Daredevil: Season 2 Review

“One batch, two batch, Penny and Dime…”

(WARNING: There will be Spoilers!)

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) review

(Note: While the film has been out for at least two weeks now, I’m still going to maintain a ‘no spoilers’ mandate for this review in case some of you haven’t seen it yet.)

In 2007, J.J. Abrams, before he became known as the director who was responsible for reviving not one but three separate franchises (Mission Impossible, Star Trek, and Star Wars), debuted a secret trailer that ran before screenings of Michael Bay’s first Transformers film. This trailer, which centered around a going-away party in New York that was interrupted by a mysterious event occurring in the city, was noteworthy for not initially revealing the title for the film. It only listed J.J.’s producing credit and its impending release date of 1-18-08. It wasn’t until later when the film’s official title, Cloverfield, and the fact that it was a monster film was made clear. And when it was released that following January, it proved to be a pretty sizable hit, attracting solid reviews and a nice box-office haul on just a $25 million budget. The success of the film led to much talk about a possible sequel, with director Matt Reeves stating that there were many possibilities for follow-ups due to the fact that the events of the film probably weren’t the only ‘filmed’ events from that night. Ultimately though, for a few years it seemed like there wasn’t going to be a sequel due to both Reeves and Abrams moving onto other projects. However, just less than two months ago, Abrams pulled a fast one on us by unveiling a special teaser before, fittingly enough, another Michael Bay film; in this case, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. As it turned out, this ‘mystery film’ was pretty much the long-awaited Cloverfield sequel that fans have been waiting for; 10 Cloverfield Lane. However, as J.J. soon made it clear, this was only a ‘blood relative’ to that film and looking at it now, that’s definitely true. This is not meant to be a straightforward sequel to the original film. But even with that said, and save for some unanswered questions that come from the ending, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a very thrilling story that showcases the potential for where this series can go from here.

As the film begins, a young woman named Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) leaves her New Orleans home after getting into an argument with her fiancé Ben (who’s notably played, in voice only, by Bradley Cooper). But while driving through Louisiana, she suddenly ends up in a severe car accident. When she comes to, she finds herself chained to the wall in a small concrete room. She soon learns that she’s been brought to an underground bunker that is also being inhabited by Emmett Dewitt (John Gallagher, Jr.), a fellow ‘survivor’, and the owner of the bunker, Howard Stambler (John Goodman). Howard tells her that he brought her to the bunker following her crash because of an unspecified attack that has made the air outside toxic and has pretty much killed off everyone else save for them. With nowhere else to go, Michelle is forced to adapt to living within Howard’s bunker. But as time goes on, both Michelle and Emmett start to grow suspicious of Howard and fear that, despite his seemingly generous nature in regards to letting them stay in the bunker, he’s actually going to become a threat to them. As a result, the two begin working on an escape plan, which ultimately leads them to have to confront whatever the heck is going on up on the surface.

Back in January, I did a post on the trailer for this film and posed the question of just how much is it meant to connect to the original Cloverfield. Well, having now seen the film, I can firmly say that it actually doesn’t relate to it that much. In other words, this is not a ‘follow-up’ to the events of the first film. The monster from the first film does not appear at any point and this film is shot traditionally instead of in the ‘found-footage’ style that defined the first film. But at the same time, I do still see how this film is meant to be a ‘blood relative’ of Cloverfield. Both films are, at their very roots, stories of strange ‘events’ happening and how certain people respond to it. And whereas the first film was a ‘monster/horror’ film, this film is more of a claustrophobic thriller as it is almost entirely set within the confines of Howard’s bunker. And overall it does deliver on being a very tense thriller throughout, with the audience left in the dark just as much as Michelle is in regards to what’s going on. And because of it, you’re very much invested in wanting to know more just like Michelle. The film also benefits from a terrific trio of leads. John Gallagher, Jr., AKA the ‘general unknown’ of the three, is solid even when considering that his character Emmett is basically the least important of the three. Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Michelle is a smart and likable ‘avatar’ for the audience and it’s really cool how a good chunk of the film revolves around her and her attempts to escape, whether it’s using an IV rod in order to reach her phone or her starting a fire in the ventilation system. But the real star of the show is John Goodman in the role of Howard. Walking a fine line between intimidating and creepy, as well as seeming like he’s ‘not all there’ at times, Howard is a complete enigma throughout and this film reaffirms the fact that Goodman is quite simply one of the best character actors in the business.  

But while I was immediately hooked with the plot and was curious to see where this film was going to go, I’ll admit that I felt a little let-down by the ending. Now again, I won’t spoil what happens for anyone who hasn’t seen the film yet and for the record, it’s not like this ending was completely out of left field or anything, as I’ve heard some people claim. There are some allusions early on about what’s actually happening and of course whatever it is was responsible for what then led to Howard, Michelle, and Emmett being stuck in the bunker. And the conflict that emerges between Howard and Michelle is also clearly defined in regards to the former’s true intentions. However, in regards to “what’s coming”, as the marketing keeps stating, the film doesn’t really do much to explain it. Now I’m not entirely faulting the film for deciding not to delve too much into this ‘entity’ but at the same time, it would’ve been nice to learn just a little bit more about who this is and what they’re doing here. Also, there’s not much of a finality to Howard’s overall story arc. I’ve read about the film’s original ending and, obviously without giving anything major away, I do feel that this version would’ve resulted in a more conclusive ending to the conflict between Howard and Michelle. This ending also doesn’t feature the ‘entity’ so I’m guessing that part of the film was added in later, supposedly in reshoots. Either way, though, neither version really does much to explain what actually happened. At the end of the day, it’s more about what happens inside the bunker than what’s happening on the outside. 

Now despite my issues with the ending, I did still thoroughly enjoy 10 Cloverfield Lane. Because ultimately the most important element of the film isn’t ‘what’s out there’ but instead the characters within the bunker and everything that goes on while they’re in there. The first two-thirds of the film do an excellent job in regards to setting these characters up and establishing a terrifically suspenseful atmosphere within its ‘cozy’ confines, especially thanks to John Goodman’s outstanding performance as the incredibly eerie Howard. As someone who admittedly isn’t a ‘big, big fan’ of the original Cloverfield, I actually didn’t mind that this film wasn’t a 100% ‘direct sequel’ to it. There has been some debate over the overall decision to connect this film to the original Cloverfield, with some arguing that this was nothing more than Paramount cashing in on the Cloverfield name due to the fact that this film was originally known as The Cellar before Bad Robot took over the film’s production and connected it to the 2008 film. But overall I do very much get how this film can be seen as a ‘blood relative’ to the original Cloverfield because both films do share a similarly structured plot based around ‘strange occurrences’. This film also helps showcase the potential of what is apparently meant to be the beginning of a new ‘anthology’ series and a pretty interesting one at that, if you ask me. After all, as this film’s tagline states, ‘Monsters Come in Many Forms’, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of ‘monsters’ J.J. Abrams and his team come up with down the road. Until then, I will say that 10 Cloverfield Lane is a well-made thriller with a great trio of leads and an interesting premise that keep me interested throughout even if it kind of unraveled by the end.

Rating: 4/5

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) review (400th Post!!)

In June of 1938, DC Comics launched its Action Comics series, which introduced the character of Superman, the ‘alien’ being from the planet Krypton who was sent to Earth by his father Jor-El when the planet was on the brink of destruction. Adopted by the Kents, Superman spent much of his childhood living in Kansas under the name Clark Kent before taking on the public persona of Superman as an adult. In doing so, he not only became DC’s ‘first’ major superhero but also arguably the most famous superhero of all-time. Just a little less than a year later, in May of 1939, DC debuted the character of Batman in the 27^th issue of their Detective Comics series. Batman, AKA Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy who took on the persona of ‘The Dark Knight’ after witnessing his parents’ murder at a young age, is arguably just as iconic as Superman if not more given all of the numerous adaptations of the character over the years from films to TV shows to video games. While DC Comics has created numerous superheroes over the years from Wonder Woman to the Flash to Green Lantern, Batman and Superman are easily the company’s most famous protagonists. That is very much exemplified by their track records on film because, to be perfectly frank, they are kind of the only major DC superheroes to find success in live-action on the big-screen. Superman pretty much kicked off the ‘superhero film genre’ with his 1978 titular film Superman, directed by Richard Donner, while Batman’s own titular outing from 1989, directed by Tim Burton, was another noteworthy entry for the genre. Both franchises experienced their own highs and lows over the years but they have also saw revivals in recent years. In the case of Batman, it was thanks to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy while Superman got a Dark Knight style reimagining in 2013 with Man of Steel.

Three years after Man of Steel, DC now begins its journey into establishing its own cinematic universe, just like Marvel has done over the past eight years, with the follow-up to Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Man of Steel director Zack Snyder returns to direct as does the main cast of Man of Steel while Ben Affleck takes over for Christian Bale in the role of Batman. It is the first time that these titans of DC have appeared together in a live-action film so obviously there was a lot of hype surrounding the film because of that as well as the aforementioned fact that it’s meant to kick-start DC’s own cinematic universe. However, at the moment it is currently being slammed by critics, sporting only a measly 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (at the time I’m writing this). While this isn’t really that surprising seeing how Man of Steel also received mixed reviews from critics (that film has a 56% rating on RT) and was no doubt the most polarizing film of 2013, I assure you that this new film is nowhere near as bad as that RT rating suggests. Now don’t get me wrong as there are some issues with this film, namely in regards to the story and the editing. At the same time, though, there are genuinely some very good things about this film, particularly the visuals, the action sequences, and the performances of a few noteworthy newcomers to the DC ‘Extended Universe’ (that’s the term they’re going with for this new Cinematic Universe, from what I’ve heard). In other words, I’m certain that fans of the DC universe are going to be pretty satisfied with this long-awaited crossover involving the ‘Son of Krypton’ and the ‘Bat of Gotham’.

The film takes place 18 months after the events of Man of Steel, in which Superman (Henry Cavill) successfully prevented General Zod (Michael Shannon) from destroying the Earth in order to establish a new home for the people of Krypton. At the same time, however, Superman’s confrontation with Zod ended up causing a lot of collateral damage to the city of Metropolis. Because of this, Superman ends up becoming a controversial figure amongst various parties. One particular critic of Superman is Gotham billionaire Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), who of course as we know moonlights as Gotham’s vigilante Batman. Fearing that Superman, being an all-powerful alien, could pose a severe threat to the human race, Bruce begins an all-out defense against Superman, which soon sees the two superheroes coming into conflict with each other. At the same time, however, Metropolis tech mogul Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), who also views Superman as a threat as well as other ‘meta-humans’ currently out there, begins to experiment with both the remains of General Zod and the Kryptonian technology recovered from the battle of Metropolis, particularly the material known as Kryptonite, in order to combat Superman. Lex’s actions, which pose a threat to not just Batman and Superman but the whole world as well, soon force the two heroes to work together, serving as a precedent for future events in the DC universe.

So as far as this film’s primary issues are concerned, they mainly come from the story and the editing, particularly during the first twenty minutes or so. This film admittedly does start out on a bit of a rough note as the plot sort of goes in all directions in regards to what’s going on. Part of it does come from the editing, which can be rather choppy at times. In a way, that does sort of apply to the whole film; after all, this film does cover a lot of ground even in the fairly hefty span of 153 minutes. Not only does this film continue the story that began in Man of Steel but it also re-establishes the character of Batman while also setting up other characters like Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). But ultimately, I did like how the film ‘set up’ the other characters. At the end of the day, this is still very much a Batman/Superman film and while I was worried that Batman was going to overshadow Superman in what was originally ‘his sequel’ (which I know some will deny but I do recall Zack Snyder stating at one point that he wanted to do a second Superman film before getting into anything Justice League related, and keep in mind that this was before it was revealed that Batman was going to be in it), the film actually is rather balanced in terms of their roles in the overall plot. Wonder Woman is basically the only other major DC lead superhero to have a ‘major’ role in the story but the film does feature some ‘cameo appearances’ from the likes of characters like Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and the Flash (Ezra Miller) and I do think that the film handled these ‘cameos’ well. They don’t overshadow Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman, but they do their job in regards to setting them up for future films without them actually playing ‘a role’ in this film’s story. Stuff like this did keep me invested throughout even if the narrative did become rather unfocused at times.

