The Films of Aardman Animations - A Tribute/Retrospective

In Memory of Peter Sallis – “Goodbye, Chuck…”

1921-2017

Today on Rhode Island Movie Corner, we’re paying tribute to one of the most famous animation studios in the industry. No, not Disney (already did that one) … no, not Pixar (did that one too) … and no, not DreamWorks (at least, not primarily considering that they did distribute a few of these films). No, folks, today we’re talking about Aardman Animations, arguably the most famous stop-motion animation company in the entire film industry. Ever since the company’s inception in 1972 by animators Peter Lord and David Sproxton, Aardman has been involved in numerous critically acclaimed projects. Of course, most people are familiar with their beloved duo Wallace and Gromit, but they’ve also become well-known for projects like the character of Morph and the animation for Peter Gabriel’s iconic music video for his song ‘Sledgehammer’. And this past weekend, their latest feature film, Early Man, was released here in the United States. A review of that film will be coming sometime this week, but until then, I figured that it’d be a great idea to look at some of Aardman’s most famous works. I mean, obviously, I can’t look at everything that Aardman has done since they first got started in the industry because that would just take too long. So instead, I’m going to focus solely on their feature films; since 2000, they’ve made 7 films (including Early Man) and all have done quite well with both critics and audiences. I’ll openly admit that I’ve only seen one of them in theaters, but today I’m hopefully rectifying this by honoring a legendary company’s contributions to the world of pop culture. So, without further ado, buckle in, lads, and find some cheese and crackers to snack on as we look back upon the feature films of Aardman Animations. But first, one quick detour…

THE WALLACE AND GROMIT SHORTS

For most people, Aardman Animations is mainly known for the Wallace and Gromit franchise. Over the course of four half-hour short films and one feature-length film (which, of course, we’ll be getting into later…), audiences across the world were introduced to Wallace, a lovable cheese-eating inventor voiced by the late Peter Sallis, and Gromit, his smart and loyal canine companion who never speaks a word. They were first introduced in A Grand Day Out, which saw the two build a rocket to travel to the moon for their bank holiday because, as Wallace points out, “Everybody knows the Moon is made of cheese” The short film was the brainchild of animator Nick Park and initially served as his graduation project while at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. Three years into its production in 1985, he was hired by Aardman, who allowed him to finish the project on a part-time basis. And thus, A Grand Day Out was completed and released in 1989 and a beloved franchise was born. Not only that, but this short still holds up very well today. Sure, given that this is the first Wallace and Gromit short, the character designs are a lot more primitive than what we’d see in future shorts and films. However, the stop-motion animation (which was done mostly by Park himself) is still solid and is backed by the special’s delightfully wacky premise, which ends up involving a coin-operated robot called ‘The Cooker’ that dreams of traveling to Earth to ski there. A Grand Day Out ended up getting nominated for Best Animated Short at the Oscars that year, but it ultimately didn’t win. It wasn’t too big of a loss for Nick Park, though, as he instead won for his other 1989 Aardman Animations short film, Creature Comforts.

The duo returned in 1993 with The Wrong Trousers. This time around, Wallace and Gromit found themselves crossing paths with a villainous penguin named Feathers McGraw who tries to use Wallace’s newest invention, a pair of robotic ‘ex-NASA Techno Trousers’ meant to be used as a new dog-walking system for Gromit, to steal a valuable diamond. In many ways, The Wrong Trousers was a much larger production compared to A Grand Day Out; the character designs evolved more into the look that we know them as today, there are multiple parodies to classic films, and it ends with an elaborate chase scene finale involving a toy train set. Still, there’s no shortage when it comes to charming characters and a fun premise, which helped The Wrong Trousers to become the first Wallace and Gromit short to win the Oscar for Best Animated Short. Two years later, their third animated short was released, A Close Shave. This one had them dealing with sheep rustlers while Wallace also finds himself falling in love with the owner of a wool shop, Wendolene (Anne Reid). Sadly, this romance ultimately isn’t meant to be when Wendolene reveals that she’s not a fan of cheese. While this is another delightful featurette, I’ll openly admit that I was somewhat scarred by it when I was a kid; no, not because it was scary or anything, though granted the main villain Preston, Wendolene’s dog who is revealed to be a robot, is rather intimidating. Instead, it’s more because the short introduces a character named Shaun, a small sheep that plays a vital role in the plot. I first watched these shorts in elementary school, and when A Close Shave was played, my classmates joked about how I shared the same name as Shaun the Sheep even though my name is the ‘S-E-A-N’ variant. And for the record, this wasn’t a mean-spirited jest or anything but still, it did sort of sour my thoughts on this entry of the franchise. Don’t worry, though, because I did eventually warm up to it after that. A Close Shave would end up winning the Best Animated Short Oscar just like its immediate predecessor.

