Lilo & Stitch (2025) Review

The early 2000s were, admittedly, a rough period for Walt Disney Animation Studios. After experiencing one of the most successful runs in their history thanks to the Disney Renaissance, the studio quickly found itself having a far more difficult time achieving that same level of critical and commercial success once the new millennium rolled around. While there were various factors behind this turn of events, arguably the most prominent of the bunch was the rise in success of computer animated films that was spearheaded by the likes of DreamWorks and, of course, the studio that Disney had begun to partner with in the 90’s before buying them out wholesale in 2006, Pixar. As a result, a bunch of the films that Walt Disney Animation produced during this time, such as 2000’s The Emperor’s New Groove, 2001’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and 2002’s Treasure Planet, ended up faring poorly at the box office and, on occasion, with critics. Now, with that said, many of these films would later go on to attract considerable cult followings from the generation of kids who grew up with them, undoubtedly thanks in part to the creative risks that the studio often took during these years to deviate from their long-standing narrative formulas of reimagined fairy tales full of Broadway-esque musical numbers. Ultimately, though, it’s safe to say that there’s a very good reason as to why, in the mid-2000s, Disney Animation opted to move away from making traditionally animated films in favor of making computer-animated features. However, if there was one undeniable bright spot during these so-called ‘dark ages’, that would be the first of two films that the studio produced in 2002: a little offbeat sci-fi themed ‘Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride’ known as Lilo & Stitch.

Directed by the duo of Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, who would later go on to co-direct DreamWorks’ highly acclaimed adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon in 2010 (which, on an incredibly ironic note given today’s review subject, is getting its own live-action remake in a few weeks), the film followed the adventures of its titular duo; Lilo, a young Hawaiian girl living under the care of her older sister Nani following the death of their parents, and her new pet dog Stitch. It’s just that, unbeknownst to Lilo and company, Stitch is secretly a destructive alien creature who was created by a mad scientist and is hiding out on Earth disguised as a dog to avoid being captured by intergalactic government forces. Unlike many of the other films that Disney Animation was producing at the time, Lilo & Stitch, which was the second of three films that were produced primarily from Disney’s now-defunct animation studio located within Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios theme park (the other two being 1998’s Mulan and 2003’s Brother Bear), was one of the studio’s cheaper productions from a budgetary standpoint. Whereas their other release of the year, Treasure Planet, was a costly $140 million flop, Lilo & Stitch only cost $80 million. And thanks in large part to a buzzworthy marketing campaign that saw Stitch wreak havoc across other Disney classics such as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, the film performed quite well for itself critically and commercially, earning over $273 million while also garnering largely positive reviews from critics and an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature. As a result, Lilo & Stitch would go on to spawn what is quite arguably the most expansive media franchise of any Walt Disney Animation film of the early 2000s.

Its most prominent spin-off was the animated TV series Lilo & Stitch: The Series, which ran for 65 episodes over the course of two seasons and debuted on September 20^th, 2003, on ABC via Disney’s ABC Kids programming block. The series, which was preceded by a direct-to-video feature-length pilot film in Stitch! The Movie, followed the franchise’s titular duo as they went on various adventures across Hawaii to find and rescue the 625 experiments that Stitch’s creator, Dr. Jumba Jookiba, had created before he made Stitch AKA ‘Experiment 626’. During its run, the show notably pulled off one of the most ambitious crossovers in pop culture history by having not one, not two, not even three, but four whole episodes where Lilo & Stitch interacted with characters from some of Disney’s other hit shows at the time; Kim Possible, Recess, The Proud Family, and American Dragon: Jake Long. The show ultimately concluded in 2006 with another direct-to-video film, Leroy & Stitch, and during this time, the franchise also got another direct-to-video film in 2005, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch, which, unlike the show, opted to be more of a direct sequel to the original film. After that, the franchise would go on to spawn another pair of television series; Stitch!, which ran for multiple seasons from 2008 to 2015, and Stitch and Ai, which was only a single-season show released in 2017. Unlike the bulk of the franchise’s media, however, these shows were considerably different in tone and execution, adhering more to the animation styles of the countries they were produced in (anime in the case of the Japanese-set Stitch! and donghua for the Chinese-set Stitch & Ai) and notably having Stitch paired up with new female protagonists instead of Lilo; Yuna in Stitch! and Ai in Stitch and Ai.