But these problems do sort of become less prevalent as the film goes on and this is where Batman v Superman really starts to shine, namely in regards to its visuals. There’s no denying that Zack Snyder is one of the best ‘visual directors’ in the business. That is especially true whenever Snyder does a ‘comic-book’ film, like he did with 300 in 2007 and Watchmen in 2009. It’s been very much shown that Snyder really does have a talent in regards to translating the imagery of the comics to the big-screen and that once again shows with this film. So even if you’re not a big fan of this film, there’s no denying that it has one hell of an awesome visual style. That also translates well into the action sequences. Admittedly most of the action sequences are reserved for the third act of the film but when they do happen, they’re pretty darn epic, especially the fight sequences between Batman and Superman and quite frankly any action sequences involving Batman for that matter. Like Man of Steel, this film has attracted a considerable amount of flak for its overall tone; in other words, these films have been criticized for being ‘too grim’. However, I don’t entirely agree with that because while it is true that these films are much more serious compared to the lighter-hearted efforts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that doesn’t mean that they are completely ‘dour’. There are a few light-hearted quips peppered in here and there, particularly from Alfred (Jeremy Irons, who is, to put it simply, quite excellent in the role of Bruce Wayne’s trusty butler) and Perry White (Laurence Fishburne). Some of you might recall the rumor that DC was mandating a ‘no joke’ policy in regards to their upcoming films. Well based solely on this film I can tell you that this alleged ‘no joke’ mandate… was a load of bull.

Performance-wise, the returning cast of Man of Steel (Cavill, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, etc.) are as solid as they were in the first film. Ultimately though, the major focus for most people this time around was the newcomers; Affleck as Batman, Gadot as Wonder Woman, and Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. It’s pretty much guaranteed that any major superhero casting is going to be subjected to much scrutiny from comic book fans and Affleck’s casting as Batman is arguably the most controversial superhero casting of all-time. While Affleck has redeemed his career in recent years thanks to his directorial efforts with films like Argo and Gone Baby Gone, his previous turn in the superhero genre, 2003’s Daredevil, was clearly still in the minds of a lot of comic book fans. Thankfully, a lot of those critics are hopefully now eating their words because Affleck is superb as Batman. His take on the character is very much influenced by the older Bruce Wayne from Frank Miller’s iconic series The Dark Knight Returns and Affleck handles the role of the aged Batman perfectly. The controversy over Gal Gadot’s casting of Wonder Woman mainly stemmed from the fact that Gadot’s filmography prior to this film wasn’t necessarily that ‘illustrious’. But ultimately she is excellent in the role. Obviously she isn’t in it as much as Affleck or Cavill but once she ‘becomes’ Wonder Woman, man does she steal the show. And finally we come to Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, who of course attracted controversy on the grounds that some believed he ‘didn’t look the part’. As far as his performance in this film goes, it’s no doubt going to be one of the most polarizing elements of the film. Eisenberg does play the role in a fairly over-the-top manner. For some, this will be a bit ‘much’ but I will say that he does have some genuinely memorable moments from time to time and at the very least it feels like he’s at least doing something different in the role compared to what has come before.

At the end of the day, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice may be attracting a rather negative reaction from most critics but that doesn’t automatically mean that the developing DC ‘Extended Universe’ is in jeopardy. I have the feeling that the next two films in this franchise, Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman, are probably going to fare better with critics. Still, I do feel that some critics have been overly harsh on this film. Some critics will deny it but I assure you that I have some clearly biased reviews from people who kept s***ting on this film before they saw it; in other words, they went into it already intent on hating it and that’s just unfair. Anyone who’s been following this blog the past few years will know that I used to be pretty darn critical towards this film in the years leading up to its release, mainly after it was announced that Wonder Woman was going to be in this ‘Batman and Superman’ film. But ultimately I realized that I was being totally unjust towards the film by being overly critical towards it despite the fact that it wasn’t even out yet. I’ve made it clear that I’m a bigger fan of what Marvel Studios has been doing with their Cinematic Universe but that did not influence my thoughts on this film in any way. And ultimately I will say that I did like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Yes, there are some flaws, namely in regards to the film’s rather scrambled narrative. This is by no means a ‘perfect’ superhero film. But the things that this film does right truly are great, particularly the visuals, action sequences, and noteworthy performances from the likes of Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot, among others. A 30% on RT this is not… if you ask me, it should be in the same camp as Man of Steel and have a rating somewhere in the 50’s that represents the admittedly polarizing nature of the film. Ultimately though, I will say this… if you’re a fan of DC Comics, and if you did like Man of Steel I have the feeling that you’re really going to like this film no matter what the critics may say about it.

Rating: 3.5/5

2016 SXSW Film Festival Recap

Hey folks! So if you’ve been following me on Twitter and Instagram these past few days, you’ll know that I’ve spent the last week in Austin, Texas for the 2016 South by Southwest Film Festival. It was all part of a school trip that I went on that was being held by the University of Rhode Island. Suffice it to say, this was one hell of an experience. It was pretty much my first major ‘Film Festival’. For the record, I had actually participated in another film festival before, the Rhode Island International Film Festival back in 2013, but this was more or less my first ‘primetime’ film festival experience (in other words, something along the lines of Sundance or TIFF). I saw a lot of films, went to a few panels, and came across many interesting folks along the way. So today, I’m giving you folks a recap of everything that I did down in Texas this past week. Though actually, when I say ‘everything’, I’ll mainly be focusing on the films that I saw these past few days, from the event’s big ‘headliners’ to a few noteworthy documentaries.

DAY 1: MARCH 11^TH

Admittedly there’s not much to talk about for this first day. This was just the day I flew down to Texas. I departed from the TF Green airport in Providence in the early morning and made a quick stop in Tampa before flying into the city and getting there around 11:00 AM CST. For a while I thought I would get in later than usual because President Obama was flying in for a Keynote Speech and I heard that the airport was going to basically shut down all activity for his arrival. Thankfully I got in about two hours before he did. I wanted to get into Austin early so I could catch the Opening Night film which was…

EVERYBODY WANTS SOME

Everybody Wants Some is the latest film from director Richard Linklater and has been described as a ‘spiritual sequel’ to his 1993 classic Dazed and Confused. And that’s definitely a perfect description of it as both films are admittedly fairly similar in terms of their plots. Both films are basically just about a group of characters hanging out and getting into a whole bunch of shenanigans. But whereas Dazed and Confused was set in the 70’s, Everybody Wants Some takes place in 1980. I did watch Dazed before I went on this trip and overall I will say that both films are excellent. Everybody Wants Some is definitely one of those films worth seeing with a crowd. As noted, I saw this on Opening Night and the crowd at the Paramount Theater loved it, which is fitting seeing how Linklater is from Texas and was pretty much responsible for establishing Austin as a premier locale for filmmakers. While I’ll admit that sometimes the crowd was a bit too excited for the film to the point where some bits of dialogue were drowned out by audience laughter, I did still have a lot of fun watching Everybody Wants Some. It definitely is a very entertaining crowd-pleaser that is full of humor, primarily thanks to the cast’s great camaraderie, and of course has a great soundtrack just like Dazed. The cast is mostly made up of ‘unknowns’, with the biggest name being Glee alum Blake Jenner in the lead role of freshman pitcher Jake, but everyone in the cast is terrific. While admittedly the film isn’t very deep in terms of its story, this is still very much a really fun time to be had at the theater. Everybody Wants Some is set to come out on April 1^st.

Rating: 4.5/5

DAY 2: MARCH 12^TH

This was my first real day of getting to explore Austin and the various premier spots to check out during this year’s SXSW festival. My day started off with two ‘Conversation’ events featuring actors from some of the featured films that were premiering that night. The first featured Jake Gyllenhaal and was moderated by Pineapple Express director David Gordon Green, who is collaborating with Jake Gyllenhaal on an upcoming film called Stronger about Jeff Bauman, a survivor of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. It was a pretty packed event and it was pretty cool to see Gyllenhaal talk about his career and ‘the craft’ of acting while also showing that he’s quite the charismatic guy off-screen. Immediately after that, I then stuck around for another ‘Conversation’ event, this one featuring Joel Edgerton. Surprisingly there wasn’t much of a crowd for this event compared to Gyllenhaal’s panel but it was still a pretty cool panel, as Edgerton talked about his career as well as his recent efforts in regards to directing in the wake of his well-received directorial debut from last year, The Gift (which for the record I still haven’t seen yet but I promise I will soon). The rest of the day involved around me checking out the two films that Gyllenhaal and Edgerton starred in that were premiering at the Festival. First up was Joel Edgerton’s new film…

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL

Directed by Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter), Midnight Special stars Michael Shannon as Roy, a father who goes on the run in order to protect his son Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), who is revealed to possess ‘special powers’. They’re joined by Roy’s longtime friend Lucas (Edgerton) and Alton’s mother Sarah (Kirsten Dunst) all while being hunted by both a religious cult that had taken on the role of Alton’s foster family and the government. Overall I will say that this is a very fascinating film and I highly recommend you go into it knowing little about it. Though with that said, the film admittedly does sort of leave a few parts of its story unanswered. I’m not saying that there aren’t any strong themes and story beats because there are, especially in regards to the relationship between Roy and Alton. But just like Mad Max: Fury Road, it would’ve helped if there was just a bit more to the narrative so that the audience could get a better idea of everything that’s going on. Still, it’s fascinating to see where Nichols goes with this unique and original story of a special boy and the lengths to which his family will go in order to protect him. It’s also very much a performance-driven film, with excellent performances by Michael Shannon (who’s became a regular of Jeff Nichols’ films), Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, and Adam Driver, the latter of whom actually provides a lot of the film’s humorous moments as the government agent who heads the investigation into Alton’s ‘disappearance’. In short, Midnight Special is a very compelling sci-fi flick that held my interest throughout, even if the film could’ve benefitted from being just a bit more, though not too much, forthcoming in terms of its story. At the time I’m writing this, it is already in theaters for those interested in checking it out.

Rating: 4/5

DEMOLITION

I’ll just get straight to the point… Demolition was the best film that I saw at this year’s SXSW festival. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, director of Dallas Buyers Club, the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as an investment banker whose life is forever changed when his wife tragically dies in a car accident. The rest of the film follows him and shows how he handles the situation and to put it simply, he has a very interesting way of dealing with it. Despite the film’s dramatic storyline, the first two-thirds of the film are actually knee-slapping hilarious as Gyllenhaal’s character, Davis, pretty much goes nuts to the point where he literally writes letters to a vending machine company, which then leads to him befriending the company’s customer service rep Karen (Naomi Watts) and her son Chris (Judah Lewis), all just because one of their machines didn’t work for him one day. What then follows is a series of crazy shenanigans, including Davis taking apart various objects from his refrigerator to eventually his whole house, hence the title of the film Demolition, and Gyllenhaal shines as a result of his great comedic timing. But then when the film’s final act kicks in, suddenly it goes all serious and we see Davis finally reach emotional catharsis over the loss of his wife. These scenes do pack an emotional punch, especially those involving his wife’s father (Chris Cooper), and the end result is a very entertaining dramedy that’s two parts black comedy and one part emotionally resonant and it actually does come together very well. I’m actually surprised this film has only gotten mixed reviews so far because it went over extremely well with the SXSW crowd, who gave it the Audience Award for ‘Best Headliner’. In short, I highly recommend you check this film out when it’s released on April 8^th.

Rating: 5/5!

DAY 3: MARCH 13^TH

As part of the class that this trip was revolved around, we were required to meet with a professional ‘mentor’ from the industry and I was lucky enough to meet with a film critic, Gerald Peary, who used to write for the Boston Phoenix up until its closure in 2013. Currently he writes reviews for The Arts Fuse, ‘Boston’s Online Arts Magazine’. I showed him one of my reviews and he gave me some advice as to how to further my writing. His main suggestion? Condense my reviews, which I totally get seeing how most people probably don’t spend a lot of time reading written reviews. That’s definitely something I’m going to try to work on these next few months. Anyway, this day notably saw me experiencing my first ‘crowd incident’ at one of the screenings. At the very end of the first screening that I was at that day, someone in the audience was kicked out, apparently because he was distracting everyone by being on his phone (the nerve.). Anyway, that was at a screening for…

IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE

Director Ti West, who’s mainly been known for horror films like The Innkeepers and for directing one of the segments of 2012’s horror anthology film V/H/S, takes on the western genre with his new film, In a Valley of Violence. Ethan Hawke stars as Paul, a drifter who enacts revenge upon a group of deputies from the rundown town of Denton when they do something terrible to him after he provoked Gilly (James Ransome), the son of the town’s Marshal (John Travolta). What follows is a very engaging Western tale featuring terrific performances from Hawke, Travolta, and the rest of the film’s cast, which also includes Karen Gillan and Taissa Farmiga as sisters who run Denton’s sole hotel and Burn Gorman as a drunken priest who Hawke’s character comes across a few times during the film. But the most interesting aspect of the film is that the ‘finale’ features quite a lot of humorous moments. This film’s humor mainly stems from the fact that the characters are clearly shown to be way over their heads in regards to all of this and how they’re ill-equipped to respond to it. With great performances, a good sense of humor, a cool score by Jeff Grace that’s reminiscent of Ennio Morricone’s score for The Hateful Eight, and excellent cinematography, In a Valley of Violence is a pretty cool spin on the Western genre. It is set to come out on September 16^th.