Finally, three years after the duo appeared on the big-screen, they returned to the small-screen in A Matter of Loaf and Death. In this special, the two are bakers threatened by a mysterious killer that has been going around murdering other bakers. During this time, Wallace also falls in love with a former pin-up girl named Piella Bakewell; however, it’s later revealed that she is the killer as an act of revenge against bakers for ruining her career due to weight gain. In short, it may not be the ‘best’ of the Wallace and Gromit shorts (like A Grand Day Out, it earned an Oscar nomination but didn’t win that year), but even after all these years, the franchise’s charm is still on full display here complete with a wacky finale involving a bomb (“Gromit, I’ve got a bomb in me pants!”). And, of course, Wallace and Gromit’s legacy goes far beyond these four short films. There were a series of shorts called Wallace and Gromit’s Cracking Contraptions that were released in 2002 and were also included on an early 2000’s DVD release of the original three shorts. As the title suggests, each of these ten vignettes focuses on an invention of Wallace’s that usually goes awry; not much else to say about them other than the fact that they give us some more great Wallace and Gromit material. The two have also had some video game titles published over the years, including Project Zoo, a pseudo-sequel to The Wrong Trousers that has the duo once again dealing with Feathers McGraw, and the video game adaptation of The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. There’s even a Wallace and Gromit dark ride, Wallace and Gromit’s Thrill-O-Matic, at Pleasure Beach Blackpool in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It just goes to show how truly special of a franchise Wallace and Gromit has been for audiences young and old.

CHICKEN RUN (2000)

Aardman’s run on the big-screen officially began when they signed a multi-picture deal with DreamWorks in 1999, giving the former a new financial backer and the latter a means of bolstering their blossoming animation empire. And for their first collaboration together, they gave us a film that still stands as the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film to date, Chicken Run. Heck, it even played a part in the creation of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature when it didn’t end up earning a nomination for Best Picture despite being one of the most well-reviewed films of the year. But I’m getting off track here; Chicken Run is basically a farm-set homage to the 1963 war film classic The Great Escape. The film follows a group of chickens who try to escape from their farm when their cruel owners decide to move into the business of selling chicken pot pies. They do so with the aid of a Rhode Island Red Rooster (voiced by Mel Gibson) who they believe can teach them to fly. Being an Aardman production, the film is full of humorous slapstick and that good old-fashioned ‘English charm’. The main cast of chickens is an incredibly sympathetic group and you root for them all the way. And while the film is certainly a lot tamer than the main film that it’s inspired by, Chicken Run still manages to establish some extremely effective emotional stakes thanks to the ever-imposing threat of the film’s main antagonist, Mrs. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson). When she has a chicken killed, the film does not shy away from these moments, therefore making the protagonists’ escape efforts even more important. And really, that’s Chicken Run in a nutshell; it boasts some of the best emotional depth to come out of an animated film that pairs nicely with Aardman’s trademark great animation. In conclusion, this was notably one of the first films that I ever saw in theaters (well, technically, the drive-in but the point still stands). And even after all these years, the film is still just as delightful to watch now as it was back then.

Rating: 4.5/5

WALLACE AND GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT (2005)

After years of delighting audiences on the small-screen, Aardman’s dynamic duo finally headlined their own feature film in 2005, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Described by directors Nick Park and Steve Box as the first ‘vegetarian horror’ film, the film sees Wallace and Gromit taking on the roles of pest control to aid their town when it’s stricken with a rabbit infestation right before its annual vegetable competition. Things get more complicated, however, when a mysterious creature referred to as ‘the Were-Rabbit’ arrives on the scene; and then if that wasn’t enough, the identity of the creature ends up making the whole situation even more complicated. Through it all, though, the charm of the franchise’s premise of setting zany scenarios in a peaceful and idyllic British town is still strong throughout and wasn’t lost in any way when it transitioned over to film. Peter Sallis is great as always as Wallace and is joined by a few notable guest stars in this film, including Helena Bonham Carter as Wallace’s new love interest, aristocrat Lady Tottington, and Ralph Fiennes as his romantic rival, the pompous hunter Victor Quartermaine. And while I’m aware that some of the film’s critics have argued that perhaps Wallace and Gromit worked better in short films instead of a full-length animated feature, this does not take away from the film’s heartfelt narrative and its lovable characters. Thus, it’s quite easy to see why Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit ended up continuing the franchise’s winning streak at the Oscars by winning in the category of Best Animated Feature. Whether it’s via a half-hour short or a 90-minute film, it’s hard not to love the delightful escapades of a good-natured, cheese-eating inventor and his smarter than average dog who always ends up saving him whenever something goes wrong.  

Rating: 5/5!