Simply put, there’s no denying that Lilo & Stitch is one of Disney’s most profitable IPs. Thanks to all the films, shows, merchandise, and numerous attractions at Disney theme parks (yes, that even includes the admittedly notorious Stitch’s Great Escape, which replaced the notoriously mature fan-favorite ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom), the franchise has earned nearly $3.5 billion worldwide which, according to recent reports from Disney, now makes it one of their Top 10 best-selling franchises. And because of all this, Stitch has become such a fan favorite in the eyes of Disney fans that it could even be argued that he could give Mickey Mouse a run for his money as one of Disney’s most beloved mascots. With all this in mind, I guess you can say that it was practically inevitable that Disney would attempt to make the original Lilo & Stitch the latest installment of its long line of animated classics to get a live-action remake. Thus, that’s where we are now with the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch, which makes the 2002 original the latest in the Walt Disney Animation canon to get remade after the past few years of us getting remakes of most of the Disney Renaissance releases. In the director’s chair for this one is Dean Fleischer Camp, who had the breakout hit of his career in 2021 when he adapted Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, the trilogy of short films that he made with his then-wife Jenny Slate from 2010 to 2014, into a feature-length film that, despite being a live-action/animated hybrid, managed to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature. With a background like that, it’s no wonder that Fleischer Camp imbues this new version of Lilo & Stitch with almost the same exact level of heart and soul as its animated counterpart, even with its rather controversial (yet, in several cases, effective) changes to the source material.     

In a far-off galaxy, the United Galactic Federation arrests mad scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba (voiced/portrayed by Zack Galifianakis) for his illegal genetic experiments as exemplified by his latest creation, Experiment 626 (voiced by Chris Sanders), who is touted by Jumba as an indestructible force of nature. Immediately realizing the threat that 626 poses to the galaxy, the UGF Council promptly orders them both to be imprisoned; however, 626’s superior intellect helps him escape captivity and flee to another galaxy, where he ends up crash-landing on the planet Earth on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i. With both Jumba and the Galactic Federation’s Earth ‘expert’ Agent Wendell Pleakley (voiced/portrayed by Billy Magnussen) now on his tail as part of a deal that the former makes with the UGF’s Grand Councilwoman (voiced by Hannah Waddingham) so that he can avoid going to prison, 626 disguises himself as an Earth dog and is subsequently taken in by a young girl named Lilo Pelekai (Maia Kealoha), who has been living under the care of her older sister Nani (Sydney Agudong) following the death of their parents. Thanks in large part to Lilo’s troublemaking habits, Nani has struggled to be a proper caretaker for her sister, thus putting her in increasingly hot water with their family’s social worker, Mrs. Kekoa (Tia Carrere), who pushes for her to get her act together or else lose Lilo to child services. Naturally, this stressful situation is only exacerbated further by the arrival of 626, whom Lilo names ‘Stitch’, as the two sisters quickly discover that their new ‘dog’ is quite the handful.

Now, despite everything that we’re going to get into when it comes to its narrative changes, this new version of Lilo & Stitch still follows in the footsteps of practically all its fellow live-action Disney remakes by recreating several key sequences and iconic lines from its animated counterpart in live-action form. However, unlike something like the CGI-animated remake of The Lion King from 2019 where any changes made to its source material were arguably minimal at best, the Lilo & Stitch remake doesn’t end up feeling like nothing more than a ‘shot-for-shot’ remake of the original animated film as it does make a few noticeable changes to its story. And yet, as was seen with the 2020 remake of Mulan with its notable omissions of elements such as its music and characters like Mushu and Shang, this then leads to the exact opposite kind of reaction from those who question the need to remake an animated classic; one where, instead, fans of the original are angered by all the things that the remake leaves out that they find to be some of the original film’s best aspects. Sure enough, the remake of Lilo & Stitch has faced tons of scrutiny from fans of the original over the changes that it makes to its source material, such as the exclusion of one of the franchise’s most prominent villains and the subsequent re-working of a long-standing series protagonist into being this film’s main antagonist to make up for the lack of that other villain. However, what has easily been the most controversial change is this film’s reworked ending; without spoiling exactly what happens in it, many have argued that it betrays the original film’s key message stressing the importance and beauty of ‘ohana. After all, as Lilo famously declares in both versions of this story when Nani attempts to get rid of Stitch, “‘ohana means family and family means that no one gets left behind or forgotten”.