P.S. The dog featured in this film, Jumpy (who some of you might recognize from YouTube), absolutely steals the show.

Rating: 4.5/5

HARDCORE HENRY

Hardcore Henry is a very unique spin on the action genre. It is an action film that is entirely set from a ‘first-person perspective’, centering on a cybernetically-enhanced man named Henry who fights through Moscow in order to rescue his wife Estelle (Haley Bennett) from warlord Akan (Danila Kozlovsky) with the help of his ‘friend’ Jimmy (Sharlto Copley). What follows is a film that I can basically describe as the equivalent of playing a game like Duke Nukem while on crystal meth… and that’s not necessarily a good thing, I might add. The action in this film is fricking insane and while I will give the film credit for the fact that the action is pretty impressive thanks in part to the film’s unique shooting style, it can get a little nauseating at times. This film is pretty much non-stop action throughout… and that definitely shows considering that this film is ultimately pretty damn mindless. Obviously the action is the most important element of the film but the plot is pretty much an afterthought and some things are never explained, like the fact that Akan is basically a Jedi because he has telekinesis. How did he get these powers? Never explained. The film does feature a pretty standout performance by Sharlto Copley in the role of Jimmy who, without giving anything major away, goes through numerous ‘iterations’ throughout the film. But ultimately, I was not really a big fan of Hardcore Henry. I will give it credit for its unique style which we haven’t yet seen in the action genre but ultimately the film ends up being a fairly juvenile affair. It’s by no means a ‘terrible’ film but not one I was particularly fond of either.

Rating: 2.5/5

DAY 4: MARCH 14^TH

To paraphrase Darth Vader, this is a day that, for me, will very much be long-remembered. First I went to a special screening that ended up being the premiere of a documentary about the making of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This documentary is going to be included on the film’s Blu-Ray release so obviously I won’t be giving it a rating for that reason. Still, what more can be said besides the fact that it’s a really awesome inside look at one of the best films of last year and it was cool to learn more about a film that for months was shrouded in secrecy. Heck it was even introduced by J.J. Abrams himself and R2-D2 made an appearance at the subsequent Q&A. Speaking of J.J., my main highlight of the day was going to a special panel titled ‘The Eyes of Robots of Murderers’ that featured both J.J. and filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, creator of HBO’s The Jinx. Basically the panel was a discussion about the advancements of technology and how it affects the film industry. J.J. showed off a sizzle reel from the new HBO show that he’s producing with Jonathan Nolan, Westworld, while Jarecki showcased his company’s video app KnowMe, a pretty cool app that allows its users to create unique videos to share online. But the real highlight of the panel for me was at the end when I was able to get J.J’s autograph. While I have definitely seen a lot of great films this past week, getting the autograph of quite frankly my favorite director in the film industry was definitely one of the best moments of this trip for me.

Later that night, I attended a special screening for an R-rated animated film…

SAUSAGE PARTY

This screening was particularly special because this was very much a ‘work-in-progress’ cut of the film. By that I mean not all of the animation was finished yet. There was even a scene that consisted of nothing but storyboards. This is something that quite frankly no one is ever going to see again save for the possibility of bonus material on the Blu-Ray. But what’s there is certainly going to lead to a unique animated film when it’s released this August and one that very much lives up to its distinction of being an R-rated animated film. Sausage Party is the latest film from the duo of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, centering on a bunch of food objects in a supermarket that dream of being chosen by ‘the gods’ (AKA humans) and being brought out into the ‘Great Beyond’. But soon they discover the horrible truth about ‘the Great Beyond’ which of course is the fact that the humans end up eating them, which does result in some gruesome food deaths that aren’t ‘graphic’ in the same way that most action sequences involving human characters are but are very much graphic from the perspective of food. And it very much lives up to its R-rating with its sexual humor and an ending that, without giving anything away, is something that has to be seen to be believed. It’s got a really nice voice cast; Seth Rogen, Michael Cera, and Jonah Hill star as some of the sausages, Kristen Wiig stars as the hot dog bun that Rogen’s character is attracted to, and Edward Norton goes full-on Woody Allen as a bagel, and that’s just to name a few. So because the film is not finished yet, I’m not going to give it an official rating just yet. But I will say that this is shaping up to be a very unique spin on the animated film genre and given the highly enthusiastic response it got from the SXSW crowd, it looks like this film is going to be a hit.

DAY 5: MARCH 15^TH

After two straight days where I had to wake up early in order to get to the events I wanted to go to, today was a more laid-back day for me. Both of my screenings were at the Alamo Drafthouse in South Lamar. This was the first time during this trip that I was able to see a film at an Alamo theater and for those who have never been to one of these theaters before, it is quite frankly one of the best, if not the best, theater chains around; great food, great movies, and great crowds in a chain that enforces a ‘no talking/texting’ rule. What more do you need? Anyway, today I saw two documentaries. The first was Newtown, which was a documentary about the Newtown shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. As you might expect, the film is very emotional as it focuses on some of the families who tragically lost some of their kids in the shooting. I guarantee there won’t be any dry eyes when this film is watched.

Silicon Cowboys details the history of the computer company Compaq, who became famous in the 80’s for their personal computers that were compatible with software for computers from tech giant IBM. Basically this is a story of David and Goliath in which Compaq managed to compete with IBM and eventually overtake them to become the biggest PC supplier of the 1990’s and I always find tech-related films/TV shows like this very interesting. This documentary also made a few modern-day connections, including clips from current tech-themed shows like AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire and HBO’s Silicon Valley as well as noting some of the more recent advancements in technology. All in all, this was a very entertaining documentary that serves as a neat piece of nostalgia in regards to telling the story of how one company managed to make its mark in the personal computer industry.

DAY 6: MARCH 16^TH

Turned 21 today. WOOT WOOT! Anyway, today consisted of another back-to-back pair of screenings at the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse. The first film was Miss Stevens, which stars Lily Rabe (The American Horror Story series) as the titular Miss Stevens, an English teacher who takes three of her students on a weekend trip to a drama competition. While there, she deals with some personal struggles all while helping one of her students, Billy (Timothee Chalamet), deal with some of his own problems. Overall it’s a really solid flick with some good humor and an excellent performance by Rabe (4/5). The second film I saw today was Don’t Breathe, the newest film from Fede Alvarez, who directed the 2013 remake of Evil Dead. Fittingly enough, this new film is also produced by Sam Raimi and stars Evil Dead lead Jane Levy in the lead role. This film centers on a trio of teens (Levy, Dylan Minnette, and Daniel Zovatto) who plan on breaking into the house of a blind army vet (Stephen Lang) who had recently acquired a large sum of money from court following the death of his daughter as the result of a hit and run. However, they soon realize that this old man isn’t as helpless as they thought. What follows is a very tense game of cat and mouse and there are some very suspenseful moments throughout, including a sequence set in the vet’s basement that is entirely in the dark. Levy does a really good job in the lead role while Stephen Lang steals the show in the role of the blind army vet. Admittedly it takes a bit to get going and is rather simplistic in terms of its characterizations but I will say it’s a very pulse-pounding thriller in just the right places (4/5).

DAY 7: MARCH 17^TH

Old St. Paddy’s Day started off with a very engrossing documentary called Tower. This film is a retelling of the 1966 school shooting committed by Charles Whitman from ‘The Tower’ at the University of Texas, in which 14 people were killed and 32 others were wounded. Tower is predominantly an animated film, utilizing a roto-scope style to tell the story from the perspective of some of the survivors of the event (portrayed in the film by actors). Ultimately though, the film does cut to the real-life people at the end as it progresses into the present day. There are mentions of almost every other infamous shooting from Columbine to Aurora as the film does address some of the political debate that has arisen over these incidents. But ultimately the film’s biggest achievement is how it highlights the heroism of some of those who were around the area when this happened, including a woman named Rita who comforted then 18-year old pregnant student Claire Wilson, who was the first shot by Whitman from the Tower which resulted in her not only losing her baby but also kept her stuck laying on the South Mall area of campus in the hot sun, by approaching her and laying down with her on the Mall even at the risk of being shot herself. Tower pretty much won all of the big Documentary awards at this year’s festival and rightfully so as it was very much an excellent retelling of arguably the most infamous moment in the history of Austin. For those interested, this documentary is slated to air on PBS sometime this year or the next. When it does air, I highly recommend you check it out.

That night, I attended the world premiere of a film that was slated to be released the following day. The film in question marked the long-awaited return of an icon.

PEE-WEE’S BIG HOLIDAY

In the 80’s, comedian Paul Reubens became known for creating the classic character with the child-like innocence known as Pee-Wee Herman, who debuted in 1981 on his own stage show The Pee-Wee Herman Show. While the show was geared towards older audiences, Pee-Wee later became a childhood icon with the 1985 comedy classic Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, which notably served as the directorial debut for Tim Burton, and the TV series Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, which ran for five seasons from 1986 to 1990. Now over two and a half decades later, everyone’s favorite ‘eternal child’ is back in a whole new adventure, Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, which debuted at SXSW before being released on Netflix the following day. In this new film, Pee-Wee meets a cool stranger by the name of… Joe Manganiello; yes, Manganiello plays himself in the film. The two strike up a pretty fast friendship which leads to Joe encouraging Pee-Wee, who is established to be against the idea of ever taking a holiday and leaving his hometown of Fairville, to travel to New York in time for Joe’s birthday. This inspires Pee-Wee to finally leave Fairville and go off on a big road trip across the country. And of course, this then leads to a whole bunch of shenanigans that come from all of the places that Pee-Wee travels to and the people that he meets along the way.

Big Holiday obviously has a fairly similar road-trip premise to Big Adventure but instead of being a questionable retread, it still manages to be its own thing. Admittedly it does lack the surreal and quirky production design of Tim Burton but it still manages to be a very charming adventure featuring Pee-Wee and it’s clear that everyone involved in this film clearly had a lot of fun making it, including Paul Reubens, who slips back into his iconic role with ease, and Joe Manganiello, who strikes up a very nice camaraderie with Pee-Wee. At the end of the day, there’s no denying that Pee-Wee is such a lovable character and as the highly positive response from the crowd at SXSW showed, is still very much an icon in the eyes of many people even after some of the incidents that Paul Reubens got into years back. So in short, if you’re a fan of Pee-Wee, I have the feeling you’re really going to enjoy this new film. It’s a very pleasant return of one of the famous characters in pop culture history.

Rating: 4/5

DAY 8: MARCH 18^TH

My final day of screenings at SXSW consisted of yet another duo of documentaries at the Lamar Alamo Drafthouse. The first documentary was The Slippers, which, as you might have guessed, was based on arguably the most iconic prop in film history, the ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. This documentary explores the journeys that various sets of the ruby slippers made over the years and the people who owned them at various points in time. This includes a pair that was stolen from the Judy Garland museum in her birthplace of Grand Rapids, Michigan, which unfortunately have yet to be found, and a more exotic-looking ‘test pair’ that was given to Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, who had attempted to set up a museum of film memorabilia but ultimately never got the chance to. In a way, the attention given to these slippers pretty much led the way to the art of film memorabilia collecting that many of us partake in today. All in all, this was a very interesting documentary that not only focuses in on an interesting side of the film fan community but also re-establishes how much of a classic The Wizard of Oz truly is. However, I will admit that it does suffer from one issue; it’s a bit overlong at just over one and a half hours. Still, anyone interested in collecting film-related artifacts will no doubt be interested in this one.