FLUSHED AWAY (2006)

Flushed Away notably served as the first time that Aardman dabbled in computer animation, and for a perfectly understandable reason. Because the film is primarily set within a rat-inhabited city located in the sewers and therefore features several sequences set on the water, it would’ve been difficult to do it all in stop-motion as water can damage the plasticine models that Aardman uses in their work. Even just compositing stop-motion shots with CGI would’ve been expensive; thus, Aardman decided to have the film be computer animated. And while it doesn’t necessarily have the best computer animation ever, even for the time, it still does a nice job in replicating Aardman’s stop-motion style and the imperfections that come from it (e.g. dropped frames, thumbprints from constantly changing a character’s position in the frame, etc.). The film itself boasts an enjoyable adventure plot in which a pampered pet rat named Roddy St. James finds himself kicked out of his home and sent into the sewers, where he discovers a vast city that he must traverse with the aid of a scavenger named Rita to get back home. Roddy and Rita are a likable pair of leads voiced excellently by the charismatic duo of Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet. They’re backed by a solid supporting cast that includes the likes of Ian McKellen as the film’s main antagonist ‘The Toad’, Jean Reno as his French cousin Le Frog, and Andy Serkis and Bill Nighy as Toad’s bumbling henchmen Spike and Whitey. In short, while far from being the studio’s best outing, Flushed Away is still a perfectly enjoyable family flick with just enough of that Aardman charm. However, the film ultimately did not do too well at the box-office, which was one of the key factors (along with various creative conflicts that had sprung from their past few productions) behind Aardman’s decision to cut ties with DreamWorks.

Rating: 4/5

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (2011)

After backing out of their deal with DreamWorks, Aardman proceeded to sign a distribution deal with Sony Pictures, a partnership that was officially initiated by the 2011 holiday feature Arthur Christmas. Now as some of you long-time readers may already know, this is a film that I’ve talked about before on this site. Way back in 2014, I listed it as an Honorable Mention in my ‘Top 10 Favorite Christmas Films’ list. The reasoning behind its placement on that list was simple; at the time, I had only seen it once. So, with all that in mind (along with having now seen it a second time), I’ll try not to repeat myself too much here while hopefully still managing to delve a bit further into why this film is so fantastic. Arthur Christmas is a charming new take on the mythos of Santa Claus, with the set-up being that there have been several men who have taken on the mantle of ‘Santa’ over the years. Along the way, the process of delivering presents has become far more technologically advanced to the point where Santa and his elves are able to complete their job with military precision thanks to their various gadgets. The only thing, though, is that nowadays the elves handle most of the work whereas the current Santa (Jim Broadbent) mainly serves a ‘symbolic’ role in the proceedings because of his forgetful nature. However, when one present ends up getting forgotten due to an oversight, Santa’s clumsy son Arthur (James McAvoy) heads off on a mission of utter importance with his grandfather/ex-Santa ‘Grandsanta’ (Bill Nighy) and enthusiastic wrapping elf Bryony (Ashley Jensen) to make sure that the present is delivered in time for Christmas.

The whole film serves as a well-balanced look at the overall concept of Santa Claus and how his methods of delivering gifts to children all over the world could potentially evolve over time. And in the process, it manages to highlight the pros and cons of the old-school style that Grandsanta still abides by even after all these years and the North Pole’s current high-tech way of doing it. Sure, the film could’ve easily kept this as a one-sided debate and have Arthur’s brother Steve (Hugh Laurie), who’s established as being next in line for the position of ‘Santa’, be portrayed as a villain due to him leaning more towards the modern side of the argument. Thankfully, though, the filmmakers make the wise decision to not go down that route. Instead, it shows that these two mentalities can work together in harmony to keep the Christmas spirit alive, which is ultimately the most vital part of the whole operation. Thus, the film is full of heart thanks to its great collection of layered protagonists; Arthur, Steve, their father and his struggle to accept the fact that the time has come for him to hang up the red suit, etc. Arthur Christmas is also Aardman’s second computer-animated film, and while it may not maintain the ‘stop-motion’ feel that Flushed Away had, the CGI is exponentially better by comparison. Because of all this, along with a fantastic voice cast and a fast-paced sense of humor that produces an endless array of great visual sight gags and comedic dialogue, Arthur Christmas is not only another superb outing from Aardman but also a bona fide modern holiday classic (despite its under-performance at the box-office during its initial release) due to its creative spin on the biggest staple of Christmas.

Rating: 5/5!

THE PIRATES! IN AN ADVENTURE WITH SCIENTISTS! (2012)

