire and rescue facility provides the animators with countless opportunities for wonderful environments and characterisations, with the Native American firefighting helicopter Windlifter (Wes Studi) an inspired piece of character design.

Planes: Fire and Rescue is often a breath-taking film to experience, and the young ones will more than likely love it for its vivid colour palette and its determination not to be patronising or condescending on any level.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Maleficent

Maleficent. Rated M (fantasy themes and violence). 97 minutes. Directed by Robert Stromberg. Written by Linda Woolverton.

Verdict: A glorious reimagining of a classic fairytale.

Here, possibly for the first time this year, is a film that justifies not only its every precious moment on the big screen, but a film that will fire the imaginations of its target audience to an inestimable degree. This is a Sleeping Beauty for our time, where the kiss from an impossibly handsome prince (Home and Away’s Brenton Thwaites) just might not cut it any longer.

In her flawless adaptation of Charles Perrault’s original fairytale and Disney’s animated classic Sleeping Beauty (1959), Woolverton gloriously reimagines the evil Maleficent (Angelina Jolie), with Jolie gliding, striding and soaring through the story with an astonishing performance of immense range. The scene where Maleficent wakes to discover that Prince Stefan (Sharlto Copley) has cut off her wings in order to claim the throne, justifies the price of admission alone.

Sam Riley (On the Road) is a revelation as Diaval, Maleficent’s loyal shape-shifting raven, and the witty banter he shares with her lends the film a much-needed lightness of touch. As do Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton and Juno Temple as the trio of hapless fairies who are charged with caring for the princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) until the day after her sixteenth birthday, when Maleficent’s ‘sleeping curse’ will end.

Stromberg’s career in art direction (he won Best Achievement in Art Direction Oscars® for Alice in Wonderland and Avatar), sets him up perfectly to rule over the film’s grand visual style and effects, while the cinematic command of veteran Australian cinematographer Dean Semler is ever present. Recalling the magic of waiting for the page of a book of fairytales to be turned, we wait with breathless anticipation to see what these masters of their art will create for us next. And they never disappoint.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror. Rated PG (mild themes and violence). 106 minutes. Directed by Tarsem Singh. Screenplay by Melissa Wallack and Jason Keller.

Verdict: A veritable feast for the eyes, but not necessarily the ears.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s (the Brothers Grimm) fairytale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was most famously produced for the screen by Walt Disney in 1937. Celebrated as the first cel-animated feature film in motion picture history, Disney’s Snow White … , (with its unforgettable songs by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey including ‘Heigh-Ho’ and ‘Some Day My Prince Will Come’) remains an extraordinary artistic achievement.

And while you certainly won’t be inspired to sing ‘Heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s off to work we go’ at the end of this sumptuously costumed and designed adaptation, there is a good deal to enjoy – especially for fans of Julia Roberts, who parades the late Eiko Ishioka’s spectacular costumes most memorably. Relentlessly upstaged by the frocks, Ms Roberts’ performance as The Queen is, otherwise, curiously restrained – and with a few exceptions, the film suffers from a fractured sense of everyone being unsure just how over-the-top to go with the material.

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: Tangled

Tangled. Rated PG (mild animated violence). 100 minutes. Directed by Byron Howard. Screenplay by Dan Fogelman, based on the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm fairytale Rapunzel.

With an unofficial budget of US$260 million, Disney’s 50th animated feature clocks in as the most expensive animation and the fifth most expensive movie ever made (behind 1963’s Cleopatra $320m; 2007’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End $318m; 1997’s Titanic $200m and 2007’s Spider-Man 3 $273m). And while Disney obviously didn’t spend much of it on the screenplay (which flounders around in prolonged exposition early on), the studio eventually gets more bang for its considerable bucks once we finally get going.

In this adaptation of the celebrated, sinister fairytale, Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) is being held captive in a tower by a wicked old lady, Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy), who uses the magical qualities of Rapunzel’s golden locks to retain her youthful appearance. When mischievous young thief Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) stumbles upon the tower, Rapunzel convinces him to escort her into the world so that she can experience the kingdom’s annual lantern festival first hand. Little does she know that this lantern ritual has more to do with her fulfilling her true destiny than she might ever have imagined.

