SHREK FOREVER AFTER

Animated comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Mike Myers: Shrek the family man
Cameron Diaz: his wife Fiona
John Cleese: King Harold, ruler of the kingdom Far Far Away
Julie Andrews: Queen Lillian
Walt Dohn: smooth-talking deal maker Rumplestiltskin
Eddie Murphy: Donkey, Shrek’s sidekick
Antonio Banderas: Puss in Boots

REVIEW
This, the fourth edition of the Shrek series, is not bad but it’s not that good either. During the course of the first three, Shrek evolved from being a nasty ogre to becoming a family man with a wife and three "kids". I guess the writers felt this is as far as they could go with that storyline so they did a 180 and stick Shrek in an altered land where things are not the same.

Despite the fact many of the familiar characters make their appearance their relationship with Shrek has changed and so the magic is gone. It’s not the same at all.

Throughout the film the laughs are few and far between without any of the double entendres we’ve come to expect; if it were not for Puss in Boots they’d have to promote it as something other than a comedy. Even the requisite rude bathroom noises failed to elicit any sort of response from the kids in the audience presumably because that is so déjà vu and trite.

CLASSIFICATION
for mild action, some rude humor and brief language.

ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAUR

Animated cartoon

PRINCIPAL VOICES
Chris Wedge: Scrat, a male sabre-toothed squirrel
Karen Disher Scratte, a female sabre-toothed squirrel
Denis Leary: Diego, a saber-toothed tiger
John Leguizamo: Sid the Sloth
Ray Romano: Manny, a male wooly mammoth
Queen Latifah: Ellie, a female wooly mammoth
Seann Scott and Josh Peck: the possums Crash and Eddie
Simon Pegg: Buck, a one-eyed weasel

REVIEW
In keeping with the series’ tradition the film begins with Scrat once more on the hunt for an acorn. As usual, his antics are hilarious.

From there on we get to see our old friends cope with new adventures, some of them at a breakneck speed. And all of this in 3D which adds a nice element to the movie experience.

A lot of what they do is mildly amusing but there are some “laugh-out-loud” moments too. You can’t expect much more than that from today’s style of comedy (I harken back to the days of the British Carry On series of pain inducing laughs…but I digress).

The “fear factor” has increased with scary creatures suddenly making their appearance and lots of wild rides. But I’m the only one who noticed: the kids in the audience didn’t seem to be all that perturbed, they take all that stuff in stride. In other words it’s child-friendly and for grownups too.

CLASSIFICATION
for for some peril and innuendo.

P.S.
To my mind, the series is getting better with every installment:
• in 2002 I gave Ice Age a 3 finger rating (out of 5)
• in 2006 Ice Age: The Meltdown got 3½ stars (out of 5)
• in 2009 this one got 4 stars (out of 5)
That’s a pretty good report card.

P.S.S.
Keen observers will note the evolution of my rating system over the years:
Initially the range was from a one-finger salute to high-fives then to stars and half-stars and finally just stars (no half-stars) which makes it a tougher call sometimes but hey I’m stuck with my own system; so be it.

UP

Animated cartoon

F.Y.I.
A snipe is any of the 20 bird species in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill and colourful plumage.

PRINCIPAL VOICES
Christopher Plummer: intrepid explorer Charles Muntz
Jeremy Leary: young Carl
Elie Docter: tomboy Ellie
Ed Asner: 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen
Jordan Nagai: 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer cub scout Russell
Bob Peterson: Dug the dog

REVIEW
It has it all: an original well-constructed story for adults that children will enjoy, spectacular CGI animation (Pixar’s best so far), lots of comical moments, great casting with the voices perfectly matched to their character and a wonderful score that fits beautifully with the action on the screen.

The attention to detail is nothing short of amazing: the stubble that appears on Carl's chin becomes more evident as the days go by, the movement of eyes, Carl’s eyeglasses sliding off his nose whenever he hits the door peering out of the peephole etc.

CLASSIFICATION
for some peril and action.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
When Ellie and Carl are painting their names on the mailbox, Carl inadvertently leaves a purple hand print of his left hand. However when he holds his hands up in a gesture of “oops” there is no evidence of paint on either hand.

P.S.
I saw the film in 3-D format which serves to enhance the sense of reality but the producers have not employed the usual gimmick of having things fly at you. How clever is that? Making use of movie technology to advance the story not to scare you to death.