The second documentary I saw that day was Fantastic Lies, which was actually one of the 30 for 30 films that ESPN produces, which aired on TV on the 13^th. This documentary explores the 2006 Duke University Men’s Lacrosse team and the incident in which some of its players were accused of committing sexual assault against an exotic dancer during one of their parties. Now I’m going to be perfectly honest with you folks; while I was aware of this incident, I never really knew ‘much’ about it. I actually had no idea that the three specific players accused, Reade Seligmann, Colin Finnerty, and David Evans, were actually innocent, that the prosecutor involved with the case, Mike Nifong, had been withholding evidence from the court in order to paint the players as guilty, and how the media turned this whole incident into a frenzy through influencing people and their views on the entire lacrosse team based on things like race and privilege. It really opened my eyes as to how the legal system can sometimes fall victim to corruption and there’s quite a sense of satisfaction when the three players are finally proven innocent. Save for my current gripes with the network over how it handled a certain football-related incident involving my favorite team that I won’t repeat here so that it wouldn’t have to spawn any further discussion, ESPN has always done a great job with these 30 for 30 films and this one is no exception.

So that was my recap on my 2016 SXSW Film Festival trip. For those who were there as well, what were your thoughts on these films? For those who couldn’t be there this year, do any of these films interest you? Be sure to sound off in the comments below.

Agent Carter: Season 2 'Review'

(Due to the fact that I would basically be repeating myself over and over again with each successive season of the multiple comic-book TV series that I’ve already done reviews for, this ‘review’ of the second season of Agent Carter, as well as a forthcoming post on Season 3 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and basically any future post for a superhero/comic-book show season (save for the first season of shows like Supergirl and Luke Cage), will not be done in the traditional style in which I do my reviews. In other words, this is going to be more like a series of observations made in regards to what happened this season.)

(Also I will be discussing spoiler-heavy moments from this season so SPOILER ALERT!)

Amidst the midseason break of Season 2 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel Studios debuted their second big TV series in the form of Agent Carter. Set in the post-WWII era a year after the events of 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, the show saw First Avenger star Hayley Atwell reprising her role of SSR agent Peggy Carter, Captain America’s key ally and love interest. And thanks to its excellent period setting and production design, as well as Atwell continuing to be terrific in the role of arguably the best female lead in the entire MCU, the first season of Agent Carter was another solid success for Marvel Studios, keeping AoS fans like myself very much entertained until the show returned that March. And now, here are we again in the midst of a midseason break for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with Season 2 of Agent Carter. This time around, everyone’s favorite ass-kicking SSR agent leaves the confines of New York for the glitz and glamour of the City of Angels, Los Angeles, as she combats a new threat in the form of Whitney Frost (Wynn Everett), AKA Madame Masque in the comics. So with that said, how did this show’s sophomore season turn out?

*Season 2 of this show, as expected, carries a lot of the same great elements of the first season. The period production design is terrific, with this season actually managing to outshine the first thanks to its Hollywood setting. The series also continues to maintain the same great light-hearted atmosphere and humor that has defined the MCU from the very beginning, primarily as a result of the ensemble cast’s excellent camaraderie. And of course, Hayley Atwell is once again terrific as Peggy as is the rest of the ensemble, particularly James D’Arcy as Jarvis. The camaraderie between Peggy and Jarvis is just as great as it’s ever been.

*On that note, Jarvis was quite frankly my favorite character from this season as he had one of the most emotional arcs of this season’s overall storyline. This season finally introduced us to his wife Ana (Lottie Verbeek), who unfortunately ended up getting shot by Whitney Frost in Episode 7, ‘Monsters’. While she does survive this, this also results in her and Jarvis not being able to have children. Definitely the most heartbreaking moment of the season, this leads Jarvis to seek revenge on Frost in Episode 8, ‘The Edge of Mystery’, but this ultimately ends up risking the mission when he and Peggy are captured by Frost and her henchmen after he tries to kill her. The argument that the two have afterwards in the next episode, ‘A Little Song and Dance’, while walking through the desert leads Jarvis to finally take responsibility for his actions, namely the fact that he keeps tagging along with Peggy because he’s clearly gotten bored with just being Howard Stark’s butler, to be there for his wife. And yet ultimately Ana comes to accept that Jarvis should be out there helping Peggy.   

*Whitney Frost is a pretty damn great villain for this season and Wynn Everett is excellent in the role. Frost is pretty much the perfect foil to Peggy as she too finds herself combating the sexism of the time as the actress wife of prospective senator Calvin Chadwick. She is also shown to be quite the engineering prodigy, something that wasn’t expected out of women at the time. But once she kills Chadwick in Episode 6 after he betrays her during a meeting with his organization, the ‘Council of Nine’ (better known as the ‘Secret Empire’ in the comics), she very much takes control of the situation, resulting in an excellent adversary for Peggy to face this season. Speaking of adversaries…

*While she doesn’t play as big of a role in the plot this season compared to the last, the scenes where Peggy interacts with Dottie Underwood are easily some of the best moments of the season, from their tussle in the first episode of the season, in which Peggy apprehends her during an attempted bank robbery, to the point where Peggy is forced to break her out of prison to help her deal with Frost. Just like in Season 1, Dottie serves as an excellent foil to Peggy, just like Frost this season, and it’s always great seeing Atwell and Bridget Regan work off of each other.

*While the show is still very much entertaining to watch, I do feel that this season suffered a bit of terms of its plot. I can’t really explain why but occasionally there were a few dull points in the story and even a bit of repetition in terms of how certain episodes played out. At the very least, this season impressively managed to get by without having to overly rely on the MCU films. The only real connection made to the films this season was the introduction of the substance known as ‘Zero Matter’, or as it’s known in the comics, ‘Darkforce’, which will certainly be featured in the upcoming Doctor Strange. I’m aware that some people are rather critical of this show and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. referencing the MCU films a lot but quite frankly I’ve never had a problem with it as I felt this helped these shows stay connected to the MCU films in a way that the DC films never do with their shows, though it should be noted that Arrow and The Flash do maintain a fairly strong connection with each other with their cross-over episodes.

*Also contrary to popular opinion is the fact that I wasn’t too bothered by this season focusing in on Peggy Carter finding a potential love interest. While she is very much one of those female leads that is in no way defined by a romance, at the same time that doesn’t mean that she’s hampered by a romantic relationship when she ends up in one. After all, the ‘romance’ between her and Cap in The First Avenger was so well done that they’re still the best ‘couple’ in the MCU in my opinion. Anyway, the relationship that forms between Peggy and scientist Jason Wilkes (Reggie Austin) was a pretty nice one as the show ends up combatting not just the sexism of the time but also the racism of the time as well. At the same time, a closer relationship starts to form between Peggy and Agent Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj), which of course ends up forming a love triangle between the three. Again, I didn’t mind this because at the very least Sousa has proven himself to be the only major SSR male that Peggy frequently interacts with that does 100% respect her, especially when compared to Agent Jack Thompson (Chad Michael Murray), who of course spends a lot of the season conflicting with Carter, partially due to his friendship with his boss Vernon Masters (Kurtwood Smith in an excellent supporting turn).

*If I had to pick my favorite episode from this season, I would have to go with Episode 6, ‘Life of the Party’, for its premise in which Peggy is forced to work with her mortal enemy, Dottie Underwood, and all of the great dynamics that occur between characters in this episode, including Jarvis ‘manning up’ when he ends up partnering with Dottie while at a campaign event for Chadwick.

*Also, Episode 9 has a full-blown musical number. No I am not kidding. To be more specific, this was a dream sequence that Peggy had after getting knocked out at the end of the last episode. This moment features plenty of cameos from the rest of the cast, along with the brief return of Lyndsy Fonseca as Peggy’s friend Angie from last season. Admittedly this actually doesn’t contribute anything to the plot but as someone who is a fan of musicals, I didn’t mind this at all. Though I will admit it was still a very unexpected moment.

In Conclusion: Save for the occasional lull in the plot, Season 2 of Agent Carter is another highly enjoyable entry into the MCU canon thanks to all of the great things that made this series great in the first place, most importantly Hayley Atwell continuing to be terrific in the title role. The 40’s esque adventures of this show serve as a nice contrast to the modern-day exploits of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Unfortunately, low ratings and the fact that Hayley Atwell has recently signed onto another show for ABC may mean we won’t be getting a Season 3. And the thing is… Season 2 ends on a fairly big cliffhanger, as Agent Thompson ends up getting shot by a mysterious figure who then proceeds to steal what was meant to be a ‘damaging’ file on Peggy, so it would be disappointing if this is how the series ends.

(Note: Take this next statement with a grain of salt but despite what I just said about the unlikelihood of a third season, there are rumors that the series is going to be renewed.)

Season 2 Rating: 4.5/5

Zootopia (2016) review

You’ve heard me say it a bunch of times these past few years but I’ll say it again; Walt Disney Animation is currently in the middle of what can be referred to as either their second ‘Renaissance’ period or their ‘Revival’ period, the latter term I’ve recently come across online. After a string of lesser-received films from both a critical and commercial standpoint following the conclusion of the first ‘Disney Renaissance’, the studio finally started to get back on its feet once the duo of Pixar’s Ed Catmull and John Lasseter were brought in as the studio’s new President and Chief Creative Officer, respectively. Under their supervision, the studio has regained a lot of the creative clout that had been missing from some of their early 2000’s films and as a result, they have achieved much more success thanks to films like Tangled, Wreck-it Ralph, Big Hero 6, and of course their $1.2 billion behemoth Frozen. So what’s next for the House of Mouse? Well, this year will see them coming out with not one but two new animated features, a first for the studio since 2002. But as Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur proved last year, one film usually ends up getting more attention than the other early on. And in the case of Disney Animation’s 2016 releases, that film was Moana, their South Pacific-themed fantasy adventure that will come out this November. But, as me and my pal Kyle over at Kyle’s Animated World would argue, hopefully that didn’t take too much away from the first of Disney Animation’s films this year, Zootopia. And seeing how this film currently graces an impressive 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, which at the moment makes it the best-reviewed film of the year, suddenly Zootopia isn’t looking like the ‘lesser’ film anymore (which, for the record, is nothing against Moana. I’m sure that will be terrific too). And rightfully so as Zootopia is not only a well-made and well-animated entry in the Disney canon, as per usual, but also a strongly written tale with a timely message that we can all take note from.

In the world of Zootopia, those who are usually predators and those who are usually preyed upon live together in peace having evolved from following their natural instincts in order to coexist with one another. It is in this metropolis that rabbit Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) from the town of Bunnyborrow dreams of becoming a police officer. But even after she is instated as the first rabbit officer in a force full of ‘predator’ animals, she is disappointed when her superior Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) assigns her to the mere position of meter maid. While all of this is going on, the police are investigating into a series of disappearances all over the city. And while she is kept off of the investigation at first, Judy manages to get the opportunity to ‘be a real cop’ for once when she volunteers to help find the husband of Mrs. Otterton (Octavia Spencer), one of the missing animals, on the grounds that she resigns from the force if she doesn’t solve the case in 48 hours. In order to find Mr. Otterton, Judy is forced to team up with fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a con artist who not only gypped her previously but is part of the species that is meant to be the ‘enemy’ of rabbits like Judy. However, Nick also happens to be one of the last to see Otterton before he disappeared, hence why Judy ends up having to enlist his help in order to find her missing person. Soon though, the two uncover a devious plot involving animals reverting back to their savage nature that poses a severe threat to the harmonious nature of the city of Zootopia.

Being a Disney animated film, the animation is of course terrific and very well-detailed as exemplified by the various districts of Zootopia, from the frozen landscapes of Tundratown to the district of Little Rodentia in which the main characters are giant-sized compared to the residents of that area. The film also maintains a solid energetic pace throughout and is full of hilarious moments, including the now famous scene from the trailer where Nick and Judy get the ID for a plate number at the DMV (‘Department of Mammal Vehicles’), where all of the employees are super slow sloths (a perfect analogy to real life as I’m sure many of us would agree). But what really makes Zootopia stand out is its writing. This is arguably Disney Animation’s most maturely-written script in years. It’s already great enough that the film is a fun and zany buddy cop comedy but then the film goes the extra mile by tackling issues like race relations (or ‘species relations’ in this case), prejudice, and bigotry. Right from the very beginning, the film establishes what will become a major point of conflict in regards to Judy and Nick’s relationship by showcasing the bigotry that rabbits have towards foxes, right down to Judy being given anti-fox spray (in other words, mace) by her parents. And all throughout the film, we see several instances where characters’ prejudices and bigoted attitudes come into play, with the primary example being, obviously, the ‘relationship’ between predators and prey. As a result, the character who is established as the villain of the story, who I won’t reveal here to keep this review spoiler-free, is a pretty darn well established villain in terms of their motives and the overall conspiracy that they’re master-minding. In short, everything in the plot comes together perfectly for a well-constructed tale of acceptance and how even the nicest people around can sometimes resort to stereotyping.  