Led by the dazzling series of Tinkerbell movies, Disney has been cranking up their ‘feisty Princess’ output – and their very modern Rapunzel is no exception. When she’s not knocking the hapless Flynn unconscious with a frying pan or locking him in her closet, she is swinging Tarzan-like about the place from her hair while belting out those predictable Disney-esque tunes (courtesy of Beauty and The Beast and The Little Mermaid tuner Alan Menken).

Moore, Levi and Murphy acquit the vocal responsibilities with great charm and skill, even if they are frequently upstaged by two fabulously entertaining (voiceless) characters – Pascal (Rapunzel’s cynical pet chameleon) and Maximus (a horse with a justice obsession).

But what it lacks in the script department is more than made for in the “look” department. The animation is never less than superb, and features the most sumptuous 3D rendering of the astonishing lantern festival that is almost reason, alone, to go. As thousands of paper lanterns are released into the night sky, only the most hard-hearted cynic will not gasp in wonder at the magical display of sheer visual and technological wonderment on display.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3. 108 minutes. Rated G. Directed by Lee Unkrich. Screenplay by Michael Arndt. Based on the original story by Lee Unkrich, Andrew Stanton and John Lasseter.

It will come as no surprise to discover there’s a lot going on in this third (and apparently final) entry into the popular Toy Story franchise from Pixar and Disney. Pixar supremo John Lasseter is credited with the original story. So, too, are Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich. Then there’s the ‘story’ credits, which also belong to Stanton and Unkrich. If ever there was an example of a fantastic recipe spoiled by too many cooks, then this grim and surprisingly humourless film is it.

Young Andy is off to college, and the time has come for him to allocate his wordly possessions into one of the following boxes: trash, attic (for storage) or college. Needless to say, our lovable rogues gallery of toys are duly separated from each other – and the film then focuses on how they all get back together. It’s a well-worn Toy Story formula that has now officially out-stayed its welcome. It suffers, too, from a peculiarly long and dreary set-up, which had the capacity audience of birthday party-celebrating littlies squirming in their seats with boredom.

The unquestionable charm of the ground-breaking original, released in 1995, was that it catapulted us into the delightful, pint-sized world of a group of toys who, in spite of our world-weary cynicism, had undeniably come ‘alive’. The use of toys that, as adults, we affectionately remembered from our childhoods (Mr Potato Head was a particularly inspired choice), were suddenly given renewed leases on life as movie-stars, while the new generation were suddenly as obsessed with slinky dogs, cowboys and little plastic green soldiers as we had been. It was a brilliant masterstroke of generational cross-over and audience engagement – and the resulting global success and acclaim was well-deserved.

It was also the first film to be made entirely of computer generated imagery – and Pixar would use the opportunity to dazzle us with their creativity, imagination, story-telling prowess and, while they were at it, set the benchmark for every film that would follow (A Bug’s Life, The Incredibles, Wall-E to name just three). With Toy Story 3, however, the magic has dimmed. As audiences for these kinds of technological adventures, we are now a great deal harder to impress. Yes, there are some exhilarating sequences of dare-devil escapades and the CGI animation is typically flawless. But perhaps Pixar have spoiled us rotten with their abilities – because much of that eye-popping wonder is now just expected.

There’s a determined effort to capture the teenage market with some of the more risqué scenes starring Ken and Barbie (which are hilarious), and a throughline featuring an evil, abandonded teddy bear who rules the Daycare Centre (where our cast eventually end up) as some kind of Alcatraz for toys. It’s really dark territory – and the scenes where the toys prepare to face extermination in a burning pit of fire are just plain cruel and extreme.

When it finally capitulates into long, drawn-out, emotional manipulation, we’re left with the really uncomfortable feeling that the toys in Toy Story 3 are not the only things to have been played with. It’s going to take something else entirely to recapture our imaginations. I don’t doubt Pixar will discover what that might be – but it’s certainly not this.

DVD Review: StarStruck

StarStruck. 90 mins. Rated G. Directed by Michael Grossman. Written by Barbara Johns and Annie DeYoung.

There’s a worthwhile message hiding in this ‘musical’ fairytale. It’s about how, in our celebrity-obsessed world, meaningful connections between people can happen in the most unlikely of circumstances. The attendant power of celebrity was witnessed recently when YouTube’s teen idol Justin Bieber arrived in Australia. Everywhere he went, he created pandemonium – proving that if adoring teenage girls want to get close to their young heartthrobs, nothing but significant police intervention can stop them.

