Lady and the Tramp (2019) review (Disney+)

Disney’s brand-new streaming service Disney+ is finally here, granting Disney fans premier access to a vast and varied collection of the company’s legendary filmography along with some exciting new projects from practically every major facet of the Disney universe. And here on Rhode Island Movie Corner, that means that you folks can expect plenty of reviews of Disney+ originals for the foreseeable future, which all begins with a review of the latest entry in Disney’s recent line of live-action remakes. Oh sure, I know some of you probably just rolled your eyes right now given how many of these have been made at this point, but as I’ve made it clear plenty of times by now, I’m all for these new spins on classic Disney stories, which includes today’s installment, a remake of Disney Animation’s 1955 release, Lady and the Tramp. Overall, I’d sum up Lady and the Tramp under the category of ‘Disney classics that, unfortunately, tend to get overlooked sometimes due to some of the other films that came out during that period’. In this instance, Lady and the Tramp, as far as its initial release was concerned, was sandwiched right between two of what are arguably Disney Animation’s most iconic films, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty. And yet, I think it’s safe to say that this charming little tale of a pampered Cocker Spaniel who falls in love with a street-savvy stray mutt is just as well-regarded as the other Disney classics of its time, especially thanks to its iconic sequence where the titular duo share a romantic spaghetti dinner to the tune of ‘Bella Notte’. This, of course, brings us to its new live-action remake, which is directed by Charlie Bean, a veteran animator who’s worked on several classic shows including Dexter’s Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls. He also made his directorial debut back in 2017 with the considerably underrated LEGO Ninjago Movie, and here, he delivers an earnest and all-around heartwarming rendition of a classic Disney love story.

In a quaint little Midwestern town, Jim Dear (Thomas Mann) gives his wife Darling (Kiersey Clemons) a Cocker Spaniel for Christmas, whom they name Lady. As time goes on, Lady (voiced by Tessa Thompson) becomes incredibly accustomed to her life of luxury, especially after Jim and Darling give her a new collar. However, things start to change when she meets a stray mutt who’s often referred to as ‘the Tramp’ (voiced by Justin Theroux), who informs her that she isn’t going to be the center of her owners’ universe anymore because they’re about to have a baby, and as he puts it, “When the baby moves in, the dog moves out”. Sure enough, Jim and Darling end up having a baby girl named Lulu and Lady soon finds herself getting much less attention than she used to. To make matters worse, an incident in which Lady gets into trouble with Darling’s dog-hating Aunt Sarah (Yvette Nicole Brown) while Jim and Darling are away results in her ending up out in the streets without a collar and far from home. Thus, when she eventually reunites with Tramp, he offers to help her get home and begins to show her everything that he experiences as a street dog all while avoiding Elliot the local dogcatcher (Adrian Martinez), who’s hellbent on capturing Tramp and putting him in the pound. And in the process, an unexpected bit of romance starts to blossom between this most unlikely pair.  

Like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin before it, Lady and the Tramp is another case of these recent live-action Disney remakes where, admittedly, most of its big changes are cosmetic in nature. For starters, instead of rarely showing their faces like in the original, Jim and Darling are featured a lot more prominently in this version whereas Aunt Sarah plays a lesser role than she did in the animated film in favor of a generally expanded role for the dogcatcher as the new main antagonist. But easily the biggest change comes via Aunt Sarah’s pair of Siamese Cats, who receive a considerably major overhaul due to their animated counterparts often being considered as racist stereotypes complete with a new song, ‘What a Shame’. The story, meanwhile, is basically the same as the original with the exact same story beats, from the troublesome rat that constantly pesters the family to Lady’s brief tenure in the pound where she learns ‘the truth’ about the Tramp. And unlike the other recent live-action Disney remakes, this one doesn’t really do much to update the story from a modern perspective outside of the previously mentioned revision of the Siamese Cats and the fact that Jim and Darling are a biracial couple. However, this new film still does a very nice job when it comes to its overall handling of this story and consistently maintains the same pleasant atmosphere of its animated counterpart. Yes, even that iconic spaghetti scene is still beautifully executed even with a live-action/CGI coat of paint.