And yet… I don’t think that this film’s reworked ending is harmful to that theme. In fact, I’d argue that a lot of the criticism revolving around it seems to stem from those who only read about what happens and then proceeded to take it directly at face value without paying any attention to the key bits of narrative context surrounding it, which helps to convey the genuinely positive developments behind this turn of events. As a result, I’d say that this new ending still manages to convey the beauty of ‘ohana, even if it goes without saying that it goes about this in a drastically different manner than the original film. And more importantly, the remake does retain much of the same level of heart and soul as the original, much of which is, of course, thanks to its iconic titular duo. Stitch is still the same adorably chaotic dog-like alien that he’s been throughout the entire franchise, especially thanks to the pivotal move of having his longtime voice actor, none other than the original film’s co-director Chris Sanders, return to voice the character even if some of Stitch’s lines are clearly lifted directly from previous installments of the franchise. And while your mileage will most likely vary on how effectively this film translates the franchise’s alien characters into live-action (a recurring criticism of Disney’s recent live-action remakes), Stitch’s CGI design is easily one of the best instances of this being done. Then, on the human side of things, you have the utterly adorable Maia Kealoha, who shines in her film debut as she flawlessly exudes Lilo’s silly yet wholly sympathetic qualities.

But, of course, as any fan of this series will remind you, Lilo & Stitch is more than just the wacky escapades of its titular duo. Alongside the hilarious hi-jinx that ensue from Stitch pretending to be a dog, there’s also the emotional saga that is the relationship between Lilo and her sister Nani in the wake of their parents’ death as the latter works tirelessly to ensure that they stay together. In the case of the original film, this was one of the first major instances where a Disney film’s plot largely revolved around sisters more than a full decade before it was, admittedly, overshadowed by the billion-dollar juggernaut that was Frozen. And while the remake’s take on Lilo and Nani’s relationship does end up revolving around the aforementioned ‘reworked ending’, it’s still just as strong as it was in the original film and Sydney Agudong deserves just as much credit as Maia Kealoha’s been getting for her performance as Nani, especially thanks to the perfectly sweet on-screen camaraderie that she shares with Kealoha. All in all, the film succeeds in maintaining the strong characterizations of its three leads, and while this does mean that other recurring characters of the series don’t get as much to work with by comparison, everyone else in the cast is solid in their respective roles, such as Kaipo Dudoit as Nani’s good-natured love interest David and Courtney B. Vance as the enigmatic Cobra Bubbles, who’s reimagined here as a CIA agent investigating Stitch’s antics who only poses as a social worker (his role in the animated film) when he’s undercover. Meanwhile, Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen provide plenty of laughs as the bickering duo of Jumba and Pleakley and the film even features a few cameos from the stars of the original animated film. OG Nani Tia Carrere takes over Cobra Bubbles’ role as Lilo and Nani’s social worker Mrs. Kekoa while Amy Hill, who played the elderly shop owner Mrs. Hasagawa in the original film and TV series, plays Lilo and Nani’s eccentric yet kind-hearted neighbor Tūtū, who’s also David’s grandmother.