In some ways, 2012’s The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (or, as it was called in the U.S. due to the source material not being as well-known there, The Pirates! Band of Misfits) served as a return to form for Aardman. Directed by studio co-founder Peter Lord, this adaptation of author Gideon Defoe’s 2004 novel of the same name was Aardman’s first feature film since The Curse of the Were-Rabbit to be done primarily in stop-motion. Thanks to all the big advancements in CGI that had occurred since then, they were able to effectively work around the issue of shooting stop-motion sequences set in water without things getting too expensive. And yeah, it’s quite nice to see Aardman be able to return to what they do best; the stop-motion animation in this film is fantastic and the CGI used to create the sea and other scenery effects complements the action on-screen nicely. As for the plot itself, it’s a fun comedic spin on the pirate genre; instead of being about a bunch of pirates looking for buried treasure… it’s about a not-so-great and somewhat egotistical Pirate Captain trying to win a ‘Pirate of the Year’ award. Yes, like any Aardman production, this film is full to the brim with snappy dialogue and hilarious sight gags. Sure, it’s not exactly the most heartfelt story that Aardman’s done to date; that and I’m aware that various executive-mandated changes were made to the U.S. release, including a few voice actors being recast and several risqué jokes being cut out. Still, The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (AKA The Pirates! Band of Misfits) is a good old-fashioned action-adventure comedy that boasts an excellent voice cast. Said voice cast includes the likes of Hugh Grant as the pompous but charismatic Pirate Captain, Martin Freeman as his loyal but often put-upon second in command, and David Tennant as the ‘hopeless romantic’ (yes, you read that right) Charles Darwin. Thus, this film is one heck of an entertaining popcorn flick even if you’re like me and you saw it via the ‘inferior’ U.S. cut. Now, who’s up for Ham Night?

Rating: 4.5/5

SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE (2015)

And finally, we end with the feature film debut of one of Aardman’s most iconic characters, Shaun the Sheep. After his breakout turn in A Close Shave, Aardman ended up giving the adorable little sheep his own series. Beginning in 2007, Shaun the Sheep, in which Shaun and his friends get into all sorts of adventures on the farm that they live on, has run for around 150 episodes, has won 2 BAFTA awards and 1 International Emmy, and has even spawned its own spin-off series, Timmy Time. And in 2015, the series transitioned to the big screen in the Shaun the Sheep Movie, in which Shaun and his friends head off into the big city to find their farmer when their tomfoolery causes him to suffer an extended bout of memory loss. Now, for the record, like the TV series, this film does not rely on dialogue. While there are a few notable voice actors in the cast (British comedians Justin Fletcher and Omid Djalili provide the vocals for Shaun and the film’s main antagonist, an Animal Control worker named Trumper, respectively), the film relies more on silent comedy. But even with that in mind, along with its simple plot, the film still boasts that delightful Aardman charm that has made the studio the iconic company that it is today. Where this film lacks in dialogue, it more than makes up for it with its wide array of hilarious sight gags. Plus, you don’t even have to be that familiar with the Shaun the Sheep series to enjoy this film (I myself have only seen a few clips of it) as it does a nice job of establishing its main premise along with the other characters of the show aside from Shaun. In other words, the Shaun the Sheep Movie is a heartwarming and hilarious stop-motion animated adventure that was so well-received upon its release that it even managed to give Pixar’s Inside Out a run for its money as the best-reviewed animated film of 2015. Heck, there’s already a sequel in the works that is slated for a 2019 release.

Rating: 4.5/5

And that concludes this retrospective on the feature films produced by Aardman Animations. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with any memories that you have of watching this legendary animation studio’s output.

Black Panther (2018) review

In 1966, Marvel legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the first African-American superhero that ever appeared in mainstream comics. His name was T’Challa, ruler of the African nation of Wakanda and its greatest warrior, the Black Panther. Half a century later, the character would make his official live-action film debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2016 release, Captain America: Civil War. In the film, T’Challa was played by Chadwick Boseman. Fresh off playing cultural icons like Jackie Robinson (42) and James Brown (Get on Up), Boseman added yet another cultural icon to his resume of film roles thanks to his excellent performance as the stoic regal warrior. And now, the Black Panther headlines his own solo film courtesy of director Ryan Coogler. Since 2013, the Oakland native has made a name for himself in the film industry with some of the most critically-acclaimed films of the past few years; and to put this all into perspective, Black Panther is only his third feature film to date. Prior to this, he directed the 2013 drama Fruitvale Station, which told the true story of the death of Oscar Grant III in the titular Bay Area Rapid Transit metro station, and 2015’s Creed, the unexpected continuation of the iconic Rocky franchise that ended up being its most critically successful outing since the original back in 1976. And with Black Panther, Coogler (and, therefore, Marvel Studios) ends up having yet another critically-acclaimed outing on their hands thanks to it being one of the most emotionally-charged outings of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In Captain America: Civil War, audiences were introduced to T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), prince of the African nation of Wakanda who also serves as its greatest warrior, the ‘Black Panther’. When his father, King T’Chaka (John Kani), was murdered in a bombing at the United Nations, T’Challa embarked on a quest for vengeance against his father’s killer Helmut Zemo, though he ultimately let him live when he decided that he would no longer be consumed by vengeance. Thus, as Black Panther begins, T’Challa returns home to Wakanda to prepare to become its new king. However, he soon finds himself having to deal with two major threats to the peaceful existence of his kingdom. First, there’s Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), a black-market arms dealer who has spent several years trying to find Wakanda and steal its most valuable resource, vibranium (AKA the material used to create Captain America’s iconic shield). The other big threat comes in the form of Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), a Black Ops soldier (who, as it turns out, harbors a major personal connection to T’Challa that’s tied to a key incident of Killmonger’s past that T’Chaka was directly involved in), who arrives in Wakanda hell-bent on taking the throne and utilizing the kingdom’s resources to initiate rebellions all over the world. This, in turn, forces T’Challa and his main allies, including his ex-lover Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), his tech-savvy sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), and Okoye (Danai Gurira), leader of the Dora Milaje, Wakanda’s special forces group, to stand their ground to prevent Killmonger from taking over the kingdom and, subsequently, the rest of the world.