A lot of this has to do with the film’s unique method of bringing its animal characters to life. While it clearly could’ve been quite easy to just have all the dogs portrayed solely through CGI since that is what many films tend to do nowadays for animals, Lady and the Tramp instead manages to go the extra mile by casting real dogs (many of them rescues), with the utterly adorable duo of rescues Rose and Monte taking on the title roles. And while the film does obviously use CG to have them talk and to give them digital doubles for certain sequences, it’s so well implemented that it’s often legitimately rather hard to distinguish between scenes where the dogs are either real or fully CG. It also helps that Lady and the Tramp are given an excellent duo to voice them in Tessa Thompson and Justin Theroux, respectively, as both do a wonderful job in making these two incredibly lovable and effortlessly charismatic while also sporting some lovely chemistry. They’re then backed by an equally solid supporting voice cast headlined by the likes of Sam Elliott as Trusty the old bloodhound and Janelle Monáe as Tramp’s flirtatious friend Peg the Pekingese (Monáe, of course, performs the classic ditty that is ‘He’s a Tramp’ and also helped write the Siamese Cats’ new song). As for the film’s human cast, Thomas Mann and Kiersey Clemons have solid chemistry that’s on par with Thompson and Theroux as Jim and Darling even if they still end up playing the same generally passive roles that their characters had in the original. After that, you have some nice supporting turns from Yvette Nicole Brown as Aunt Sarah despite her significantly reduced role in this version of the story and Adrian Martinez as the dogcatcher, who manages to be an effectively menacing villain without being too campy.

Many of these recent live-action Disney remakes have extensively used CGI to help bring the fantastical worlds of their stories to life. Lady and the Tramp is not one of those films since, just like the original, it is still very much an old-fashioned love story set in a practically picturesque Midwestern town like the ones that Walt Disney himself grew up in. As such, its use of CGI is a lot more limited compared to the other films of its subgenre which, even as someone who has loved all these recent Disney remakes, I have to admit is a nice and refreshing change of pace when it comes to these films. In other words, it could be argued that this new version of Lady and the Tramp eschews what has become the traditional process of remaking a Disney classic in favor of a pleasantly nostalgic ‘back to basics’ approach. However, if there is one thing that this film has in common with the other recent live-action Disney remakes, it’s that it’ll ultimately once again be the subject of controversy amongst those who are fully against this current cinematic trend. It also doesn’t help that this version of Lady and the Tramp doesn’t really do much to update its story for a new generation outside of abolishing some racist stereotypes. Ultimately, though, while it may not necessarily be the best of these live-action Disney remakes, Lady and the Tramp still thoroughly succeeds at being an immensely heartwarming crowd-pleaser thanks in large part to its extensive use of actual dogs instead of CG creations. But if you are one of those folks who still prefer the animated incarnations of these Disney classics, you’ll be pleased to know that the original Lady and the Tramp is also readily available for your streaming pleasures on Disney+. In fact, the same can be said for all the Disney classics that have received remakes these past few years. I’ve always argued that these remakes can peacefully co-exist with their animated counterparts and I’m pleased to say that Disney+ is now proving that this is, indeed, possible.

Rating: 4/5

Bumblebee (2018) review

There were several hit franchises that dominated 80’s pop culture, with most of them defined by their merchandising and popular animated TV show adaptations. One of these franchises was Transformers, which followed the adventures of the titular autonomous robotic organisms who were embroiled in a war between two rival factions known as the Autobots and Decepticons. The toy line was developed by Hasbro and Takara Tomy and served as a rebranding of the latter’s Diaclone toy line, and in turn, it was the inspiration for the popular animated series The Transformers, which ran from 1984 to 1987. The franchise would then continue over the years with new themes, shows, and even a feature film adaptation in 1986. And in 2007, the series made its live-action debut via director Michael Bay’s Transformers, which was a major commercial hit upon its release amidst decent but overall polarizing reviews. This reception quickly changed, however, once the film starting to get sequels. While they continued to be hits at the box office, critical reception only got worse with each new film, with most critics deeming them as some of the worst films of their respective years of release. But now, for the first time since the live-action series started more than a decade ago, there’s a new Transformers film hitting theaters that wasn’t directed by Michael Bay (who’s still involved as a producer). Instead, directorial duties go to Travis Knight, CEO of the stop-motion animation company Laika who recently made his directorial debut in 2016 with the critically-acclaimed Kubo and the Two Strings. And for his Transformers film, Knight goes back to basics with a prequel/spin-off centered on arguably the most popular Transformer of the series after Autobot leader Optimus Prime, the adorable yellow scout Bumblebee. What follows is a film that could very well win back those who were extremely unsatisfied by the previous Transformers films as Knight’s take on this long-running franchise is quite arguably far more respectable to its source material.