At this point, I’ve become the very definition of a broken record when it comes to my controversially positive stance toward Disney’s recent trend of live-action remakes. At the risk of rehashing the same exact statements that I’ve made in my other reviews of Disney’s live-action remakes, I don’t believe that these new films are ‘harmful’ to the legacies of their animated counterparts, mainly due to the alleged implication that they make them feel ‘lesser’ by comparison. Instead, I feel that, as long as the original films are still available to watch thanks to services like Disney+ (their controversial habit of removing content from the service notwithstanding), there’s nothing wrong with seeing new spins on these animated classics. And when it comes to Lilo & Stitch, I’d say that its live-action remake is one of the best of the bunch, even if many will undoubtedly argue that this isn’t saying much. Director Dean Fleischer Camp does a fantastic job of maintaining the exact same level of emotional poignancy as the original film, even when taking its polarizing (yet largely solid) narrative changes into account. On that note, as notorious as some of these changes have been in the eyes of Lilo & Stitch fans, they do, at least, help to give this film its own unique identity rather than it being just a straightforward retelling of the original animated film. But above all, with the dedicated efforts of both its cast and crew to honor its story’s Hawaiian roots on full display here, Lilo & Stitch succeeds in being just as delightfully hilarious as it is beautifully touching on an emotional level.

Rating: 5/5!

A Wrinkle in Time (2018) review

In 1962, author Madeleine L’Engle published a novel that would end up becoming her most famous piece of work, A Wrinkle in Time. Despite being initially turned down by at least 26 different publishers, the novel went on to become a watershed entry in the science-fiction fantasy genre and a staple of classrooms across the country. And now, more than five and a half decades after its release, it graces the big-screen for the first time ever in Disney’s new adaptation of this timeless story. However, this is not the first time that A Wrinkle in Time has been adapted to film; in fact, this isn’t even Disney’s first adaptation of it. Back in 2003, Disney produced a made-for-TV film adaptation that aired on ABC in May 2004. However, the film ended up receiving negative reviews from both critics and fans of the book; even L’Engle herself was highly critical of it. And yet, despite her passing in 2007, I bet that she might have been a little more positive towards this new adaptation of her book if she had seen it. This new version is brought to us by Ava DuVernay, who’s become a major critical darling these past few years thanks to her work on films like the 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. drama Selma and the 2016 Netflix documentary 13^th. Along with being the first $100 million+ film directed by a female director of color, it also boasts a screenplay written by Jennifer Lee, writer/co-director of Disney’s 2013 smash hit Frozen, and features an all-star cast highlighted by the trio of Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, and the one and only Oprah Winfrey. And while it ultimately may not be a completely successful adaptation of its source material, DuVernay does manage to deliver a visually spectacular sci-fi fantasy adventure capable of delighting both young and old.

In an average American suburb, teenager Meg Murry (Storm Reid) struggles to fit in at school due to her abrasive personality. However, this recent behavior was mainly brought upon by the disappearance of her father, noted astrophysicist Dr. Alex Murry (Chris Pine), who sought to uncover a way to travel across dimensions with ease. Now that it’s been at least four years since his disappearance, Meg begins to lose hope that her father is still alive; that is until she is visited by three omnipotent beings capable of traveling to the places that her father had always dreamed of reaching. This trio of women consists of the wise and all-powerful Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), who often quotes several historical figures, and the cheerfully eccentric Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon). Meg learns from the three Mrs. W’s that her father is, in fact, still alive, having successfully managed to transport himself to another dimension through the process known as ‘tessering’. However, in doing so, he’s also become trapped by a dark force known as ‘the It’, which is the cause of all negativity across the universe. Thus, Meg must embark on an adventure with her precocious little brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) and her classmate Calvin O’Keefe (Levi Miller) across dimensions with the help of the three Mrs. W’s to find her father and rescue him from ‘the It’, an adventure that, per Mrs. Which, will test them ‘every step of the way’.

