Category: Animation

Kung Fu Panda 4

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2Kung Fu Panda 4

Rated: PG

Directed by: Mike Mitchell

Co-Directed by: Stephanie Ma Stine

Written by: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Darren Lemke

Produced by: Rebecca Huntley

Starring: Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, Ian McShane and Ke Huy Quan.

‘There are more ways of helping people than kicking butt.’

The Dragon Warrior, AKA Po (Jack Black) returns, living the good life in the Valley of Peace.

He’s kicking back, catching rays… Literally, chasing down sting rays attempting to eat piglets.

Until rams come running telling tales (ha, ha) of the return of defeated nemesis, Tai Lung (Ian McShane) – somehow returned from the Spirit Realm.  But how?

Enter new enemy, The Chameleon (Viola Davis) – a sorcerer able to change into anything.

How do you defeat an enemy when they can be anyone?

Po, spends time with his dads: adoptive father Mr. Ping (James Hong) and biological father, Li Shan (Bryan Cranston), opening a new restaurant, using his fame to bring in customers -Po’s still ready for anything.  Except the idea of choosing his successor.

And to prove he’s still the Dragon Warrior, Po fights Zhen (Awkwafina), a pesky corsac fox attempting to steal his Staff of Wisdom.

A pesky fox, but not without talents.

Zhen’s in the know, and if freed, will help track down the formidable sorcerer, The Chamilion.

This latest instalment of Kung Fu Panda is full of wry humour.  A classic moment Po meditating to find his, ‘inner peace, inner peace… dinner please… with a side of peas…’

And there’s an underlying theme of dealing with change and growing from a seed pit into a strong tree.

This is a sweet movie that had me smiling all the way through.  Not hilarious, but kid friendly and filled with moments like a paint brush of colour across the screen to emphasize the Kung Fu action.

It’s a little sad seeing Po moving into his next stage of life, but that’s the whole point of the film, change.

Good fun for the whole family – skadoosh!

 

Migration

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★ Migration

Rated: G

Directed by: Benjamin Renner

Screenplay by: Mike White

Produced by: Chris Meledandri

Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key, David Mitchell, Carol Kane, Casper Jennings, Tresi Gazal and Danny DeVito.

‘Just because you’re scared of everything in the world doesn’t mean I have to be,’ explains mother mallard Pam (Elizabeth Banks) to husband Mack (Kumail Nanjiani) AKA scared-of-everything, especially the dreaded herons that are known to eat mallards for breakfast.

Mack is happy, safe at the Pond: there’s food, family, everything they need.

There’s a montage of the mallard family spending time together, Mack and Pam showing their little ones, Dax (Casper Jennings) and Gwen (Tresi Gazal) the ways of pond life: swimming, hunting, frolicking about in the water.

Until a flock of migrating ducks arrive, ‘Welcome to the pond.’

Pam can’t help but be excited by the thought of seeing the world, of going somewhere exotic like Jamaca.

But Mack is not brave.

Then he finds Uncle Dan (Danny DeVito) half buried in the mud on the shores of the pond.  He may have fallen out of his perch.  Again.  He explains his life in the pond as safe and alone.  ‘It’s perfect.’

Seeing Uncle Dan’s half buried form is all the motivation Mack needs to finally take the step to get out and see the world.  To migrate.

Migration is a story about discovery; exploring the world, taking risks and growing.

It’s light-hearted and sweet; about family bonding, parents coming together, getting in sync to make it through the chaos of the world as the kids find their own feet.

There’s a lot of focus on the endearing webbed duck feet, or lack thereof – note peg-leg veteran leader of the pigeon gang of New York (Awkwafina).

So you get the humour – low impact, kid holiday friendly that took a while to take flight but add a non-verbal chief who specialises in duck l’orange ending up with a bandaged nose, there’s a few giggles to be had for parents as well as the kids.