The year is 1986 and teenager Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) has just turned 18. Frustrated with her current predicament of not having a car, she ends up coming across a yellow Volkswagen beetle at a garage owned by her friend Hank (Len Cariou), who lets her have it on account of it being her birthday. However, as Charlie soon discovers, this is not just an ordinary car. Instead, it is an Autobot scout, B-127, who she ends up naming Bumblebee (initially voiced by Dylan O’Brien before reverting to the character’s film series trademark of communicating via the radio). As the two begin to bond, Bumblebee struggles to cope with a damaged memory core that was sustained following his arrival on Earth, and soon enough, Charlie ends up being roped into the mission that had brought Bumblebee to the planet in the first place. Specifically, a pair of Decepticons named Shatter (voiced by Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (voiced by Justin Theroux) arrive on Earth looking for Bumblebee, who supposedly has information about the current plans of his superior, Autobot leader Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen). Having speculated that the Autobots plan on establishing a new base of operations on Earth, the two form an ‘alliance’ with the government group known as Sector 7 to track down their target, claiming that the Autobots are the ones who will pose a threat to humanity. Thus, Charlie and Bumblebee now find themselves pursued by both the government and the Decepticons as the latter works to follow Optimus’ orders and protect Earth from this new alien threat.

One of the most common criticisms about the Transformers films has been their writing, usually due to instances where they try to over-complicate their plots. That isn’t the case with Bumblebee, though, as it opts for a far more simplified plot that pays clear homage to films like E.T. and The Iron Giant. There aren’t any ancient transformers or crazy government conspiracies to be found in this film; instead, it’s just a story about a girl who comes across an alien robot and the situations that they get into, several of which involve the government. Now with all this said, it should be noted that there are instances where this film is perhaps a bit ‘too’ simple. Its plot is as basic as you can get for a film like this and it’s also rather light on action sequences, with the biggest action set-pieces reserved for the climax. At the end of the day, though, the ‘back to basics’ approach that Travis Knight takes here is one that’s truly worth appreciating. For all intent and purposes, his style of direction arguably serves as a course correction for almost all the major issues that audiences have had with the Michael Bay-directed Transformers films. This film’s action sequences are a lot easier to comprehend and it isn’t overstuffed with Transformer characters. There are only a few in this film and the ones that are there aren’t just giant, grey-colored robots that all look the same. Plus, given that this is set in the ’80s, the character designs are primarily based on those from the era that Transformers fans refer to as ‘Generation 1’ AKA the earliest and perhaps most beloved incarnations of these characters. As such, for those who grew up with the original Transformers toys and their subsequent animated TV series adaptation, you’ll be pleased to know that these classic designs are well-executed in live-action form.

But while the film, in general, does dial back on almost all the extremes of Bay’s Transformers films, it’s still very limited in terms of character development. Simply put, the only two major characters in this film that get any attention are Charlie and Bumblebee. But for what it’s worth, the relationship that these two form over the course of the film is arguably its greatest strength. And while this may seem outlandish to some people given the previous films, it does, in fact, result in a Transformers film with actual heart that’s not just a case of ‘style over substance’. A lot of this is thanks to Hailee Steinfeld, who’s quite excellent as easily the best human lead to come from this series. Not only does she work well off the CG-created Bumblebee, but despite what was said earlier about the film being rather lacking in character development, she does get to work with the majority of what’s there. Most specifically, it’s established that following the recent passing of her father, she’s become quite emotionally distant from the rest of her family, especially after her mother Sally (Pamela Adlon) quickly remarried. And it is through her relationship with Bumblebee that Charlie manages to rebound from her recent loss, an arc that Steinfeld handles very well. As for the rest of the cast, they’re good in their respective roles despite not having as much to work with compared to Steinfeld. Perhaps the most prominent example of this is John Cena as Sector 7 agent John Burns. While Cena’s certainly proven himself as a solid actor in recent years, Burns only serves as an obstacle for Charlie and Bumblebee who had some previous experience with the latter as seen in the opening.

As I’ve noted numerous times in the past, I’m an unabashed fan of the live-action Transformers films. I still have highly positive feelings towards the original 2007 film and I’ve never ‘disliked’ any of the sequels even though I’m fully aware that I’m in the minority on that one. And with all this in mind, while it’s not necessarily my favorite entry in the series, I will agree that Bumblebee is undoubtedly the most well-made of the bunch. Under the confident direction of Travis Knight, almost all the major issues that fans have had with Michael Bay’s Transformers films are practically non-existent here. The action sequences are far more coherent from a filmmaking perspective and the plot isn’t overstuffed with overly complicated plot-lines, disposable characters, and awkward bits of humor (e.g. there are no pot-consuming mothers who wonder if their kids were masturbating in their bedrooms). And while the plot itself is easily the series’ most simplified to date… given the reception of the previous films, it’s safe to say that most audiences will not mind in the slightest. In other words, Bumblebee is a Transformers film made for Transformers fans by a Transformers fan. Not only does it base itself around the most popular era of the franchise, Generation 1, but thanks to a strong lead performance from Hailee Steinfeld, this film does boast the heartfelt narrative that many felt was severely lacking in the previous Transformers films. And while it’s currently unclear right now as to where the film series will be heading next following the underperformance of The Last Knight, if future films are anything like this one, then it’s safe to say that Transformers fans will be in for a real treat.

Rating: 4/5