BOLT

Animated cartoon

PRINCIPAL VOICES
John Travolta: Bolt, an abandoned puppy
Miley Cyrus: his new owner Penny
Lino DiSalvo: Vinnie, leader of the New York wise-guy pigeons
Todd Cummings: his buddy Joey
Tim Mertens : their friend Bobby
Susie Essman: Mittens, a real cool cat
Mark Walton: Rhino, the hamster
Malcolm McDowell: the evil Green-Eyed Man
Greg Germann: Penny's Agent

REVIEW
A combination of a well-written story about a dog and his travelling companions, superb CGI and great voice talent makes this a real winner. Some of the jokes are the “laugh-out-loud” sort plus there are many amusing moments. The realism and attention to detail is remarkable: the shimmering of the pigeon's neck feathers, his reflection in the glass door as the Animal Control Officer goes into the office, the little LCD on the agent's Bluetooth Handsfree headset blinking once in a while.

Particularly important for the wee ones with their short attention span, there is very little down time with the action pretty well non-stop. I don’t know if it will become a Disney Classic but it’s a charmer on its own.

CLASSIFICATION
for some mild action and peril.

P.S.
I saw 3D version. Someone who had not said it was worth the extra $3 admission price.

MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA

Animated cartoon

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Ben Stiller: Alex the lion
Chris Rock: his best friend Marty the zebra
David Schwimmer: Melman the giraffe
Jada Pinkett Smith: Gloria a girl hippo
Bernie Mac: Alex’s father Zuba
Sherri Shepherd: Alex’s mother
Alec Baldwin: Zuba’s rival Makunga
Sacha Baron Cohen: King Julien the lemur
Cedric the Entertainer: his sidekick Maurice
Andy Richter: their friend Mort
will.i.am: Moto Moto a male hippo
Elisa Gabrielli: feisty ol’ Nana

REVIEW
Despite having very little in the way of double-entendres that appeals to the “older” members of the audience, it is nevertheless very entertaining with or without a kid. The clever antics of the penguins and the lemurs really steal the show and elicit most of the laughs. From a technical point-of-view it is certainly state of the art, the backgrounds are picture perfect and the music is bang-on.

CLASSIFICATION
for some mild crude humor.

P.S.
Madagascar is the world's fourth largest island, about 1,000 miles long and 360 miles wide. It is located 250 miles off the south-east coast of Africa.

WALL-E

Animated cartoon

WITH THE VOICES OF
Ben Burtt: WALL-E, an acronym for Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earthclass type robot
Elissa Knight: EVE, another robot with an acronym for a name
Jeff Garlin: Captain of the good ship Axiom

REVIEW
Expectations not met makes for an unhappy experience.

Pixar’s track record of producing entertaining state-of-the-art animated CGI cartoons led me to believe this would be one more to add to the list of Knick Knack (the animated short film about the snowman trapped in a snow globe), Toy Story (the first ever first fully computer-generated feature film with Buzz and Woody), Finding Nemo (my all-time favourite with Marlin, Nemo and Dory), Ratatouille (with Remy and Linguini) and Cars.

Such is not the case.

The first half-hour is depressing with monochromatic browns of a world we would rather not see populated only by a robot going through his repetitive daily manoeuvres whose only buddy is a cockroach. Although the animators have attempted to “humanise” WOOD-E with expressive “eyes” and limited (very limited) vocal expressions I found it impossible to feel for this mechanical thing. So his dire situation left me entirely unmoved and consequently of little interest.

When EVE comes on the scene things liven up a bit and there are a couple of funny moments, even some tender ones. But that doesn’t last long as we are transported to another world where the producers hammer home their second strong message (about the consequences of a pampered life; their first was about the effects of over consumption) but it goes on far too long. It would be fine if these sequences were novel or funny, but they are neither. In fact there is not one really humorous moment during the entire film.

One thing needs be said though: the technical aspects are simply amazing not only in terms of the images but the sound. However that alone is not reason enough to sit through almost two hours of filmmaking.

CLASSIFICATION


P.S.
At the showing I attended the movie was preceded by Presto, a new Pixar short about a magician and his rabbit. It is amusing and for some (the four or five-year-old crowd) absolutely hilarious. With hindsight, I should have left when it was over.

HORTON HEARS A WHO

Animated cartoon

PRINCIPAL CHARACTER VOICES
Jim Carrey: Horton the elephant
Seth Rogen: his pal Morton the mouse
Carol Burnett: the Kangaroo
Steve Carell: Mayor of Who-ville
Amy Poehler: his wife Sally O’Malley
Isla Fisher: Who-ville scientist Dr. Mary Lou LaRue
Will Arnett: Vlad the vulture
Narration by Charles Osgood

REVIEW
You could do a lot worst on a Saturday afternoon than going to see this one, especially if you have young ones along with you. But it lacks certain required elements both from the kid’s point-of-view and that of the adults. The result is somewhat disappointing despite the quality of the CGI and a good story line.