I asked my nephew his favourite part of the film and he liked the little daughter duck Gwen (but not so much the yoga duck).  He liked the storybook style introduction to the film, but I found the basic animation disconcerting, putting me in mind of an old fashioned cartoon style show that took a while to get over.  I did however, relate to the crusty character, Uncle Dan.

 

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

Rated: PGPuss In Boots: The Last Wish

Directed by: Joel Crawford

Story by: Tommy Swerdlow and Tom Wheeler

Screenplay by: Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow

Produced by: Mark Swift, p.g.a

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek Pinault, Olivia Colman, Harvey Guillén, Samson Kayo, Anthony Mendez, Wagner Moura, John Mulaney, Florence Pugh, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Ray Winstone.

‘Puss In Boots is never afraid.’

He’s a fearless hero loved by all, most especially himself.

Puss (Antonio Banderas) has nine lives.  But how many times has Puss in Boots died?

Thinking back there’s the card cheating death, the I can fly death… To name a few.  He thinks, four?

No, it’s eight.

And now with a bounty on his head, nothing new, there’s a red-eyed wolf (Wagner Moura) tracking him that actually stands a chance at defeating the, until now charmed, Puss.

For the first time, this fearless ginger cat that can sing, dance and wield a sword like the best of them, feels his fur rise.

The red-eyed bounty hunter can smell his hear.

Puss in Boots, for once in his many lives, is afraid.

The Last Wish is another colourful explosion from DreamWorks; a side story to the Shrek Universe, the film is also introduced as a fairy tale.

And like the Shrek films, it’s a fairy tale with a difference: Goldilocks now Goldi and her three bears, Little Jack Horner now Big Jack Horner.  Although, he still tastes pies by using his big thumb.

And then there’s the wishing star that falls from space to the earth.

To find the star is to find one last wish (hence the title) to be granted by the one who finds the star.

Everyone wants that wish.

Except for Perrito (Harvey Guillén).  He’s a deranged chuahua who’s ridiculously happy with his lot in life when he really shouldn’t be.

Then there’s the old flame of Puss, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault).  She has her reasons.

And of course, Puss, who for the first time appreciating that his life may end, wants to wish to start his nine lives all over again.

That’s the foundation and running thread through the story – to be happy with what you have, to enjoy the one life given.

It’s all a bit sweet, Perrito, AKA the wanna-be-therapy-dog, hilarious.

But the humour didn’t always hit the mark for me.

There’s some adult moments with Puss not wanting to be a lap cat, his descent into the domesticated life of a pet illustrated to the soundtrack of, ‘The Doors’, This is The End.

And that red-eyed bounty hunter is genuinely creepy.  In a good way.

The trio of SoftPaws, Puss and Perrito has a good dynamic to get through the challenges on their quest for that last wish; so the story although simple at times worked and sometimes not.

The twist of the traditional fairy tale characters didn’t always tickle: Goldi (Florance Pugh) and her three bear crime family just didn’t get there; although sweet, it was all a bit annoying.

My nephew and I agree on 3 1/2 stars: a good movie overall with explosive animation and not always funny bits.

The Bad Guys

Rated: PGThe Bad Guys

Directed by: Pierre Perifel

Based on: The Scholastic book series by Aaron Blabey

Produced by: Damon Ross and Rebecca Huntley

Executive Producers: Aaron Blabey, Etan Cohen and Patrick Hughes

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Lilly Singh and Alex Borstein.

‘We may be bad but we’re so good at it.’  Meet, The Big Bad Wolf (Sam Rockwell).

Mr. Wolf is part of The Bad Guys – a gang of villains who just love being bad and stealing stuff.

There’s Mr. Snake (Marc Maron): a master like Houdini at opening a safe… without hands…

Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), AKA Wizz: an eight-legged hacker;

Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson): a master of disguise, ‘I’m a destruction worker.’

And Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) – he’s crazy and farts when nervous.

Natural selection has handed The Bad Guys the card of being feared – everyone’s terrified of them, so why not be bad?!