Aside from its excellent writing, Zootopia is also full of great characters backed by a superb voice cast. Originally, Nick Wilde was meant to be the main character of the film before the filmmakers decided to shift focus to Judy, the small-town bunny who moves into the big city. Judy is a terrific protagonist whose optimism and ‘never give up’ attitude make her a very endearing character to root for, all of which is perfectly imbued through Ginnifer Goodwin’s performance in the role. Equally terrific is Jason Bateman in the role as Nick as the wild con man’s fast talking nature excellently matches Bateman’s comedic style. And while at first Wilde may seem like a no-good con man only looking out for himself, a key scene in which he reveals to Judy a crucial moment from his past that made him what he is today produces one of the most emotional moments in the entire film. And of course the two have excellent camaraderie which helps make their partnership work as well as it does. They’re backed up by an excellent supporting cast of memorable side characters where pretty much every character is matched perfectly with their voice actor. This includes Idris Elba as Judy’s tough-as-nails police chief Bogo, J.K. Simmons as the noble but occasionally ferocious mayor of Zootopia Lionheart, new Disney regular Alan Tudyk as small-time crook Duke Weaselton (an obvious play on his character from Frozen’s often mispronounced name (“Weselton!”)), and Shakira as Zootopia’s most famous pop star Gazelle, performer of the film’s catchy theme ‘Try Everything’.

It’s one thing to be a well-animated, well-voice acted, and very entertaining animated film. But that’s not all that Zootopia has to offer. Sure, all of those aforementioned aspects on their own would’ve easily made this a highly recommendable film worth checking out. But then this film ends up going above and beyond by imbuing its story with themes that are very much timely for the time of its release. What starts out as a fun buddy cop comedy ends up becoming a fable that combats racism and prejudice, notions that admittedly are still prevalent in today’s society. As a result, this film encourages us all to be more accepting of others and to not let the stereotyping of society cloud our judgement. And because of this, Zootopia is easily one of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ finest efforts. After all, one of the main reasons why Disney’s animated films became the classics that they are today was because they managed to overcome their own ‘stereotype’ of being seen as nothing more than ‘films for kids’ by managing to appeal to both kids and adults with their great and colorful animation, their superb storytelling, and the classic characters that inhabited these stories. That’s why the classics of the studio’s early days (e.g. Pinocchio, Cinderella) still very much hold up today and why their more recent films (e.g. Frozen, Big Hero 6) have allowed the studio to once again establish itself as one of the best animation studios in the film industry. And as a result, Zootopia is yet another excellent addition to the Disney canon.   

Rating: 5/5!

Disney Retrospective: The 2000's to Present

Back in 2013, before the release of Frozen, I did a retrospective on all of the major Disney animated films that were collectively part of an era in the 90’s known as ‘The Disney Renaissance’. During that period of time, the studio overcame a major slump that it had been dealing with in the 80’s to produce numerous critical/commercial darlings, from The Little Mermaid to Beauty and the Beast to Aladdin to The Lion King. That era ‘officially’ came to a close in 1999 with Tarzan. However, this then led into what many consider to be another major slump for Disney’s animation division that would affect them for most of the early 2000’s. However, instead of it primarily being because of a rival studio or controversial behind-the-scenes changes like it was in the 80’s, the big reason this time for the studio’s rough patch was primarily due to the growing popularity of computer animated films, which of course was originally kick-started by the company that would ironically become one of Disney’s biggest partners, Pixar, who they ended up buying in 2006 so that their partnership would continue indefinitely. But prior to that acquisition, Disney’s 2-D animated features began to suffer heavily, particularly from a commercial standpoint, during the first few years of the new millennium. It got so bad that at one point the studio stopped producing traditionally animated films for half a decade once they realized that they had to catch up with the rest of the pack.

It wasn’t until the Pixar deal, which would also see Pixar’s Ed Catmull and John Lasseter promoted to the roles of the Disney Animation’s new President and Chief Creative Officer, respectively, that the studio finally started to get back on track after their growing series of misfires. While they have produced a few more traditionally animated feature films since then, Disney Animation has now joined in on the computer animation business and while their initial attempts weren’t that successful, the studio has fared much better in recent years. Some are even arguing that, with the recent success Disney has been having with films like Frozen, Tangled, and Big Hero 6, the studio is now entering a second ‘Disney Renaissance’, or a ‘Revival’ period as some have put it. We’ll see what comes of that but for now, in honor of the impending release of Disney Animation’s 55^th animated feature, Zootopia, here is the second of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Disney Animation Retrospectives. Today we’ll be looking at the films that Disney Animation has produced since the start of the 21^st century. Some tend to ignore most of the films that came out during the early stretch of this era but I’d argue that there are some underrated gems (shall we say ‘diamonds in the rough’) hidden amongst this lineup of films. There’s quite a lot of films to cover this time around so let’s not waste any more time and look back upon the Disney animated films of the noughties and 2010’s.

FANTASIA 2000 (1999)

(Note: While this is technically regarded as a 1999 release, even though it wasn’t actually released in theaters until 2000, I’m including it here because I didn’t include it in my 90’s ‘Disney Retrospective’, mainly because it’s not considered to be a part of the ‘Disney Renaissance’.)

Walt Disney’s original plan for his 1940 classic Fantasia was to have it be re-released every few years with new animated segments developed for it each time it returned to theaters. However, the film performed poorly at the box-office upon initial release, which effectively halted Walt’s vision despite the fact that the film would eventually go on to become one of the most beloved Disney films of all-time. But 60 years later, his vision was at last revived with Fantasia 2000, produced by his nephew Roy E. Disney. Initially it debuted on January 1^st, 2000 as an IMAX exclusive, becoming the first feature-length animated film released in IMAX, before seeing a wide release in traditional theaters later that year in June. I didn’t get the chance to see the film in IMAX, which I bet would’ve been amazing, nor was I able to see it when it was in theaters. But I did rent it once on VHS (remember that?) many years ago back when Blockbuster was still a thing (remember those?). Admittedly I didn’t watch the whole film back then but I finally watched the complete film recently after watching the original Fantasia. And overall I must say that Fantasia 2000 is a solid follow-up to its 1940 predecessor, though admittedly it has a few flaws. But the one major advantage it has over the original Fantasia? A more manageable run-time. That’s nothing against the original Fantasia or anything but that film had a fairly hefty two-and-a-half-hour run-time (it was a road-show release, after all) whereas Fantasia 2000 is only 75 minutes long, which I feel is a bit easier to handle for this kind of film.

However, the segments of this film are more of a mixed bag compared to the previous Fantasia. There are some really amazing segments in here, like the toe-tapping one set to ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, my personal favorite, that follows a bunch of people in New York going about their daily lives and the strikingly animated ‘Firebird Suite’ sequence involving a sprite, an elk, and the fiery spirit that the piece is named after. But then other segments like ‘Carnival of the Animals’, which involves a flamingo playing with a yo-yo to the annoyance of the rest of his flock, and ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ (AKA the song you always hear at graduation ceremonies), which is basically just the story of Noah’s Ark featuring Donald and Daisy Duck, while not ‘bad’ don’t really feel like they belong in a Fantasia film. Another criticism that some have towards the film is its use of celebrity cameos to introduce all of the major segments, including but not limited to Steve Martin, Bette Midler, and Penn and Teller. By comparison, the first Fantasia had only one ‘presenter’, Deems Taylor, and yes it definitely worked better in that film because of it instead of having different people presenting each segment. But overall it didn’t really bother me as much as it did other people, though I do understand where they’re coming from. In short, Fantasia 2000 is by no means as good as its predecessor, mostly due to more mixed results when it comes to its segments. But overall it’s still a very fascinating film to watch that, despite its flaws, still pays tribute to what Walt Disney did with the original Fantasia and retools it for a new generation. If you have kids, I actually recommend you show them this film first because I feel it will help get them ready for when they eventually watch the original Fantasia.

Rating: 3.5/5

DINOSAUR (2000)

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbeLV9KD6-4)

I wanted to start this section off by showing you the first trailer for this film in order to get you into the mindset of what it was like for kids like me back when that trailer was released sometime in either late 1999 or early 2000. Similar to how Disney marketed The Lion King by putting the entire ‘Circle of Life’ opening sequence in one of the trailers, this film’s original trailer showcased its opening sequence, in which a group of dinosaurs are attacked by a Carnotaurus and a sole Iguanodon egg is transported across the environment to the amazing score by James Newton Howard. It’s definitely one of the most memorable trailers of all-time, in my opinion. And while the final film may have been a bit of a step down from what I think a lot of people were expecting, Dinosaur is still a very unique entry in the Disney canon. For one thing, it was one of the studio’s first major attempts at computer animation and the animation is pretty damn impressive for the time. The dinosaurs are computer animated but the backgrounds were real locales in areas like Venezuela. In a way, it’s sort of the precedent to the animation style of Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur and it’s easily the best part of the film, producing such a cool ‘photo-realistic’ look. If you had no idea about this film and watched the trailer, you’d probably have no idea that it’s actually just an animated film because you’d swear it was real.

   

Though while the film definitely shines in terms of the animation, its writing is bit more problematic. In short, it’s a rather simple rehash of The Land Before Time in which dinosaurs travel to a new suitable home, and as a result is rather bland in terms of its story and characters. Some have also criticized the decision to have the characters talk, a criticism that was also directed towards another dinosaur film that was released more than a decade later, Walking with Dinosaurs. It doesn’t bother me that much but I do get why it would be an issue with some people as it does sort of go against the realistic nature of the animation. I should also point out that the decision to give the dinosaurs voices was done by then-CEO of Disney Michael Eisner and, without getting any further into this, let’s just say that this wouldn’t be the last time that executive meddling would interfere with Disney’s animated films during Eisner’s run. In short, while Dinosaur is rather flawed in terms of its writing, the animation makes up for it for the most part. Sure computer animation has become much more advanced in the years since this film but it’s still solid animation for both the time it was released and in regards to this being one of Disney’s first forays into this style of animation. For those like me who were kids when this film came out, it’ll serve as a neat little nostalgic trip down memory lane. As for kids today, I have the feeling they’ll probably like it fine. It’s not my favorite Disney film by any means but I still have generally positive feelings towards this film that brings me back to a simpler time.

Rating: 3/5

THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE (2000)

Ah, The Emperor’s New Groove… I have a lot of positive things to say about this one. And in some ways that’s saying a lot considering that this film had a rather troubled production. Originally it was going to be an Incan musical epic titled Kingdom of the Sun, featuring music by Sting, before it underwent a major creative overhaul and became the light-hearted buddy comedy that we know today. However, in the end, that just proved to be the best move for this film as The Emperor’s New Groove is, in my opinion, one of the best Disney films of the post-Renaissance era and one of their most underrated efforts to date. Why? Well that’s because it’s arguably their funniest film to date. This film is highly quotable from beginning to end and is full of memorable moments, from the discussions that the character Kronk has with both his shoulder angel and shoulder devil to the chase scene where the duos of Kuzco and Pacha and Yzma and Kronk race back to the palace, which ends with Yzma and Kronk falling into the river after getting struck by lightning and yet somehow managing to get back to the palace before Kuzco and Pacha with basically no clear explanation as to how they got there first. It’s quick and snappy humor and it works perfectly, resulting in a very fun buddy road-trip comedy. Though apparently that seemed to be the problem for some people based on what I’ve seen in some places online, as they felt that this genre wasn’t something that Disney should’ve covered. But ultimately I did like that they did this as it’s proof that they are able to cover different genres and not just the musical fairy tale. Not only that, but the ‘buddy flick’ concept would also work really well in future Disney films like Tangled and Frozen.