I’ve stated time and time again that the MCU has always done a fantastic job developing its main characters to the point where it results in some of the most effective emotional moments to come out of the superhero genre (e.g. the ending of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the ‘big reveal’ in Captain America: Civil War, etc.). And with Black Panther, Coogler gives us one of the most emotionally-driven installments of the entire franchise. There’s a real spiritual sense to this film, and not just through its excellent portrayal of the world of Wakanda and its culture. Emotion practically drives everything in this film from character motivations for both heroes and villains to key moments in the plot that reflect modern race relations. All of this helps to make the film one of the most moving and culturally relevant films in recent memory while still being a fun and exciting blockbuster flick, a balancing act that Coogler handles terrifically. Because after all, this is still a Marvel Cinematic Universe film that we’re talking about here, and even at 18 films in, Black Panther still features everything that we’ve come to love from this franchise. Coogler and cinematographer Rachel Morrison (who previously collaborated on Fruitvale Station) more than deliver on the film’s solid action sequences, many of which are backed by the franchise’s consistently solid visual effects. And while Black Panther certainly doesn’t skimp on its emotional poignancy, it still finds plenty of time for the MCU’s trademark sense of humor.

Right from his first scene in Captain America: Civil War, Chadwick Boseman proved to be a major scene-stealer as his iteration of Black Panther was full of powerful, emotional nuance. And now that he headlines his own film, that firm resolve is strengthened even further along with a solid arc in which T’Challa struggles to figure out his identity as the new ruler of Wakanda. But he’s not alone in this endeavor, as he’s backed by some of the greatest female leads in the entire MCU. As Nakia, Lupita Nyong’o has excellent chemistry with Boseman (effectively making them one of the MCU’s best ‘couples’) while still being much more than just a traditional ‘love interest’. As Okoye, Danai Gurira continues her recent track record of playing badass warriors (following her turn as Michonne in The Walking Dead) as the staunch leader of the Dora Milaje who is NOT to be messed with. And as Shuri, Letitia Wright ends up being the film’s biggest standout as T’Challa’s snarky but high-spirited sister whose technological prowess manages to give even Tony Stark a run for his money. Of course, like any MCU film, there are plenty more standouts from this film’s excellent supporting cast. Daniel Kaluuya plays a minor but all-around pivotal role in the film as T’Challa’s best friend W’Kabi, the head of Wakanda’s ‘Border Tribe’ who ends up getting into a rather tough personal conflict with T’Challa over his handling of Klaue. And as for Winston Duke as the imposing M’Baku, the leader of the Jabari tribe who is in constant conflict with T’Challa over his impending rule, he surprisingly ends up providing the film with some of its best humorous moments. Close it all out with some solid turns from screen legends Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker as T’Challa’s mother Ramonda and the sage-like figure Zuri, respectively, and you have one of the MCU’s best ensemble casts.  

Ultimately, though, one of the most well-received aspects of this film is something that you don’t hear of very often from critics and audiences when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, its villains. And while I have gone on record stating that I don’t think that the majority of the MCU’s collection of antagonists are as bad as many claim that they are, I will openly admit that Black Panther features some of the franchise’s greatest villains. First, we have Andy Serkis reprising his brief cameo role in Avengers: Age of Ultron as Ulysses Klaue. Without giving anything major away, Klaue’s role in this film is minor but Serkis is clearly having a ball as the delightfully over-the-top arms dealer who gets plenty of the film’s best humorous lines. But, of course, the real star of the show is Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, who is hands down one of the most layered antagonists of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Keeping in line with the film’s strong sense of emotional depth, Killmonger’s backstory is steeped entirely in emotional sentiment, effectively making him a perfect foil for T’Challa in more ways than I describe here without delving into spoiler territory. His motivations are clear throughout as is Jordan’s fantastic, commanding screen presence in the role. Simply put, Killmonger is one of the prime examples of a ‘sympathetic’ antagonist; while he does serve as a major threat to T’Challa and company, there are instances where you do empathize with where he’s coming from. Not only that, but it’s also good to see Jordan get a top-quality role in a superhero film after his rather disastrous outing as the Human Torch in 2015’s Fan4stic. And for those keeping track at home, that makes two former on-screen Human Torches who ended up getting stronger material when they transitioned over to Marvel Studios (the first, of course, being Cap himself, Chris Evans).