When Governor Foxington (Zazie Beetz) calls the gang out on TV as being sad and needing to fill a hole in their being with money which is never going to work because they just want to be loved… Mr. Wolf sees red and decides it’s time to steal the ultimate bad guy prize: The Golden Dolphin.  A trophy given to the one citizen who’s done the most good.

Meet: Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade).  A guinea pig and therefore nicknamed, ‘Pig’.  He’s Mr. Snakes favourite food.

The storyline is setup as a heist movie for kids.  And not just because of the animation (DreamWorks excelling again with their detail in fur). But because of all the lame dad jokes.

‘You’re good at this.’

‘I’m kind of a natural.  Learned mostly from YouTube.’

There are some predictable twists in the plot with underlying main message of there’s ‘a flower of goodness in everyone, just waiting to blossom’.

But the tone of the film as a caper, with split screens and jaunty soundtrack, reminiscent of an Ocean’s movie, felt twee.

I know, a kid’s movie.  But the, ‘One of these days their luck is gonna run out,’ and the meteor falling to earth that Pig/Prof sees as a heart, naw, yet The Bad Guys see as a butt… Well, that actually was pretty funny.

And the, naw does get turned on its head.

It just wasn’t surprising.

The attempt of being edgy and diabolical made the film less edgy.

I liked the characters and the fact, Mr. Wolf can taste the air and hear colour.  But the lines of the characters didn’t always land making, The Bad Guys an OK watch but nothing over exciting.

Sing 2

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.7/5)

Rated: PGSing 2

Directed by: Garth Jennings

Written by: Garth Jennings

Produced by: Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Pharrell Williams, Letitia Wright, Eric Andre, Chelsea Peretti and Bono.

‘Guts, determination and faith.’

With all the goings-on at the moment, I felt like I needed some escapism.  But when Sing 2 opened to bright flowers and vegetables singing, it was all VERY bright.  Too bright.

And I’m not a fan of musicals.

I took a Panadol and braced myself.

Then Mr. Moon (Matthew McConaughey), owner of the New Moon Theatre goes and gets himself drenched.  Then proceeds to dry his koala fur with a hair dryer so he looks like a fluff ball.

It’s a bit adorable.

Because after being told his show, a local hit, isn’t good enough for the Crystal Tower Theatre in Redshore City, Buster Moon takes his new show to Redshore City anyway.

He believes he’s got a shot with cast: Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), Ash (Scarlett Johansson), Gorilla Johnny (Taron Egerton, Meena (Tori Keely) and Gunter (Nick Kroll).

He’ll convince Mr. Crystal (Bobby Cannavale) they’re worth an audience.

Sing 2 is the second instalment of Sing (2016), with director and writer Garth Jennings returning with familiar characters and some new (Bono is in this one as recluse rock legend, Clay Calloway).

Sing 2 is about over coming fear with Rosita given the lead role of the new show only to freak out so her new found responsibility is taken from her and given to Mr. Crystal’s daughter, Porsha (Halsey).

There’s Meena’s terror of the over-confident and hair award winning, Elwood (Eric Andre): how can she act like she’s in love for the show when she has no idea what it feels like?

However, Miss Crawly (Garth Jennings) with the glass eye (my favourite) is fearless.  Until she tries to convince recluse super star, Clay Calloway to come back into the spotlight only to be shot at with paint balls: pew, pew.

Along with some laughs, there’s an almost overwhelming wealth of emotion bursting from the screen, with the songs seamlessly complimenting the storyline; the voices so pure, I literally had tears spring to my eyes.

The music is fantastic as these characters learn to overcome their fear.

I attended a public screening for this one, and kids were literally dancing in front of their seats.

There’s a couple of scary moments (particularly if you’re scared of heights), but this is a sweet and adorable escape for a family viewing that will leave songs playing in your head for hours after the credits roll.

I’m still humming, You’ve got to get yourself together, you got stuck in a moment, and you can’t get out of it…  Touché.