Really what makes this film work so well is the characters, specifically the villains. Now don’t get me wrong, the main duo of Kuzco and Pacha are pretty great as well. David Spade (I’m pretty sure that’s the other skepticism that some people had towards the film) is great as the egotistical emperor who learns to change his ways after being turned into a llama, as is John Goodman, as always, as the lovable village leader who constantly finds himself at odds with the Emperor, especially in regards to the latter’s plan to tear down his family’s village in order to build his summer home “complete with water slide!”. But the real stars of the show are the film’s main villain, Kuzco’s advisor Yzma, and her head crony Kronk. Eartha Kitt is perfectly and delightfully campy as Yzma and Patrick Warburton is quite arguably the film’s biggest standout in the role of Kronk. Despite the fact that he is working for the villain, he’s not necessarily a bad guy. It’s just that he’s a bit dim-witted, though actually pretty smart when it comes to cooking and translating chipmunk speech. So yes, with all of this in mind, this is obviously a very zany film. But if you haven’t seen it yet, I strongly urge you to check it out because I guarantee you that you’re going to have a good time watching this fun and hilarious buddy comedy. Simply put, The Emperor’s New Groove is easily one of my favorite Disney films of all-time. I even love the TV series spin-off, The Emperor’s New School, which aired from 2006 to 2008 on Disney Channel. What else more can I say? I love this universe, I love these characters, and I love this film. “Pull the Lever, Kronk!”

Why do we even have that lever?

Rating: 5/5!

ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE (2001)

Atlantis: The Lost Empire was one of Disney’s attempts at a more mature animated film… and it didn’t really turn out as well as they hoped. It only did ‘ok’ at the box-office, which led to Disney quietly canning their plans for a franchise, including a spin-off TV series and an underwater ride at the Disney parks. But you know what? I’d argue this is one is rather underrated. I’ll admit I may be a bit partial towards this film because I remember watching it plenty of times when I was a kid but upon re-watch recently, I still think it’s a really unique and original entry in the Disney canon. From what I can tell, a lot of people took issue with the film’s apparent lack of focus in terms of who it was trying to market itself to. Obviously it’s a much different film than what you’d usually expect from Disney, being more action-packed and what not, but some felt that it didn’t do enough to gear itself towards kids and admittedly its attempts to appeal to younger audiences can result in some jarring shifts in tone from time to time. However, I do think Disney does deserve some credit for trying something new and quite frankly I think they handled the change in direction quite well for the most part. This film is fast-paced and full of fun action sequences, including the attack on the Nautilus by the robotic ‘Leviathan’. And of course, the animation is solid as always, with this particular film sporting a really cool comic book style as fashioned by comic book artist Mike Mignola, creator of the series Hellboy.

And while some felt the film was lacking in terms of story and character development, I thought that the story was pretty interesting and I liked most of the characters. Milo Thatch is a pretty good lead as voiced by Marty McFly himself, Michael J. Fox, and I liked his supporting cast of characters, from Atlantean princess Kida (Cree Summer) to demolitions expert Vinny (played by Don Novello AKA SNL’s ‘Father Guido Sarducci’) to eccentric geologist ‘Mole’. The only weak links of the cast are the main villains, Rourke and Sinclair, who ultimately are just ‘greedy’ villains and nothing more than that. But even with its lackluster villains, Atlantis: The Lost Empire is still a really entertaining animated adventure flick. At the end of the day, though, it failed to achieve its goal of setting a new path for Disney Animation and became one of the many ‘forgotten’ films of Disney’s ‘Post-Renaissance, Pre-Lasseter’ era. So with that said, this is definitely one Disney film that I recommend you at least check out, especially if you’re interested in a ‘different’ kind of animated Disney film. And despite the argument that it isn’t really geared towards kids, I think kids might still like it. After all, I liked it when I was a kid. But then again, technically that was back when it first came out so it’d be interesting to see how kids of today would respond to it.

Rating: 4/5

LILO AND STITCH (2002)

I think it’s safe to say that Lilo and Stitch was arguably the most successful of Disney’s ‘Post-Renaissance, Pre-Lasseter era’ films in terms of how big of a franchise it became compared to other Disney films like Atlantis or even The Emperor’s New Groove. It did really well at the box-office, a feat benefitted by its fairly low production budget of $80 million, and it spawned a pretty expansive franchise that included a few direct-to-DVD spin-off films, a TV series that aired on Disney Channel from 2003 to 2006, and even an anime series titled Stitch! that aired and was set in Japan but apparently heavily contradicted the events of the films and previous TV series… I’ve also seen parts of it and I can tell you right now… it’s rather weird. But anyway, back to the original film. I think one of the big advantages that the film had, hence why it did so well, was its really fun marketing, which featured the titular mischievous alien creature known as Stitch sneaking into some of Disney’s notable animated films like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King and causing all sorts of trouble. This set the stage for the crazy adventures that Stitch would have in the film itself, as he, the chaotic experiment (‘626’) of mad alien scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba, breaks out of imprisonment and winds up on Earth on the islands of Hawaii. There, he befriends a young and lonely girl named Lilo who adopts him as her new dog. The two then proceed to have all sorts of adventures while Jumba and his partner Pleakley try to capture him for the United Galactic Federation.

As usual, the animation is really nice, doing a nice job of capturing the beauty of Hawaii, and the film also features a pretty kick-ass soundtrack dominated by music from ‘The King’ himself, Elvis Presley. But at the same time, the story also has quite a lot of heart to it as well, especially in regards to the relationship between Lilo and her sister Nani. It’s established that their parents had died in a car crash years earlier and that Nani has now been forced to take on the additional role of being a ‘mother figure’ for Lilo. And because of Lilo’s eccentric personality, which also results in her not having many friends, frequently causing Nani problems, it gets to the point where she risks losing her to child services. It’s a pretty serious situation and is handled with much maturity here. Lilo and Nani are very sympathetic characters as is Stitch, who learns to hone back on his destructive antics and become, as social worker Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames) puts it, a ‘model citizen’ through the help of his new ‘Ohana’; Lilo and Nani. After all, as the main message of the film conveys, ‘Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten’. It’s a great message that’s one of the many strong elements to one of Disney’s best ‘Post Renaissance’ films. Colorful, zany, and full of heart, Lilo and Stitch is definitely a great time to have on the ‘Hawaiian Roller-Coaster Ride’.

Rating: 4.5/5

TREASURE PLANET (2002)

Now this is one hell of an underrated Disney film. In fact, I’d argue it’s the most underrated entry in the entire Disney animated canon. One of the reasons why it became so underrated was the fact that it unfortunately tanked at the box-office. On a budget of $140 million, it only grossed $109 million, with only $38 million of that coming in from the United States. Why? Well I have the feeling it had something to do with the fact that it opened around the same time as another popular family film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The same fate would befall another Disney film 9 years later that also had the unfortunate distinction of having to go up against a Harry Potter film. It’s a shame because I think audiences missed out on what was a really fun sci-fi adventure. It certainly was a favorite of mine growing up and I still love it today. Basically, for those who haven’t seen it, Treasure Planet is a sci-fi based retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel Treasure Island. It’s the same general story; a young boy named Jim Hawkins finds a map to the secret treasure trove of the infamous pirate Captain Flint but has to deal with pirate Long John Silver on the journey there. The major difference here is that the whole story is set in space and the treasure trove is represented as an entire planet worth of treasure. That as well as a few other tweaks to the story, including having Silver be a cyborg pirate and having the ships sail through space instead of across the sea, results in a pretty unique spin on this classic story.

Though from what I gather, that seems to be the issue that some have with this film. They feel the combination of space and pirates didn’t work too well but overall I think it worked out fine. The filmmakers opted for a ‘70/30’ split in terms of style; 70% traditional and 30% sci-fi. In doing so, the film does just enough to give the story its futuristic vibe while still managing to maintain the pirate-like atmosphere of the original story. But one of the greatest strengths of the film is the relationship between Jim Hawkins and Silver. Like it was in the original story, Silver, despite being the ‘main antagonist’ in regards to him leading the mutiny against the protagonists, becomes the father figure that Jim never had, with his real father having left him and his mother years before. It’s a very touching element of the film that gives it a solid amount of heart. Plus, while it’ll probably be contrary to popular opinion, I really liked the songs in this film that were written and performed by Goo Goo Dolls front-man John Rzeznik; “I’m Still Here” and “Always Know Where You Are”. Just like the songs from Phil Collins in Tarzan and the next film in this retrospective, these songs still stick with me even to this day. So in short, I feel Treasure Planet deserves a second chance because when it was first released, it was ignored and then pretty much forgotten once Disney’s next pirate film, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, came out about half a year later and become the mega hit that it was. I mean it’s not really Disney’s best but it’s still pretty damn entertaining as is. It’s most definitely a personal favorite of mine.

Rating: 4.5/5

BROTHER BEAR (2003)

As you’ve probably guessed by now, I’m fairly partial towards quite a few of the animated Disney films of the early 2000’s because those were the ones that I grew up with. And for the most part, I still really like a lot of them; The Emperor’s New Groove, Treasure Planet, Lilo and Stitch, etc. Brother Bear was definitely one of the films I watched a lot growing up. But I’ll admit that upon re-watch, it’s a bit more flawed than I remember. That’s what can happen sometimes with the films you used to watch when you were a kid. Anyway, Brother Bear starts off on an excellent note. It handles the Native American element of the story with great maturity and the film establishes a pretty nice camaraderie amongst the trio of main character Kenai and his brothers Denahi and Sitka. Heck, this film even pulls a ballsy move by killing off Sitka, who sacrifices himself to save his brothers from a bear, just a few minutes in. The main character arc that Kenai goes through in this film is actually really nicely done. Angered at the bear that attacked them for inadvertently being responsible for Sitka’s death, Kenai chases after the bear and kills it. Angered by this, the Spirits of the Land turn him into a bear. This leads him to have to change his ways and be more loving, as his spirit totem is intended to represent, which he does through the brotherly relationship that he forms with a young cub named Koda… who just so happens to be the cub of the bear that Kenai killed. Awkward…

Anyway, the first part of the film is superb but after Kenai is turned into a bear, that’s where the film undergoes a very radical tonal change. At first, the story was being handled in a more serious nature through Kenai’s journey into becoming a man. But once he is turned into a bear, the film basically turns into a more kid-friendly buddy road trip. I don’t really dislike this segment of the film but it’s rather jarring to go from the more serious opening to the generally light-hearted atmosphere of what is basically the bulk of the film. Despite that gap, though, there are still some really good things about this film, including the aforementioned camaraderie between Kenai and his brothers as well, the brotherly relationship that develops between Kenai and Koda, and Kenai’s overall story arc. And like with Tarzan, I actually did like the soundtrack by Phil Collins. Say what you will about whether or not they connect to the film all that well, or in the case of the song ‘No Way Out’ for drowning out the dialogue of a very crucial scene, but I think they’re still pretty darn good songs on their own merit. At the end of the day, Brother Bear is admittedly one of those films that I liked more as a kid. But while nowadays I can’t really say that it’s one of Disney’s best, I still have fond memories of watching this when I was younger and even now I don’t ‘dislike’ it. I’ve seen a lot of people put this right near the bottom, or at the very bottom, when it comes to ranking Disney Animation’s films but seriously it isn’t THAT bad. For kids I think they’ll enjoy this one a lot. But for adults, just be prepared for one hell of a tonal shift.

Rating: 3/5

HOME ON THE RANGE (2004)

This is another Disney animated film that I remember seeing in theaters when it first came out. Heck, I even got the film on DVD. However, upon re-watch years later, I’ll admit that this is definitely one of those films that I clearly liked more as a kid than I do now. Because really that’s this film in a nutshell; it’s a film that’s geared primarily towards kids whereas adults will get little out of it. I mean kids will probably like it okay for its zany antics and colorful animation. And, at the very least, I wouldn’t go as far as to say Disney’s ‘worst’ film. Compared to the next film on this list, at least this one isn’t mean-spirited or anything. But at the same time, it’s a very forgettable film with bland characters, lousy villains, and almost all of the jokes fall flat. Sure this film may feature Roseanne in the lead role but unlike her titular hit show, the material she has to work with in this film is weak. And that’s the best way to describe this film, unfortunately… weak. Again, it’s fine for kids and it isn’t even Disney Animation’s absolute worst film. But talk about a film that goes against Walt Disney’s vision of animated films that could appeal to both kids and adults. And I’m not kidding…. Apparently that was the order given to the filmmakers by executives; make it for younger audiences.  Not only that, but one of the biggest downfalls that happened because of it was the shuttering of Disney’s 2-D animated features for a few years. Obviously a lot of these early 2000’s Disney films had stiff competition from the rise of computer animated films and with Home on the Range under-performing at the box-office just like Atlantis and Treasure Planet, Disney realized that they had to adapt to the new animated craze. However, it didn’t start off on the best note for them…

Rating: 2/5

CHICKEN LITTLE (2005)

Here’s another Disney film that I remember seeing in the theaters when it came out. In fact, it was the first film that I ever saw at what has now become my primary movie theater in Lincoln. However, more so than Brother Bear and even Home on the Range, this ends up being the most egregious example of a film that I clearly liked more as a kid. Because oh boy… this film is one hell of a mess, which is disappointing considering that it’s directed by Mark Dindal, the guy behind The Emperor’s New Groove. This was Disney’s first major attempt at a fully computer animated film… and quite frankly it shows. This is one of the rare times where I actually think the animation for a Disney film is rather mediocre. I can’t really explain why but something about it very much gives off the impression that this is a studio’s first major attempt at computer animation (note: their collaborations with Pixar don’t count). Thankfully, the studio would improve upon their animation work on future films. And at the very least, the animation ‘style’ is rather interesting and the film maintains an overall zany nature throughout, even if most of the jokes are really just pop culture references. The main character of Chicken Little (voiced by Zach Braff) is a likable enough main character along with his friends Abby Mallard (Joan Cusack) AKA ‘The Ugly Duckling’, the cowardly pig Runt of the Litter (Steve Zahn), and the mute Fish out of Water.