A common criticism of this film has been towards its plot, with some calling it ‘convoluted’. Personally, though, I didn’t find the plot to be that convoluted. Granted, there are times where the film throws a lot of important story beats at you, but never enough to the point where it’d leave audiences totally confused as to what’s going on. However, in terms of the narrative, there is one thing that hurts the film from time to time, and that is its surprisingly brisk pacing. Simply put, this film attempts to get a lot done in the span of its 109-minute runtime, and because of this, not everything in the story gets as much attention as it should. This includes everything from a lack of development for the main threat that is ‘the It’ to even glossing over some story beats in the first half hour or so that are meant to set up this universe and its characters. Still, DuVernay and Lee do manage to convey the emotional poignancy of this story of a young girl trying to find her father (along with showcasing the strength of family) quite well; maybe not to its fullest potential but still just enough to register the right sense of emotional catharsis. And as far as the film’s visuals are concerned, this is one of the best-looking films to come out in recent memory. Once Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace begin traveling across dimensions, the CGI work that is on display here is second to none, syncing up perfectly with the film’s vibrant cinematography. And just like how Peter Jackson used the beautiful landscapes of his home country of New Zealand to their fullest effect in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, DuVernay does the same for this film, which was partially shot there as well.

Ultimately, though, arguably the best aspect of this film is the stellar ensemble cast that DuVernay has assembled to play these iconic roles. It’s all headlined by the phenomenal lead trio of Oprah, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling as the three Mrs. W’s. Oprah, as always, dignifiedly graces the role of Mrs. Which with the same kind of class that has helped to make her the icon that she is today, Reese Witherspoon gets a lot of the best lines due to Mrs. Whatsit’s dry wit, and Mindy Kaling is an equally delightful combination of the two. The interesting thing to note, though, is that while the three of them do receive top billing, they’re only in about a third of the film. As such, it relies more on its young leads, who are all quite excellent. Newcomer Storm Reid very much shines in the role of Meg, even managing to hold her own against the likes of Oprah and Reese Witherspoon, as does Deric McCabe as her gifted brother Charles Wallace. And while Calvin doesn’t get as much to work with material-wise compared to Meg, Levi Miller does work well off both Reid and McCabe. There are also plenty of great supporting roles in this film as well. Chris Pine and Gugu Mbatha-Raw bring much warmth to the film as Meg and Charles Wallace’s parents, especially in terms of the strong ‘parent-child’ bond that Reid shares with them both. Zach Galifianakis gets some great humorous scenes as the eccentric Happy Medium, who aids Meg and co. in their adventure, while Michael Pena is also a major highlight as Red, a sinister agent of ‘the It’ who seduces Charles Wallace to their side.

A Wrinkle in Time has long been referred to by many as one of the prime examples of an ‘unfilmable’ novel, with some feeling that it’d be impossible to fully bring Madeline L’Engle’s fantastical narrative to life on the big screen. But while it may not fully succeed at doing so, Ava DuVernay’s take on this timeless tale is quite the admirable attempt at it. Sure, it suffers quite a bit in terms of pacing, namely through its attempts to try and cram so much of the story into a rather light under two-hour runtime. But when it comes to its visual department, that is where this film truly shines. This is very much one of those films that’s worth checking out on the big-screen, where one can experience the true scale of its vivid imagery. And despite a few instances where the film somewhat glosses over important parts of the plot, it does manage to be an effectively emotional sci-fi fantasy adventure that’s buoyed by an excellent ensemble cast. In short, I can’t really say much about how this film compares to its source material as I’ll admit that I’ve never read A Wrinkle in Time. Seriously, the only experience that I had with this story prior to seeing this film was when I saw an ad for the previously mentioned made-for-TV film from 2003 on an old Disney DVD. Despite this, though, I bet that this adaptation of it could very well satisfy fans of the book; at the very least, more so than the previous film version.