Demon Slayer – Kimetsu No Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train

Rated: MA 15+Demon Slayer

Directed by: Haruo Sotozaki

Written by: Ufotable

Produced by: Akifumi Fujio, Masanori Miyake, Yūma Takahashi

Voices: Natsuki Hanae, Akari Kitō,  Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Hiro Shimono, Akira Ishida

Early in the film, a motley band of friends is racing to jump aboard a steam train that has already begun pulling away from the station. They are hampered by their swords which they need to keep hidden from the other passengers. Even so, they all bring their swords aboard because, ‘You never know when a demon might appear.’

Their plan is to meet up with the revered Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku (Hiro Shimono), and join him in the Corps of Demon Slayers. Forty passengers have recently disappeared off the Mugen train and there are suspicions that demons have infiltrated the line.

One of the essential differences between this film and its western counterparts is the way that the bad guys are conceptualised. In the west the baddies are stars and their backstory and motivations are often the focus.

Whereas in the Japanese film, demons do not act according to reason. The Japanese demons are almost solely defined by their appearance and their actions. This, of course, switches the role of their heroes also.

I noticed this in particular when I compared Mugen Train with Wonder Woman 1984. While both films are about vanquishing demons there are some significant contrasts.

In Wonder Woman, the evolution of the villain from smarmy snake oil salesman type to world conquering demon is far more nuanced in comparison to the personal journey of the exceptional being graced with magical powers who swoops in to save humanity from a demon who is manipulating the population through their wishes.

In Mugen Train the aspiring demon slayers all hail from humble backgrounds. Even the Flame Hashira Rengoku has come from a modest home and has risen above some heart wrenching setbacks.

The demon slayers could be you or me if we were that devoted to a cause, with Inosuke (Yoshitsugu Matsuoka), the boar-headed one appealing to the lustier side of our natures.

While ravening demons that immediately regenerate may have an unfair advantage in battle, at least until they are beheaded, the demon slayers each have a spiritual core which aligns them to the vast elemental forces of the earth.

Rengoku is able to call upon the Blooming Flame Undulation and Blazing Universe forms to pit against Destructive Death: Air Type of the demon.  Life hangs in the balance as the monster Akaza (Akira Ishida) confronts him with his own mortality, ‘Strength isn’t a word to describe a body . . . If you refuse to become a demon I’ll kill you. You’ll die while you are still young and strong.’

In this film dynamic action sequences and epic battles with a slew of hideous, soul slurping demons, but there is also a deep reverence for the fragility of life this planet and the elements that support our being. This is a film that ends with the question, ‘What’s more important than grief?’ It is a question the film asks so delicately we barely notice that we have been asked, and yet it is asking us to identify what it is that we will fight to the death to save.

Whenever I think of adult animations I usually feel that I have outgrown them so I was in for a surprise. The animation is so sensitively wrought, visually rich and poetically resonant in a piece of filmmaking with subtlety and depth.

A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

Rated: GA Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

Directed by: Will Becher, Richard Phelan

Written by: Mark Burton, Jon Brown

Produced by: Paul Kewley

Co-Produced by: Richard Beek

Based on the Idea by: Richard Starzak

Shaun the Sheep, mark 2 (ha, ha, like marking a sheep, although, I don’t know wether (ha, ha) everyone will appreciate the farming humour) finds the familiar mob of Shaun and mates: baby sheep, Timmy, Nuts the cock-eyed eccentric and of course, double the size, super-round tub of fun, Shirley, up to mischief on Mossy Bottom Farm and still under the watchful eye of ever vigilant farm dog, Bitzer.

The clay, stop-motion characters (on average, two seconds of animation produced, per animator, per day) never gets old; the woolly tails and gappy-toothed characters always able to make their feelings known without uttering a single intelligible word.

Here in, Farmageddon, a new character is introduced to the world of Shaun, Lu-La.

Lu-La may look like a purple and pink dog, but those ears glow and have special powers.  Alien powers.

With UFO sightings comes Believers.  And with Believers flocking (I just can’t seem to help myself) to Mossingham, comes the opportunity to make money.