Now, of course, anyone who knows me probably guessed beforehand that I was going to love this film given all the times that I’ve gushed about the MCU in the past… and they would be right. While I usually don’t like to lean so closely towards the film fan community’s consensus towards any given film, it’s hard to deny that Black Panther truly is a landmark installment of both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the superhero genre in general. For lack of a better term, director Ryan Coogler infuses this film with so much soul that it ends up being an emotionally powerful cinematic experience. Whether it’s thanks to the film’s deeply-layered plot or Michael B. Jordan’s phenomenal turn as arguably the MCU’s greatest villain to date, Black Panther is sure to hit you with all the feels. And really, at the risk of becoming a broken record, this is just yet another testament to Marvel Studios’ dominance of the superhero genre since the MCU’s inception. For the past decade, they’ve provided us with well-written and well-directed superhero epics that have been highlighted by their excellently written characters, jaw-dropping action sequences, and in their greatest outings, a fantastic sense of emotional poignancy that has made their protagonists endearing icons in the world of pop culture for years to come. Black Panther boasts all those things and then some.  

#WAKANDAFOREVER

Rating: 5/5!

The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) review

In January 2008, audiences were treated to a new sci-fi monster flick known as Cloverfield. Produced by ‘franchise savior’ J.J. Abrams, written by Joss Whedon veteran Drew Goddard, and directed by ‘pre-Planet of the Apes’ Matt Reeves, the film was a major critical/commercial hit while also proving to be somewhat of a landmark entry in the ‘found footage’ genre. After that, though, it was unclear for a while if there would be a follow-up despite Abrams, Goddard, and Reeves all claiming that they were planning on making one. It wasn’t until 2016 when audiences learned that the series was set to continue, as 10 Cloverfield Lane was announced just two months prior to its March 2016 release. But despite this short time-span between its initial announcement and release, the film was another major critical/commercial hit that effectively paved the way for a fascinating new franchise that was intent on being reminiscent of the classic anthology series, The Twilight Zone. And now, this brings us to film #3 in the franchise, The Cloverfield Paradox. Initially named God Particle, this film was confirmed to be part of the Cloverfield franchise not long after 10 Cloverfield Lane’s release. However, the film’s initial fall 2017 release date ended up getting scrapped. Plus, like any major J.J. Abrams production, details about it were scarce for the following few months… that is, until this past Sunday when its first promo aired during the Super Bowl. Even more surprising, the promo revealed that the film would debut that very night on Netflix in lieu of a theatrical release. Thus, without further ado, let’s delve into the third installment of the Cloverfield franchise, which claims that it’ll uncover some backstory regarding the events of the original film that started it all.

In a not too distant future, the planet Earth is on the verge of a worldwide war due to an impending energy crisis. To fix this problem, all the major space programs of the world launch the Cloverfield Station, which is outfitted with a particle accelerator known as ‘the Shepard’ that will hopefully provide the planet with a new source of energy. However, the experiment ends up failing numerous times, resulting in the station’s crew being forced to prolong their stay up in space for at least two years as they must figure out why the Shepard keeps malfunctioning so that they can get it to work in time before a war breaks out back home on Earth. Eventually, the crew manages to achieve what appears to be a successful test, but in the process, they then find themselves in a troubling situation as the Earth mysteriously disappears from existence. This predicament is then further compounded by the unexpected arrival of a woman named Mina Jensen (Elizabeth Debicki), who claims to be a member of the crew and the best friend of crew member Ava Hamilton (Gugu-Mbatha Raw). In other words, the crew of Cloverfield Station soon come to realize that they’ve somehow ended up in an alternate dimension, which they must escape from before the damages to the station that were caused by the particle accelerator become too severe. Little do they know, though, that they must soon deal with the various dangers of this strange new world while, unbeknownst to them, the Earth of their dimension is dealing with a dangerous new threat of its own.  

While the potential was very much there for an interesting sci-fi story that further developed the universe of Cloverfield, this potential is ultimately wasted due to the film’s biggest issue of having a generally undercooked plot. Not only that, but it’s also quite derivative of several classic sci-fi films. Now I won’t be naming some of the biggest films that are clearly this film’s primary influences here because I fear that they would lead to some spoiler-y discussion about the events that happen in this film and I want to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible. Still, I’m 99.9% confident that you’ll know EXACTLY what films I’m talking about when you see this because, sadly, the similarities that The Cloverfield Paradox shares with those other sci-fi films are quite blatant. Now to the film’s credit, it does live up to its promise of delving into the mythos of its franchise, specifically by providing an answer to one of the key mysteries that was laid out in the ending of the original Cloverfield. Still, its attempts at connecting everything in the Cloverfield franchise ultimately feel just as underdeveloped as its main plot because it never really explores any of the story ideas that it introduces, especially the one that establishes the concept of alternate dimensions. And it’s a shame, really, because, from a technical perspective, the film is at least decently made. For a film that was originally meant to be released in IMAX but was ultimately relegated to being released on Netflix instead, it looks fine enough thanks to the solid cinematography from Bad Robot Productions regular Dan Mindel, who also did the cinematography for J.J. Abrams’ two Star Trek films and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And just like the previous Cloverfield film, 10 Cloverfield Lane, this film sports an excellent score courtesy of the legendary Bear McCreary.