Rating: 4.5/5

The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) review

2014 gave us the unexpected smash hit that was The LEGO Movie. The reason why I say that it was an ‘unexpected smash hit’ is because, going into it, many feared that it would be nothing more than just a soulless cash-grab with the sole intent of capitalizing on the LEGO brand. But, under the direction of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, a duo who are well-known for delivering Grade-A hits out of risky ventures (e.g. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 and 22 Jump Street, and, hopefully, the upcoming Han Solo film), it ended up being a charming and excellently animated story that served as a love letter to both sides of the LEGO fandom; those who played ‘by the book’ and those who dared to experiment with the iconic bricks. And because of that, while it may not have been nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars that year (easily the most controversial ‘snub’ of that year’s ceremony), it ended up being one of the most well-reviewed films of the year and grossed over $469 million worldwide. Thus, a new line of LEGO films will be on the way in the next few years under the supervision of Lord and Miller. The first of these to come out is one that is based around a character who many felt was the ‘breakout star’ of the original LEGO Movie: LEGO Batman, voiced by Will Arnett. Arnett’s hilarious take on the Dark Knight now takes center stage in his own film, The LEGO Batman Movie, directed by Chris McKay, who served as an animation co-director on The LEGO Movie. And just like The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie is a highly entertaining screwball adventure that manages to find the humanity within its plastic protagonists.

In Gotham City, Batman (Will Arnett) is the most popular figure around. Beloved by Gotham’s residents, the Dark Knight spends most of his time taking down the many villains that make up his iconic ‘Rogues Gallery’. However, it soon becomes clear that despite all this fame, Batman is also quite a lonely figure, who spends the rest of his time alone in his luxurious mansion and whose greatest fear is, as noted by his loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth (Ralph Fiennes), being a part of a family again after the death of his parents all those years ago; the exact moment that led to him becoming Batman. Thus, Batman (or, to be more specific, his ‘real identity’, Bruce Wayne) unknowingly ends up adopting a young orphan by the name of Dick Grayson (Michael Cera) from the local orphanage. With some encouragement from Alfred, Batman begins to take the young man under his wing as his new sidekick, Robin. And, as it turns out, Batman is going to need all the help he can get, as the Joker (Zach Galifianakis), eager to prove to Batman that he truly is ‘his greatest enemy’ after a fight between the two ends with Batman telling the Joker that he means nothing to him, unleashes a sinister plot that threatens everyone in Gotham. The sheer magnitude of this plan forces Batman to do something that he normally doesn’t do; team up with others, which he does with Robin, Alfred, and Gotham’s new Police Commissioner, Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson), who takes over the job from her father, Jim Gordon (Hector Elizondo), with the goal of getting Batman to team up with the Gotham police force to help make the city a safer place. 

Just like The LEGO Movie, this film features terrific animation as done by the Australian animation studio, Animal Logic. While the film is computer-animated, it manages to achieve a great stop-motion feel to it all, which fits perfectly with the LEGO brand given all the fan-made films that have been made over the years. It’s fast-paced, bright and colorful and full to the brim with little Easter Eggs thrown in here and there. And of course, being a film about Batman and DC Comics, this film is CHOCK-FULL of Easter Eggs. I’m not joking; this film basically covers every major era of Batman in the span of 104 minutes, from the campier days of the 60’s TV show to the more serious and grounded storylines of the more recent films, namely Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Heck, this film features arguably every villain who’s ever appeared in a Batman comic, even the obscure ones like King Tut and Condiment King which, yes, are in fact real. Even the film points this out (“Probably Worth a Google!” – Joker). But, of course, this film isn’t just a bunch of references for eagle-eyed fans of Batman to notice. That alone would’ve made it an enjoyable film on its own merit but there’s also a solid arc in this for Batman, as he learns the value of teamwork instead of him just trying to act like the entire world revolves around him alone. The problem, though, is that he’s reluctant to start up a new family because of what happened to his old one, and, for the record, no, they don’t show that incident again; the film is very much aware that we’ve already seen that dozens of times. This is what ultimately gives the film its heart and thus, provides us with an endearing cast of main characters to latch onto on an emotional level.