Full of the usual antics that we’ve come to expect from the franchise, Shaun the Sheep 2 has that same humour with the added dimension of space.  In other words, G-rated humour that had my nephews in hysterics – think, nasty bull accidently getting beamed up into a spaceship, looking aggressively unhappy.

And I admit, I was tickled about Farmer walking around in a jumper, woolly socks and bright red y-fronts.

After 150 episodes of the TV show, one TV special and, now, two feature- length movies, Shaun is still a lot of fun, here his world expanded with 70 sets making Faramageddon the biggest undertaking to date.

Due for release during the school holidays, this is a film you can take young kids without being a painful experience for the adults.

Playmobil The Movie

Rated: GPlaymobil The Movie

Directed by: Lino DiSalvo

Screenplay by: Blaise Hemingway, Greg Erb and Jason Oremland

Story by: Lino DiSalvo

Produced by: Aton Soumache, Dimitri Rassam, Moritz Borman, Alexis Vonarb, Axel Von Maydell, Timothy Burrill and Bing Wu

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Jim Gaffigan, Gabriel Bateman, Adam Lambert, Kenan Thompson, Meghan Trainor and Daniel Radcliffe.

‘I’ll be the girl I used to be.’

Marla (Anya Taylor-Joy) has her whole life in front of her and expresses this enthusiasm to explore the world by singing with her little brother, Charlie (Gabriel Bateman).

Oh yeah, Playmobil The Movie, is a musical (see the score by musician Heitor Pereira (Despicable Me trilogy, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, The Smurfs movies, Minions, Smallfoot, Angry Birds Movie 2 and original songs, co-written by Anne Preven).

Then the film takes a dark turn when tragedy strikes the brother and sister.

Fast forward four years later and Marla no longer has her fresh, wide-eyed view of the world, her little brother accusing her of not knowing how to have fun.

It’s all a bit cringe-worthy until the duo fall into the Playmobil world where the characters turn into live-action Playmobil figurines.

Finding themselves in an action-adventure with car chases and villains and dinosaurs, all the Playmobil® toys that have been around since 1974 come to life as brother and sister fight alongside Vikings and a suave James Bond.  So the film’s about finding the excitement and zest for life they both lost when Marla had to become sister and parent.

The animation from ON Animation Montreal (Julien Bocabeille (How to Train Your Dragon 1 and 2, Puss in Boots, Rise of the Guardians, The Croods, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3, Penguins of Madagascar and The Boss Baby)) is well put together using the stiff toys then adding movement and life with materials like cloth, and there were moments of fun with villain, Emperor Maximus (Adam Lambert) sitting behind a buff body painted on one side of his chariot.

But this is a film directed at a young audience so there wasn’t much for me to enjoy except some fun changes in genre along the way.

The Addams Family

Rated: PGThe Addams Family

Directed by: Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan

Screenplay by: Matt Lieberman, Pamela Pettler

Story by: Matt Lieberman, Erica Rivinoja, Conrad Vermon

Based on Characters by: Charles Addams

Produced by: Gail Berman, Alex Schwartz

Starring: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll with Better Midler and Allison Janney.

The Addams Family has always been about the dark and creepy; the humour based on the inversion of what is horror and terrible, think spiders being unleashed from under Morticia’s (Charlize Theron) dress to weave together a spider bridge to cross a bottomless pit… Now that’s Addams Family normal.  While all that’s sweet and rosy is awful and intolerable, is normal – see spider bridge mentioned above.

Morticia cuts the rose flower leaving the theory stem.  That’s how she likes it.  Morticia carries a pose of thorny stems as she walks down the aisle to marry her one true love, Gomez Addams (Oscar Issac), ‘To be joined in the damning void of matrimony’.  To marry in their homeland before the villagers chase away the scary couple, along with their monstrous guests and bridal party.  They must make their way to a safer place where they can be themselves, somewhere to raise a family, somewhere like the state hospital for the criminally insane.  In New Jersey.  Perfect.

