Saturday, June 23, 2012

BRAVE



Animated Adventure
  
PRINCIPAL VOICE MEMBERS
Kelly MacDonald: Princess Merida
Billy Connolly: Merida’s father King Fergus
Emma Thompson: Merida’s mother Queen Elinor
Kevin McKidd: Lord MacGuffin
Craig Ferguson: Lord Macintosh
Robbie Coltrane: Lord Dingwall 
Julie Walters: the Witch

REVIEW
Told from the viewpoint of a rebellious teenager, in this case a tomboy named Merida, the story unfolds pretty well non-stop. There is lots of action and some chuckles along the way as well as a few scenes that would be too frightening for the very young, those under 6 I’d say.

The photo-realistic visuals are stunning, showcasing the landscape of Scotland like we’ve never seen before. Overall a pleasant enough outing, just not all that original.

CLASSIFICATION
 for some scary action and rude humour.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

MADAGASCAR 3



 Animated action/adventure

PRINCIPAL VOICE CAST
Ben Stiller: Alex, a lion
Chris Rock: his best friend Marty, a zebra
David Schwimmer: Melman, a giraffe
Jada Pinkett Smith: his love interest Gloria, a hippo
Tom McGrath: Skipper, a penguin
Frances McDormand: animal control officer Captain Chantel DuBois 
Sacha Baron Cohen: King Julien XIII, a lemur
Cedric the Entertainer: his underlings Maurice
Andy Richter: and cute little Mort
Bryan Cranston: Vitaly, an intimidating Russian tiger
Martin Short: daredevil Stefano, an Italian sea lion
Jessica Chastain: Gia, a pretty Italian jaguar

REVIEW
Virtual non-stop action coupled with brief musical interludes makes for a pleasant outing as the “old” gang decide to return to their Central Park home in New York city. On the way they encounter unforeseen obstacles and meet new friends. The well-rendered images are ablaze with colour and the musical score is appropriate for the action.

For some reason that’s not apparent to me Alex says we in Canada are “drunk on maple syrup and cheap pharmaceuticals”. Really?

There are a couple of things for the amusement of the adults in the audience but nothing more than a few half-hearted innuendos. By the way, if you choose to see it in 3D as I did, be prepared to duck frequently as lots of things come hurtling at you.

CLASSIFICATION