Alas, though, the various story issues of this film also end up affecting its cast of characters AKA the crew of Cloverfield Station. These characters are just as generic as the plot itself, with most of them getting little to no character development only to serve as a collection of stock horror film protagonists. Thankfully, this doesn’t apply to ‘all’ of them; specifically, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as main protagonist Ava Hamilton, who is easily the most well-developed character of the entire group. Obviously, that’s not really saying much given the lack of character development for everyone else but, to the film’s credit, her overall role in the story (which is all tied to an immensely devastating tragedy from her past) does yield its most effective moments of emotional poignancy. And this is only strengthened further by Mbatha-Raw’s excellent performance in the role; in other words, she’s easily the best part of the film. As for the rest of the cast, while they don’t get as much to work with by comparison, at the very least they’re all fine in their respective roles. Daniel Brühl is another major standout as Schmidt, who ends up being one of the more enigmatic members of the station’s crew, as is Chris O’Dowd as Mundy, who’s basically the film’s main ‘comic relief’ character. But again, without any decent bits of character development to work with, the two of them along with fellow co-stars David Oyelowo, John Ortiz, Zhang Ziyi, Aksel Hennie, and Elizabeth Debicki end up being just as stranded as their characters are in their current predicament.

From what I’ve read, it seems as if The Cloverfield Paradox’s fate as a Netflix release was due to Paramount, the franchise’s main studio, being uneasy about the final product and its potential profitability given its franchise-high budget of $45 million. J.J. Abrams himself was keen on trying to salvage the film in post-production but was ultimately unable to do so when he signed on to direct Star Wars: Episode IX. And overall, this does basically sum up this film in a nutshell. While it’s not outright ‘terrible’ (if anything, it’s not necessarily as bad as its abysmal 19% rating on Rotten Tomatoes suggests), it’s still a tragically underwhelming continuation of the Cloverfield franchise. Despite the potential for some interesting plot-lines, the film ultimately wastes them all due to its woefully generic sci-fi horror story that does little to further explore the franchise’s lore. This, in turn, wastes a perfectly good ensemble cast (save for Gugu Mbatha-Raw) that ends up being restricted to a bunch of stereotypical sci-fi horror roles. Ultimately, though, I will admit that I wasn’t ‘bored’ by this film at any point despite it being a clear hodge-podge of other films in its genre. Thus, if you are a fan of the Cloverfield franchise, then there’s a chance that you might like this film okay even if it’s nowhere near as good as its two predecessors. And despite this film’s disastrous critical reception, I don’t believe that this will be the end of the Cloverfield franchise. After all, there’s yet another Cloverfield film coming out later this year in October in the form of a WWII-set supernatural horror film called Overlord. Of course, it’ll probably get renamed soon so that it’ll have Cloverfield in the title, as was the case with 10 Cloverfield Lane (originally The Cellar) and this (originally God Particle). But thankfully, it’s been recently announced that it, along with other potential future installments of the franchise, will be theatrical releases instead of what happened here.

Rating: 2.5/5

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) review

Ever since the Harry Potter film series became the global phenomenon that it technically still is today, many studios tried to capitalize on its success. And thus, several films based on novels from the young adult genre, which are often marketed towards the teen demographic, proceeded to get greenlit. However, several of these attempted franchises were unable to get off the ground due to their first installments often being critical/commercial disappointments, with the only major exceptions being Twilight, Hunger Games, and Divergent. And even then, of those three franchises, only Hunger Games managed to attract the same kind of critical success that Harry Potter had achieved. But in 2014, one attempt at a new ‘young adult’ film franchise surprisingly managed to succeed where several others had previously failed. The Maze Runner, which was based on author James Dashner’s 2009 novel of the same name while also serving as the directorial debut of former VFX artist Wes Ball, managed to fare quite well with both critics and audiences. And on just a modest $34 million budget, it grossed nearly $350 million worldwide. One year later, it was then followed by a sequel in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. It too managed to do well at the box-office though its overall critical reception wasn’t as strong compared to its predecessor. Still, here are we now with the finale to this dystopian tale, Maze Runner: The Death Cure. While the film’s release had to be delayed for almost an entire year after series lead Dylan O’Brien suffered some serious injuries during its production, it also didn’t go the same route as franchises like Hunger Games and Twilight by being split into two films. It’s a good thing, too, because after the rather disappointing affair that was The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure allows this franchise to go out on a good note.