#MeetTheAddams is the tagline for this new animated version, the movie the origins of the Addams, taking the story back to the beginning, to introduce the family once again with the familiar characters captured like Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll), delightful with his, ‘I think I can see my house from here.  No, that’s a women’s prison.’

And the children, the memorable murderous Wednesday (Chloe Grace Moretz) and demolition, forever-trying-to-outsmart-and-kill-his-father, Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard).

The film becomes the lead-up to Pugsley’s thirteenth birthday, to complete the Sabre Mazurka in front of all the cousins and monstrous family.  To become a man.

There’s more to this film than the inversion of what’s horror and what’s nice, there’s also assimilation and the fight against always having to be the same.  Wednesday becomes friends with a normal: Parker (Elsie Fisher).  And shows her rebellion by wearing, OMG, a pink unicorn hairclip.

So, yeah, there’s that inversion again.  But there’s also acceptance of the individual.  I like that in a movie.

Add ‘plastic’ woman, Margaux (Allison Janney) trying to re-model the abode, the casa Addams insane asylum, and you’ve got fun times and a good watch with the kids without being too childish or too adult.

Hell, it’s worth a watch just to see Lurch (Conrad Vernon) done-up like a Christmas tree.

Violence Voyager

Rated: Unclassified (18+)Violence Voyager

Written and Directed by: Ujicha

Produced by: Yoshimoto Kogyo, Reo Anzai / Kimitsugu Ueno

Executive Producer: Hidesuke Kataoka

Music by: Jean-Paul Takahashi

Theme Song “Violence Voyager” by Boby (Aoi Yuki)

English Voice Director: Strathford Hamilton

Production: Hiroshi Fujiwara

Key Cast: Aoi Yûki, Naoki Tanaka, Saki Fujita, Shigeo Takahashi.

‘That one extra bit of summer fun was going to take Bobby through hell.’

Violence Voyager had its Australian Premiere at the recent MIFF – I thought it would be a good idea to review something different for upcoming Halloween.  And yes, Violence Voyager is certainly something a bit different.

Set-up like a childhood adventure story, Bobby (the foreign American kid) tells his sick mother he’s going out to find flowers for her empty valse sitting on the windowsill.  But really, he’s going to the mountain with his best buddy, his blood brother (sporting stitched cuts on their hands to prove it) Akkun – who also, strangely has what looks like scars on his forehead.

Added to the childlike voice-overs and the adventure aspect that includes Bobby’s cat, Derrick who tags along, the whole film is painted cardboard cut-outs with static facial expressions, the movement made by hand like kids playing with a shadowbox filled with toys.

But when the trio, Bobby, Akkun and Derrick-the-cat find a run-down Fun Park, the film becomes a nightmarish hell where kids never escape: they either become modified with all their nerve endings on the outside and their eyes pulled out of their sockets and placed on horizontal sides of their now square face, or they get dissolved to become food for half-robot hybrid human monsters under the command of park-owner but really scientist, Dr Binobo and daughter and navigator, Siori.

There’s a deceiving simplistic feel about this film, the voice-over slow and deliberate, the timing of the dialogue giving the most affect.

But there’s plenty of splattered blood and vomit and naked kids hung like hocks – the theme horrific and the images of those cardboard cut-outs bizarre.

Definitely not one for the kids to watch this Halloween.  I wouldn’t classify Violence Voyager as ‘Family’.

Yet, for all its horror, the film was palatable because I was always delighted to see another clever technique giving texture to this bizarre tale like blue vapour rising around the cardboard Dr. Binobo making him look evil, a rising shadow over the cardboard Bobby to depict a pending doom and the kids armed with a super-soaker and dolphin water pistol squirting real water onto those monster robots giving the scene another dimension like those pop-up books I read in primary school.

And that juxtaposition lent another layer to the bizarreness of this simply, horrifically clever film.

With a bat, monkey and cat on your team, you can’t lose – well you can still become a deformed robot, humanoid monster, but in the world of Violence Voyager, that’s a win.

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