But that doesn’t make up for the film’s most glaring issue and that it is that it is incredibly mean-spirited. Sure, the main characters are sympathetic enough that you do root for them but that’s because everyone else in their neighborhood constantly treats them like s*** every single chance that they get. Pretty much the only time that they’re treated decently are when they do something that satisfies their town’s selfish desires, like winning the Baseball Championship, which Chicken Little does but is then just turned into a social pariah again when he embarrasses himself again just like how he first embarrassed himself by getting the town into a furor when he thought that the sky was falling. Even his dad of all people tries to distance himself from his son and despite the fact that they do make up at the end of the film, that really doesn’t excuse the fact that his dad seriously almost goes as far as to act like he doesn’t even care about his son. At the end of the day, I guess kids might like this okay. But after re-watching this, I’m seriously wondering if it’s even a good thing if they do watch this. Because I don’t know about you but the whole thing about Chicken Little’s dad not supporting him could potentially be scarring for some kids. Hell I’m surprised I wasn’t scarred for life watching this film for that reason. In short, this film definitely hasn’t stood the test of time at all and as much as I hate to say it, because I do remember watching this film when I was younger and liking it, this is easily one of the worst films that Disney Animation has ever made. If there’s any good that came out of this, it is that pretty much starting with the next film, a new and improved era for Disney Animation was about to begin.

Rating: 1/5

MEET THE ROBINSONS (2007)

By the midpoint of the 2000’s, Disney Animation was in quite a bit of a rut. Many of its animated features were underperforming with both critics and audiences, which forced the studio to have to adapt to the increasingly popular style that was computer animation. However, their first computer animated feature, 2005’s Chicken Little, as we just proved earlier, wasn’t the best start for them in the computer animated business. But then, everything would begin to change once Bob Iger took over as CEO of The Walt Disney Company that same year. A year later, Iger would oversee the company’s purchase of their long-time partner, Pixar, for $7.4 billion. Not only did this result in Pixar staying with the company permanently, but it also led to the promotion of Pixar’s Ed Catmull and John Lasseter to the positions of President and Chief Creative Officer for the Animation Studio, respectively. And to put it simply, Lasseter has been arguably the best thing that could have ever happened for the studio, giving the animation division the heart and soul, and perhaps most importantly creative clout, that had been absent from some of their most recent projects at the time. And while not necessarily the best of the ‘Lasseter Era’, primarily due to the fact that it had been in development prior to his hiring, the first major Disney Animation film to come out during Lasseter’s tenure with the studio, Meet the Robinsons, certainly showed that Disney was at least heading in the right direction.

Clearly inspired by Walt Disney’s vision of the future the same way that Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland would take note from 8 years later, Meet the Robinsons is full of fantastical futuristic imagery and colorful animation, which is definitely a step up from Chicken Little’s rather lackluster animation. The lead duo of Lewis and Wilbur have solid camaraderie and the film has its fair share of memorable side characters, namely in regards to the other members of the titular Robinson family. I also felt that the story had some neat reveals in it as well, even though older audiences are likely going to figure them out from miles away, from the true connection between Lewis and the Robinsons to the reveal of the identity of the villainous ‘Bowler Hat Guy’ who, minor spoilers, actually isn’t even the main villain. And at its core, the film, just like Tomorrowland, encourages the idea of hope for a brighter future the same way Walt Disney himself strived for that reality when he was alive. Aside from a few minor issues here and there, namely in regards to pacing, Meet the Robinsons is a pretty fun step up in quality from the studio’s last two animated features. And while I can’t really say that it’s one of the ‘best’ Disney animated films ever made, things were only to get better for Disney Animation in the next few years. To quote this film’s most prominent line, they ‘kept moving forward’.

Rating: 4/5

BOLT (2008)

While Meet the Robinsons may have been the first major Disney animated film that was released since Lasseter became the studio’s Chief Creative Officer, Bolt was the first ‘official’ film produced under his watch. So in other words, Bolt is pretty much regarded by most people as the first major film in Disney’s current ‘Revival’ era and rightfully so as it is a very charming film with a fun, albeit a bit familiar, ‘fish out of water’ story. The film focuses on its titular protagonist, a dog named Bolt (John Travolta), who’s the star of a hit action TV show along with his young owner Penny (Miley Cyrus) in which they continuously fight the ‘Green-Eyed Man’, Dr. Calico (Malcolm McDowell). However, because Bolt has been on the show for so long and the producers have continuously deceived him by keeping the actual filmmaking process hidden from him, he has become convinced that it is all real. So when he fears that Penny is in trouble when the two are separated after a day of filming, he escapes his trailer to find her but ends up getting sent all the way to New York by accident. There, he begins to realize that he doesn’t have powers like he does on the show (e.g. a ‘super-bark’, laser-beam eyes, etc.). Looking to return to Penny, he joins forces with an alley cat named Mittens (Susie Essman) and Rhino (Mark Walton), a super-fan hamster who spends most of the film rolling around in his hamster-ball, to get back to Penny in Hollywood, resulting in a very pleasant road-trip across the U.S.

One of the best things about this film is its inherent likability. The main characters are all very likable from Bolt himself to easily the most memorable character in the film, Rhino. All of these characters are well-voiced as well, which gives the film such a great charm factor complete with some very heartwarming moments, particularly those between Bolt and Penny. There’s also quite a lot of great humor in here as well, like whenever Bolt tries to use his ‘powers’ in the real-world, obviously to no avail, or when a group of pigeons are unable to identify Bolt even when the answer they’re looking for is right in front of their noses (e.g. a bus with an advertisement for Bolt’s show drives by). As you might have guessed, a lot of the best lines come from Rhino (Bolt: “The road will be rough.” Rhino: “I have a ball!”). While not every joke hits, the film still benefits from its solid writing and endearing characters. And of course, the animation is solid, especially during the sequences near the beginning involving Bolt and Penny during their show. In short, Bolt is definitely an excellent addition to the Disney canon. While I still think that Meet the Robinsons is pretty good even though it wasn’t completely supervised by Lasseter, Bolt was very much the first Disney animated film in quite some time that gave its creators full control over how the film turned out instead of the final product being heavily influenced by executives as had been the case with films like Home on the Range. And because of this, the studio’s more recent films have seen a major step up in quality with Bolt serving as the film that pretty much officially kick-started this current Revival. And that’s very much a deserved honor for Bolt as its aforementioned strengths all come together nicely for a very good package that the whole family can enjoy.

Rating: 4/5

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (2009)

As we’ve already discussed, Disney Animation had hit quite a considerable rough patch in the early 2000’s. Due to the rise in computer animated films, as first brought up by the company’s major partner Pixar, the company’s main animation studio was suffering lesser returns in regards to their traditionally-animated films. Once films like Treasure Planet and Home on the Range became box-office flops, Disney decided to abandon the development of traditionally-animated films altogether in favor of computer animated films. But once the Pixar deal went through and Ed Catmull and John Lasseter were brought in, they nixed that plan. And as a result, Disney finally returned to their original hand-drawn style in 2009, as well as returning to the animated musical genre that hadn’t been covered by the studio since the first Disney Renaissance, with The Princess and the Frog, based on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Frog Prince. Except this time there’s a twist to this story. Instead of a princess kissing a frog to turn him into a prince, the kiss actually ends up turning the princess, who in reality isn’t even a princess at all but a young working woman from New Orleans named Tiana who was only wearing a princess costume at the time, into a frog. This results in her and ‘the frog’, Prince Naveen of Maldonia, having to traverse through the Bayou in order to find a way for them to be changed back into humans and the end result is a fun and colorful adventure that is very much as classily executed as Disney’s previous hand-drawn efforts.

The animation is vibrant, colorful and overall superb, especially because of the film’s New Orleans setting. This also translates well to the music, with Randy Newman contributing to the soundtrack. I wouldn’t necessarily call it the studio’s best soundtrack ever but the jazzy songs are rightfully toe-tapping as one would expect from a film set in The Big Easy. The two best songs of the bunch are ‘Almost There’, which is Tiana’s solo about her dreams of one day opening a fancy restaurant as she and her father always dreamed of, and the villain song ‘Friends on the Other Side’. Speaking of villains, this film has easily one of Disney’s coolest villains in the form of the sinister voodoo man Dr. Facilier, voiced perfectly by Keith David. But overall the whole film has a solid cast of memorable characters, including the trumpet-playing alligator Louis who, as we learn, has had trouble trying to play his music with humans (for obvious reasons), and the saucy firefly Ray. In short, save for the occasional over-complication of the plot (specifically in regards to how Tiana and Naveen must break the spell), The Princess and the Frog is an incredibly charming Disney film full of fun characters, toe-tapping songs, and some of Disney’s most beautiful animation to date. Fans of Disney’s 2-D style will no doubt appreciate this return to the studio’s classic form. But even in this current age of computer animation, it’s still definitely a must-see for animation fans young and old.

Rating: 4.5/5

TANGLED (2010)

A lot of comparisons have been made between this film, an adaptation of the classic fairy tale of Rapunzel as well as being Disney’s 50^th animated feature, and their 2013 smash hit Frozen. Pretty much ever since the latter was released and became the worldwide sensation that it is, I’ve seen plenty of people comparing these two films and to be perfectly frank I’ve seen quite a lot of those people post the following statement; ‘Tangled>Frozen’, which shows that there’s quite a few people out there who prefer Tangled. Admittedly, I’m in the other camp who feel that Frozen is better but that’s nothing against Tangled, which is definitely a really great entry in the Disney library. That just means that now this particular ‘review’ will be a comparison between the two films. I didn’t want to have to do that but the internet basically forced me to do it so here we go. In regards to how Tangled is ‘better’ than Frozen, it does have a much stronger villain in the form of Rapunzel’s ‘mother’, Gothel, a very showman-like villainess excellently voiced by Donna Murphy, whereas the villains of Frozen, as I’ve noted before in the past, were the only real weak spots of the film. Tangled also does a better job in handling its ‘action-adventure’ elements as far as the story is concerned. Admittedly Frozen wasn’t really an ‘action-adventure’ kind of story but it still did have some of those elements in it and if I had to compare these two films, Tangled is much more that kind of film and it does it really well.

The animation is great as usual, with a particularly nice painting-like quality to this film, and the duo of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider (well-voiced by Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, respectively) are a great pair of leads. But if I had to list the advantages that Frozen has over this film, I feel that ‘Frozen’ had stronger main characters, a more unique storyline, and more memorable songs. Though even with that said, this film does have a few noteworthy songs courtesy of good old Alan Menken. This includes Rapunzel’s solo ‘When Will My Life Begin?’, in which she dreams about one day experiencing the outside world after having spent most of her life locked in her tower, Mother Gothel’s solo ‘Mother Knows Best’ where she warns Rapunzel about the dangers of the outside world, and the Academy Award nominated duet between Rapunzel and Flynn, ‘I See the Light’, in which they finally witness the kingdom’s magical lantern ceremony. So in regards to the whole ‘Tangled/Frozen’ argument, I’ll argue that both are terrific and I wish that the internet wouldn’t make this such a big contest in regards to which one they feel is better. And while I do prefer Frozen over this film, Tangled is still really great thanks to its lead duo and main villain, the as-expected excellent animation from Disney, and some nice songs. And say what you will about the decision made by the studio to change the film’s name from Rapunzel to Tangled in order to ‘appeal to a wider audience’ but it actually is a rather smart move because the film actually does a really nice job in balancing the roles of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider instead of just focusing on Rapunzel.