As stated earlier, Will Arnett’s take on Batman truly was one of the best parts of The LEGO Movie. Arnett basically riffed on the usual characterization of the generally dark superhero by making him a superficial celebrity who constantly reminds everybody about how awesome he is. And yet, through it all, Arnett still managed to make his Batman likable, basically the opposite of his character from another 2014 animated film, The Nut Job. This time around, of course, Arnett is the star of the show and he is great once again, especially thanks to the great character arc that Batman has in this. And just like how Batman ends up finding an excellent team to work with, this film has an excellent supporting cast as well. Zach Galifianakis brings the right amount of manic energy to the role of the Joker while also getting a fun villain arc in which he’s just trying to get Batman to notice him, which… actually, makes him the most sympathetic Joker to date. Michael Cera exudes the proper eagerness and wonderment for the role of Robin and the film relishes its many opportunities to joke about how weird it is for Batman to have a ‘ward’ working alongside him. Rosario Dawson’s Barbara Gordon, AKA Batgirl, is also a great addition to the cast and a great female lead who’s arguably more capable of taking down the bad guys than Batman. It’s also good to have an actual ‘good’ Barbara Gordon story after her disastrous characterization in last year’s The Killing Joke. Rounding out the main cast is Ralph Fiennes, who’s quite awesome and hilarious in the role of Batman’s trusty butler Alfred. Heck, Fiennes would’ve been a great Alfred in the live-action Batman films but, of course, Jeremy Irons is currently in that position so we’ll have to settle for him being the LEGO version of the character. And just like The LEGO Movie, there are plenty of fun voice/character cameos here and there.   

The original LEGO Movie helped revitalize Warner Bros’ animation division after the studio’s hand-drawn animation division, Warner Bros Feature Animation, was dissolved after a series of box-office flops in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Clearly, the LEGO films have become Warner Bros.’ most dominant animated franchise and rightfully so as they’ve been great takes on the LEGO brand. First, there was The LEGO Movie and this year that streak continues with The LEGO Batman Movie. For fans of the character, this film is ‘geek nirvana’. There are references galore that cover every major facet of the character’s long history, so much so that it’ll probably require a second viewing to catch them all. And the film does indeed warrant a second viewing (heck, I saw it twice this weekend) because aside from all the fun Easter Eggs, the film also has a charming story with an endearing cast of characters portrayed excellently by a pitch-perfect voice cast. Pair all this with excellent animation and you have a highly entertaining animated film that will please both Batman fans and those who are total newcomers to the franchise. And no, I’m not going to compare this to the current DC Extended Universe films, something that a few other critics have been doing, because they’re completely different entities. What I will say is that thanks to this film, Warner Bros.’ LEGO franchise is still going strong two films in. Up next, we have The LEGO Ninjago Movie, the second LEGO film of 2017 and based off the company’s highly successful franchise of the same name, and then followed by the official LEGO Movie Sequel in 2019. If all goes well, we may get more LEGO films in the years to come, though I must ask… where’s my LEGO Bionicle film, damn it?

Rating: 4.5/5

Short Review: The Campaign

When it comes to writing reviews, sometimes you just can't think of material for each new review so this is the first of a series of short reviews that I might do from time to time in case I can't make up a review for a new movie. Enjoy!

The latest film from Jay Roach, who also brought us the 'Austin Powers' and 'Meet the Parents' series as well as 2010's 'Dinner for Schmucks', The Campaign is certainly one funny comedy. Both Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis are hilarious and the two work off each other extremely well. The one that steals the show, however, is Dylan McDermott as Galifianakis' shady campaign manager. There are certainly some big laughs in this movie, and even someone like me who doesn't know much about politics got most of the jokes. Also, for a comedy that in the end may just be another one of those dumb comedies, it did expose some of the problems that go on in politics, like how sometimes the wrong people are elected because they're backed by rich people. Overall, I can't say it's the funniest movie of the year, but it definitely had some big laughs. This really pleases me because 2011 was a really horrible year for comedy movies. The only real good comedy I remember seeing from last year was 'Crazy, Stupid, Love' and that didn't even crack my Top 10. On the other hand, 3 comedies ('Zookeeper', 'The Dilemma', and 'Jack and Jill') made my worst of list. This year has been much better as we had not only this movie, but 'Ted' as well. Another reason why this year has been such a better year for movies.

Rating: 4/5