For starters, it has only a few amusing moments and just one really good laugh-out-loud joke. Kids all love the rude bodily sounds and giggle knowingly whenever they hear them but there are none. Nor are there any double entendres, clever dialog “for adults only” that make the kids ask, “what are you laughing at mommy?”

There is the requisite fast-talking sidekick but the little fellow has very limited screen time so really plays a minor part in the scheme of things. And there is hardly a happy tune to be heard the whole time which runs a tad too long.

CLASSIFICATION

RATATOUILLE

2008 Best Animated Cartoon



BACKGROUND
The film was produced by Pixar Animation Studios which has won seven Academy Awards and is best known for its feature films Toy Story (1995) • A Bug’s Life (1998) • Toy Story 2 (1999) • Monsters Inc. (2001) • Finding Nemo (2003) • The Incredibles (2004) and Cars (2006)

In May 2006 the Walt Disney Company purchased Pixar for $7.4 billion making it a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney.

PRINCIPAL VOICES
Patton Oswalt: Rémy, a farm rat in rural France
Peter Sohn: his chubby brother Émile
Brian Dennehy: their father Django, the leader of the rat clan
Ian Holm: Skinner, the new boss of a prestigious five-star Parisian restaurant, Chez Gusteau
Lou Romano: Alfredo Linguini, newly hired “garbage boy”
Brad Garrett: deceased famous chef and author Auguste Gusteau
Janeane Garofolo: Colette, the kitchen's sole woman cook
Peter O'Toole: Anton Ego, the harshest food critic in Paris

REVIEW
Just when you think it can’t get any better, Pixar comes out with the best animated cartoon ever. Combining state of the art computer generated images with a well-developed story line it is most entertaining. The main theme is one of following your dreams. The romantic comedy aspect is somewhat unexpected.

The realism is incredible (in particular the trip down the Seine) and the detail simply amazing (especially some of the food preparations). And to top it all off, the musical score is exquisite, a real delight to the ears.

Although the movie runs almost two hours, it does not seem like it.

CLASSIFICATION


P.S.
Ratatouille (ra-ta-TOO-ee) is a traditional French Provencal stewed vegetable dish, regarded by some as "a peasant dish" and therefore quite unsuitable to be served in a five star restaurant.

SURF’S UP

Animated cartoon

F.Y.I.
One of the little-known species of penguin in the Southern Hemisphere is distinguishable by his small stature and spiky yellow feathers projecting sideways. The explorers who first discovered them were so amused to see the penguins jumping over rocks that they named them the Rockhopper Penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome).

PRINCIPAL VOICE CONTRIBUTORS
Shia LaBeouf: Cody, a teenage penguin
Jeff Bridges: his hero, the famous surfer Big Z
Mario Cantone: a sandpiper, Mikey Abromowitz, surfing talent-scout
James Woods: Mikey’s boss, surf promoter Reggie Belafonte
Zooey Deschanel: beautiful penguin lifeguard Lani Aliikai
Jon Heder: surfing contestant Chicken Joe
Diedrich Bader: reigning surfing champ Tank Evans

REVIEW
They’ve cranked up the technical side of things one more notch with this latest CGI effort. The degree of realism is remarkable, whether it’s the sea and wave action or just the 3-D effect achieved by the subtle play of light.

Although the story is not all that original, it does have a good message to tell. It would have been better if there were a few more jokes along the way because there are very few, apart from a couple of cute moments that will prompt a smile or two.

CLASSIFICATION
for mild language (the kind that appeals to kids because they’re not supposed to say those words) and some rude humor (the obligatory potty jokes and crude bodily noises).

SHREK THE THIRD

Animated cartoon

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Rupert Everett: Prince Charming, a failed stage actor
Mike Myers: our hero Shrek
Cameron Diaz: his wife Princess Fiona
Eddie Murphy: Donkey, Shrek’s sidekick
Antonio Banderas: Shrek’s other buddy Puss in Boots
John Cleese: the frog King Harold, ruler of Far Far Away
Julie Andrews: Queen Lillian
Justin Timberlake: Arthur (aka Artie) Fiona's half-brother (or cousin?)

REVIEW
Sequels are Hollywood’s way of building the next version that is slightly different from, but based closely on the original. The concept of movie sequels is nothing new: the first car produced by the Ford Motor Company was the Model A in 1903 and the following year they came out with the next version, an upscale touring car called the Model B. So introducing a “line extension” of the original has been around a long time.

However the problem with movie sequels is twofold: they tend to suffer from déja vu (characters, plot etc) and by their very nature, they lack originality. So comparing a sequel to the original means it has two strikes against it even before beginning to look at it strictly on its own merit.

So despite the fact it’s tempting to so, I would rather not judge this movie as a sequel. Taken instead simply as a movie about the adventures of a well-known character, it has a lot going for it.