Rating: 4.5/5

WINNIE THE POOH (2011)

Winnie the Pooh has easily been one of Disney’s most iconic franchises and rightfully so. I strongly believe that this franchise should be a part of every kid’s childhood. It certainly was for me growing up, from watching episodes of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh on VHS (back in the days when VHS was still relevant) to getting to ride the Winnie the Pooh ride at Disney World with Pooh himself. And of course, there was the 1977 Disney classic The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which is easily one of my all-time favorite Disney films. Simple in story but big on heart, the film was a collection of featurettes that Disney had previously produced based on A.A. Milne’s iconic characters packaged into one film. 34 years later, Disney Animation returned to the Hundred Acre Wood with a brand new Pooh film simply titled Winnie the Pooh. To date, it’s Disney’s most recent 2-D animated film. Hopefully it isn’t the last because unfortunately this film only did ‘ok’ at the box-office. Sure it made its budget back but it had the disadvantage of opening up right alongside one of the biggest films of all-time. What film was that you may ask? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Clearly this film did not learn the same lesson that Treasure Planet did about trying to open up around the same time as one of the biggest film franchises of all-time. But we’re not here to compare these two films.

Anyway, in a lot of ways, Winnie the Pooh is a lot like its predecessor. It’s a generally simple group of stories involving Pooh and his friends, all the while having multiple instances of the characters breaking the fourth wall through them interacting with the book that they’re in and talking to the narrator (in this case, John Cleese, an excellent choice for the part). And like the original Winnie the Pooh film, it’s incredibly charming from beginning to end with its lovable characters, its sense of childhood innocence that kids can relate to and adults can reminisce about, colorful animation, and cheerful songs (courtesy of Frozen’s Robert and Kristen-Anderson Lopez (the latter of whom even voices Kanga)). My only ‘issue’ with the film, which is only a minor one at best, is that the film is a little lacking in terms of its story. There are only two major plotlines in the entire film; Eeyore loses his tail and the gang tries to find him a new one, and Pooh and friends embark on a journey to find Christopher Robin, who they believe was taken by a creature called the ‘Backson’. There’s not anything majorly wrong with that but from what I’ve heard, the film was originally going to cover a few more of Milne’s stories until it was cut down to two, resulting in a fairly short one-hour film. Despite its shortness, though, the film is still an incredibly sweet and charming animated film that both kids and adults can enjoy. All in all, it’s a welcome return to the big-screen for these beloved characters while simultaneously introducing them to a new generation.

Rating: 4/5

WRECK-IT RALPH (2012)

At the time of its release, Wreck-it Ralph was pretty much the first Disney animated film in a few years that I was really anticipating, primarily due to its premise. If I haven’t already mentioned it before, I’m a big fan of video games, almost as much as I am a film fan. So when I heard that Disney was going to make a film based around video games, I got really excited and in the end it turned out to be a really fun and entertaining entry in the Disney canon that also refueled my interest in Disney films. Its premise is fairly similar in some ways to Toy Story with the many characters within the games of a local arcade ‘coming to life’ and spending time outside of their games after the arcade has closed. But it also offers a fun and unique story that focuses on a bad guy trying to be the good guy for once. That bad guy in question is the titular Wreck-it Ralph (John C. Reilly), the villain of the Donkey Kong-like game Fix-it Felix Jr. where he is constantly ostracized by the other characters in the game who celebrate the game’s titular hero Felix (Jack McBrayer). Tired of having been in the same exact role for 30 years, Ralph ends up ‘going Turbo’ and sneaks into other video games, including the modern FPS Hero’s Duty and the Mario Kart-esque candy themed racer Sugar Rush, where his actions cause all sorts of trouble for the arcade.

The animation in the film is excellent, especially in regards to the fact that the film features quite a few different environments, from the 8-bit world of Fix-it Felix Jr., where the characters all move in low-resolution, blocky motions, to the hyper-realistic world of Hero’s Duty. Gamers will also appreciate the many references to gaming, from the legendary Konami Code to all the various Easter Eggs littered throughout. Not only that, but I also liked how the filmmakers ‘convey’ certain aspects of gaming within this world that they create, like in Hero’s Duty where the player is represented as an in-game monitor with a weapon that gives the player their view of the gameplay (in other words, a “First Person Shooter”). Though with all of that said, I must admit that the references are technically geared more towards older audiences. So while they’ll no doubt satisfy older audiences like myself who were at least alive when arcades were still relevant, some of these references are guaranteed to go over the heads of younger audiences. Still, the film makes up for that with a charming story about a bad guy who’s not such a bad guy that has a good message of being proud of who you are. And of course, the film is full of fun characters; Ralph, ‘glitch’ racer Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), Felix, tough-as-nails Sgt. Calhoun (Jane Lynch), and King Candy (Alan Tudyk, who has gone on to become the ‘John Ratzenberger’ for Disney Animation having appeared in every major Disney film since) just to name a few. Really the only issue with the film, which isn’t even an issue at all, is the fact that the film could’ve explored more of the world of the arcade. But even with that in mind, Wreck-it Ralph is one extremely fun tribute to the world of video games. Films based on specific video-games usually turn out bad but that’s not always the case with a film that’s only based around games and Wreck-it Ralph is a prime example of that.

Rating: 5/5!

FROZEN (2013)

And now here we are at what has easily been Disney Animation’s biggest film in years; Frozen. It’s the studio’s first billion-dollar grosser (not counting Pixar), it won two Oscars for ‘Best Song’ and ‘Best Animated Feature’, and has legitimately become a worldwide phenomenon in a way that arguably none of the other post Lion King era Disney films were able to do. Don’t believe me? Just go online and search for ‘Let it Go’ parodies and you’ll see how big this film really has been for audiences all over the world. But you see, the thing is that whenever something becomes really popular, it’s then subjected to quite a bit of backlash. And let me tell you, there’s been some considerably vocal backlash towards Frozen in the time since it first debuted in theaters, so much so that I think it spilled over onto the short film follow-up Frozen Fever, which was released with Cinderella last March. I think it’s safe to say that a lot of the Frozen backlash has mainly come in regards to how BIG the film has truly been. In other words, there were definitely some people who got REALLY sick of hearing ‘Let it Go’ over and over again. Now I will admit that yes, the ‘Frozen craze’ did get a little out of hand after a while. However, I don’t see why this is meant to be a bad thing because it really was nice to have something like this be such a cultural phenomenon that both young and old were enjoying with unabashed glee. And upon re-watch… I still stand by what I said in the past about how this has easily been Disney’s best film in quite some time.

There are quite a lot of things to love about Frozen. First off, the animation is excellent as you would expect from Disney Animation but the story is also just as strong with its themes of family, love, and the ability to take fear and shame and, for lack of a better term, ‘let it go’. This is a ‘love story’ not between a prince and a princess but one between two sisters, which was something rarely seen in Disney films in the way that it was portrayed in this film (the only other Disney film that I can think of that focused this much on a sister relationship was Lilo and Stitch). Those two sisters, Anna and Elsa, are the shining stars of Frozen and voiced perfectly by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel, respectively. Anna is the spunky and adventurous type who finds herself experiencing the outside world for, again for lack of a better term, ‘the first time in forever’ while Elsa, who was originally the villain as was the case with the story of The Ice Queen of which this film is based on, is instead a sympathetic heroine who is at first scared of her ice powers but comes to accept who she is. These two are backed up by an excellent cast of supporting characters, including the charming ‘mountain man’ Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his reindeer best friend Sven who he ‘translates’ for throughout the entire film, and of course the biggest breakout character of the film, the lovable snowman Olaf (Josh Gad), who dreams of getting to experience summer all the while being blissfully unaware of what would really happen to a snowman like him during that time of the year (Kristoff: “Someone’s got to tell him…”).

Hell, I’ve even warmed up to main villain Hans with recent viewings. I’m not saying that he’s ‘that good’ of a villain but Santino Fontana does do a good job in the role, especially in regards to giving Hans a wickedly evil swagger during his big villainous reveal. And of course, the music is great courtesy of Robert and Kristen-Anderson Lopez. Say what you will about whether or not you’re sick of the song but ‘Let it Go’ truly is the film’s best song and best moment too in regards to the sequence it’s featured in. But the rest of the songs in the film are pretty great as well. ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman?’ is both sweet and sad at the same time, I’ve always liked the duet involving Anna and Elsa, ‘For The First Time in Forever’, and so on and so forth. Bottom line, I know that it’s become rather popular nowadays to hate on this film because it got so big. Well, unlike that part of the internet, I’m not going to do that because I do really love this film and I’m glad that it did become a big hit because it deserved to achieve that much success. It’s charming, fun, and most of all it’s full of heart thanks to its great writing, unforgettable characters, and iconic music. If you recall my original review of the film, I gave it a 4/5 rating, and looking back at it now I must ask… what the heck was I thinking giving it that low of a score?

Rating: 5/5! (Now that’s much better!)

BIG HERO 6 (2014)

Three years after the Pixar deal, Disney would make another big deal that would result in them gaining another major studio to add to their company; Marvel Studios. In 2009, Disney purchased Marvel for $4 billion, and while Fox and Sony maintained the licensing deals for their respective film franchises (X-Men and Spider-Man, respectively), Disney became the new distributor for the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. And in 2014, Disney utilized their new asset for the first time in their animated features with Big Hero 6, based on the Marvel Comics team of the same name that was developed by Man of Action Studios, though admittedly the film strays rather heavily from its source material. As for the film itself, it’s basically the animated equivalent of a Marvel Cinematic Universe; it’s fast-paced (though maybe a bit too fast in some parts), it’s full of fun action sequences, and it has plenty of memorable characters. Of course the one that everyone remembers is the lovable health-care robot Baymax, whose monotone voice and insistence on helping people deal with their health concerns provides plenty of the film’s humorous moments (my favorite is whenever he fist-bumps someone (“Balalalalala”)). But the other protagonists are likable as well; there’s science whiz Hiro, chemistry enthusiast Honey Lemon, neat-freak Wasabi, tough-girl GoGo, and comic book fanatic Fred (whose father, without giving it anyway for those who haven’t seen the film, let’s just say fits perfectly with this film given the brand it’s inspired from).

This film also succeeds in very much bringing heart to this story of superheroes and supervillains. As is common with, well, a lot of Disney animated films, a loved one of the main character (in this case, Hiro’s brother Tadashi) dies early on in the film. And while I know many have made the joke about Disney doing this in almost all of their films, this particular death is handled really well in regards to how Hiro has to overcome it. And I will admit, the scene at the end where Hiro is forced to deactivate Baymax in order to escape from the alternate dimension is one that you’re very much likely going to get emotional over. In short, Big Hero 6 is basically a combination of three things; Marvel’s action-packed and adventurous storylines, Disney’s charm and heart, and the light-hearted humor of both, which all comes together for one very fun film. As many of you know, I’m a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so I was excited to see a Disney film that took inspiration from the Marvel comics, even if the film itself actually wasn’t promoted as a ‘Marvel’ film. With that said, it’s looking like there won’t be any plans for Disney to develop an animated equivalent of the MCU. But if you ask me, Disney and Marvel should totally consider doing one, that way Marvel can get onto DC’s level when it comes to animated superhero films. Hey… a guy can dream, can’t he?   

Rating: 4.5/5

And with that, we now come to a close on this second RIMC retrospective of Disney’s animated classics that covered all of the main Disney animated films that have come out since the start of the 21^st century. And while there are quite a few people out there who tend to forget about some of the early films of this era, I still look back upon most of them fondly. Sure it may primarily have to do with the fact that these were the Disney films I grew up with but I still think a lot of them hold up today. And of course, nowadays the studio is back in top form and based on the reviews it has been getting, it looks like Zootopia will be another home run for them. As far as these Disney retrospectives are concerned, I do plan on doing more of them in order to cover the other eras of Disney Animation’s history. At the very least, one of those posts will come before the release of the studio’s second feature of this year, Moana, but the rest could come at any time before or after that. So what are your thoughts on the Disney films discussed in today’s post? Be sure to sound off in the comments below.