Throughout the course of this series, we’ve followed the adventures of main protagonist Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his conflict with the organization known as WKCD. After a devastating solar flare ravaged the planet, which was then followed by an outbreak of a virus known as ‘the Flare’ that turns its victims into zombified creatures known as ‘Cranks’, WCKD subjected those who were immune to the virus through a series of experiments to try and find a cure. When Thomas (a former member of the organization) opposed their methods, he was placed inside the very same experiments that he had a hand in working on. However, with the help of his fellow ‘Immunes’, Thomas managed to break them out from their maze-like prison while still being pursued by WCKD’s leader Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson) and her military leader Janson (Aidan Gillen). Things came to a head at the end of The Scorch Trials when Thomas’ friend and fellow former WCKD employee Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) betrayed their group, leading to WCKD capturing several members of the resistance group known as the Right Arm and fellow Maze survivor Minho (Ki Hong Lee). In response, Thomas, Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Frypan (Dexter Darden), and ‘Scorch’ survivors Brenda (Rosa Salazar) and Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito) embark on a perilous mission to both rescue their friends and to take down WCKD before they can harm any other children who are immune to ‘the Flare’. To do so, they must venture into WCKD’s heavily guarded main base of operations, which also happens to be the ‘Last City’ currently left standing on Earth.

Two of the best aspects of this franchise have been its production design and its action sequences, and both have managed to improve with each new film due in part to an increase in budget since the first film, effectively allowing the opportunity for more elaborate visuals and grander-scaled action sequences. But, of course, a lot of this is also thanks to Wes Ball’s continually solid direction, as he once again proves to be quite an effective director when it comes to action sequences. But then there’s also the writing, which is a lot better than what we got in this film’s immediate predecessor. Whereas the first Maze Runner managed to have a surprisingly engaging mystery plot, especially for those going in who weren’t familiar with the source material, it felt that, with The Scorch Trials, the story began to play second fiddle to the franchise’s action set-pieces. And as good as those action sequences were, they ultimately weren’t enough to make up for The Scorch Trials’ numerous narrative shortcomings. Thankfully, that’s not as big of an issue here. While the film is still primarily action-oriented like the second film, there’s also a lot more focus on the plot and its characters. In other words, The Death Cure feels a lot more like the first Maze Runner in terms of its overall execution. And given that this is the final installment of the series, it does manage to end it all on a generally conclusive note even if some plotlines and character arcs don’t exactly get proper conclusions to them. Heck, the film even manages to have a few genuinely solid emotional moments here and there.

With that said, though, it’s understandable if some may find this film to be rather bloated, and this is largely due to it being the longest entry in the series by far at nearly two and a half hours long. But while I do agree that it is perhaps a tad bit overlong, at the very least it never felt as emotionally empty as The Scorch Trials often was; trust me, if it did, then that hefty runtime would’ve been a far bigger problem. And this is mainly thanks to the franchise’s solid ensemble cast, which has been another key element to its success. Since the beginning, this series has relied heavily on its cast of young leads while the bigger names in the cast (e.g. Giancarlo Esposito, Barry Pepper, etc.) were given noteworthy supporting roles. And these young leads are once again excellent in their respective roles, highlighted by the main duo of Dylan O’Brien (who, as a lead actor, has matured just as much as this franchise has) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Thomas and Newt. Newt, especially, gets some big character moments in this entry that are incredibly well-handled. On that note, the film also makes sure to atone for one of the biggest shortcomings of The Scorch Trials by delving further into Teresa’s decision to betray her friends and work with WCKD again (something that was barely touched upon in that film due to the character’s limited screen-time) in the hopes of finding a cure. This, in turn, results in stronger character development for Teresa and arguably Kaya Scodelario’s best performance in the role. Finally, as for the film’s main villains, Patricia Clarkson and Aidan Gillen are also solid once again in their respective roles as Ava Paige and Janson, but without giving anything away, one ends up having a far more substantial role in the plot than the other.  

(P.S. There’s also a surprise cameo that I can’t talk about that much due to it being a big plot spoiler, but I will say that it too helps this film regain a lot of the spirit of the first film that was lost during the second film.)

Looking back, the original Maze Runner was truly quite the success story, and not just because it was part of a genre that usually yielded mixed results. It had a far smaller budget than most franchises of this genre, served as the directorial debut for a then-untested director, and was almost entirely centered on a cast of young leads. And yet, it ultimately turned out to be quite good; at the very least, better than most recent YA film adaptations. With that in mind, The Death Cure mainly serves as one thing; further proof as to why The Scorch Trials turned out to be quite disappointing. Seriously, the best way that I can describe the second film is that it was basically what many people feared the film version of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was going to be like, a ‘middle chapter’ without much focus. By comparison, The Death Cure boasts stronger emotional stakes for its main characters that yield some incredibly effective poignant moments. And despite some of the series’ biggest plotlines ultimately going unanswered, the film does serve its purpose of being a proper finale for the story that was initially set up in the first film while still maintaining the franchise’s knack for solid action sequences. With that said, though, I will agree with the consensus on Rotten Tomatoes in that those who weren’t already invested in the Maze Runner franchise, to begin with, aren’t going to get much out of this film. But for those who are fans of this series and were rather disappointed with how The Scorch Trials turned out, like I was, then I bet that you’ll be far more satisfied with The Death Cure as it’s far closer to the quality of the first film than the second… arguably better even…

Rating: 4.5/5