Christopher Wilde (Sterling Knight) is a young pop star on the brink of mega movie stardom. He has the perfect ‘A-list’ girlfriend and thousands of devoted fans clamouring to know the details of his every move. When he is photographed during an altercation with the notorious Hollywood paparazzi outside a Los Angeles nightclub, his agent warns him that unless he can maintain a squeaky-clean image, his movie career will go nowhere.

In the meantime, one of his most obsessed fans Sara (Maggie Castle) and her younger sister Jessica (Danielle Campbell) travel to LA with their parents to visit relatives. Sara is determined to use the opportunity to meet her idol, whereas the straight-shooting Jessica cannot understand what all the fuss is about. When Jessica and Christopher accidentally meet outside a nightclub, the young heartthrob is forced to confront the concept that genuine feelings are quite different from the manufactured ones forced on him by the circumstances of his career.

You would think it would have been relatively uncomplicated for Disney to produce an engaging and possibly even thoughtful film starring two young leads whose characters have very different views about what’s important in the world. After all, it’s one of the things they do best. Instead, with the help of a collection of banal and over-produced songs, StarStruck struggles to maintain our interest before it collapses under the weight of a script so impossibly trite it becomes difficult to believe you’re actually listening to it. And while Knight and Campbell have a certain surface appeal, they both lack the necessary depth of acting ability that a film focussed almost exclusively on their complicated young love affair demands.

The result, with the exception of a cute mud-bath sequence in the middle of nowhere, is a very ordinary little made-for-television movie that fails to deliver on its promise. The film’s target audience – young girls with enquiring minds, wild imaginations, dreams and aspirations about what it is possible to achieve with their lives – deserve a great deal more than this DVD equivalent of junk food.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspapers Group and was published in the print edition of the Geraldton Guardian.

DVD Review: Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure

Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure. 77 minutes. Rated G. Directed by Klay Hall; Written by Evan Spiliotopoulos from a story by Klay Hall.

Tinker Bell has come a long way since her inception in J M Barrie's play (1904) and novel (1911) Peter and Wendy, which would eventually morph into the classic Disney animation Peter Pan (1953). Introduced by Barrie as "a common fairy", Tinker Bell was famous for her moody and occasionally obstreperous behaviour, and at the end of the novel, she was dead.

Tinker Bell has also long been the unofficial mascot of Walt Disney Pictures. It is her that, for decades, tapped her magic wand over the company's logo and it is her, still, that creates a beautiful arc of fairy dust over the stunning new animated logo sequence that announces the studio's films today. Given her iconic status in the Disney oeuvre, it's peculiar that they have taken as long as they have to elevate her from 'logo duty' into a leading role; but if this glorious film is any indication (and there are two more in pre-production), the situation has finally been remedied. And what an absolute delight it is!

Tinker Bell (perfectly voiced by Mae Whitman) is chosen to create a ceremonial sceptre that, by incorporating the rare and precious blue moonstone, will provide the fairies of Pixie Hollow with enough blue fairy dust to replenish the Pixie Dust Tree. When her well-meaning best friend Terrence (an endearing Jesse McCartney) inadvertently wreaks havoc in her workshop, our adorable Tinker Bell must travel 'north of Neverland' in search of a magic mirror that will enable her to repair the damage and complete her important task.

Lovingly crafted and visually magnificent, Disney have lavished a dazzling array of talent on this little masterpiece. The lavish colour palette, environments and lighting are reminiscent of the magic of James Cameron's Avatar, and while the script labours early on with the odd long and literal sequence which may begin to bore the really little ones, the majestic artistry of the animation and the perils of the Tinker Bell's engrossing adventure, will keep the majority of the audience wide-eyed, stunned and amazed.

Most fantastically, Tinker Bell has rightfully assumed her long-overdue leading-lady status. She is one smart, feisty, inventive and clever little fairy and, with a gloriously imagined supporting cast of fairies and creatures (including a scene-stealing firefly called 'Blaze'), this is destined to become a much-loved addition to the collection that may well inspire a whole new generation of young girls to treasure their friendships (even with all their flaws), and believe not only in themselves, but in all that it is possible to achieve. And in the current environment of boys-own adventures where the girls are relegated to second-tier supporting players, that is really something to celebrate!

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspapers Group and was published in the print edition of the Midwest Times.