For starters, it is entertaining: there are a lot of amusing moments, from clever one-liners, silly sight-gags, mild “crude” jokes and old fashioned slapstick. The story unfolds with lots of action. Although some of the slower sections (and musical renditions) could be snipped a bit, the movie is not overlong.

There are some adult-only-jokes (a quick reference to Hooters for example) but not that many.

From a technical point-of-view this is far and away the best computer generated movie ever. The realism is remarkable and most noticeable in the rendering of water, the shadows that follow the contour lines of the undulating background, the textures of fur and velvet, the facial expressions (particularly of Artie) and every stitch in Shrek's ratty old sweater.

CLASSIFICATION
for some crude humor, suggestive content (? … guess I missed that part) and swashbuckling action.

MEET THE ROBINSONS

Animated cartoon

WITH THE VOICES OF
Angela Bassett: orphanage caretaker Mildred
Daniel Hansen : Lewis, an orphaned 12-year-old boy-inventor
Matthew Josten: his roommate Michael “Goob” Yagoobian, a baseball player
Stephen Anderson: the wicked Bowler Hat Guy
Ethan Sandler: Doris, his diabolical companion
Wesley Singerman: Wilbur Robinson, a space traveller from the future
Stephen Anderson: his slightly weird Grandpa Bud
Adam West: Uncle Art, the speedy pizza man
Harland Williams: the house robot Carl
Nicole Sullivan: Wilbur’s musical mom Franny

REVIEW
Although Disney Studios have produced many movies that have become classics, this is not going to be one of them. As starters, it doesn’t. Too much time is spent on one of Lewis’ inventions and hardly anything else happens until he gets to the school Science Fair. But that’s one-third of the movie gone already.

Things finally get going when they zoom off into the future to meet a bunch of oddballs and there are some mildly amusing moments. But no real laugh per se.

As expected of any Disney production, there are lessons to be learned. In this case, don’t give up.

CLASSIFICATION

FLUSHED AWAY

Animated cartoon

PRINCIPAL VOICES
Hugh Jackman: Roddy St. James, a pet mouse
Shane Richie: Sid, a sewer rat
Kate Winslet: Rita, owner/operator of a small boat
Ian McKellan: villainous Boss Toad
Andy Serkis: his right-hand “man” Spike
Bill Nighy: Spike’s partner in crime Whitey
Jena Reno: Le Frog, the Boss’ cousin

REVIEW
Although there are the pre-requisite bodily function gags and shots to the crotch, there are no cute loveable creatures in this slightly different slant on the London “underworld”. Instead we get a smartly styled story about the importance of friends along with some clever British wit aimed at the adults in the audience.

Despite the sewer setting there is nothing gross.

CLASSIFICATION
for crude humor and some language.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
Before going away on vacation, the little girl dumps out a huge pile of food for Roddy. In the following scene he leaves the cage but the food is no longer to be seen.

HAPPY FEET

Animated cartoon

PRINCIPAL VOICES
Nicole Kidman: Norma Jean, an Emperor girl-penguin
Hugh Jackman: her husband Memphis
Elijah Wood: their son Mumble
Brittany Murphy: his love interest Gloria
Robin Williams: Ramon, leader of The Amigos
Robin Williams: their tribal prophet Lovelace

REVIEW
Unlike most movies geared to children, this could best be described as a musical rather than “a cartoon for kids”. Relying upon song-and-dance routines rather than simply a narrative story line distinguishes this one from other movies of this genre.

Although it’s not particularly lengthy by today’s standards, some of the numbers drag on too long. And several scenes would be too scary for the very young crowd (my guess would be those under 7 or 8).

CLASSIFICATION
for some mild peril and rude humor.

OPEN SEASON

Children’s animated cartoon

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Martin Lawrence: Boog, a a 900-pound grizzly bear
Debra Messing: National Park Service Ranger Beth
Ashton Kutcher: Elliot, a deer
Gary Sinise: mean ol’ hunter Shaw
Billy Connolly: McSquizzy, boss of the squirrels

REVIEW
It has all the requisites of a movie for kids even though it’s somewhat toned down compared to others of this type: rude bodily noises, potty jokes, “pretend” violence, a pair of odd-ball buddies, candies and sweets for the taking and best of all, the good guys (the animals) win out over the bad guys (those nasty human beings).

The adults in the audience will find it mildly amusing but it lacks any double-entendre dialogue that only the grown ups will catch, leaving the kids wondering what is all that funny.

CLASSIFICATION
for some rude humor, mild action and brief language.

BARNYARD: THE ORIGINAL PARTY ANIMALS

Children’s animated cartoon

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Kevin James: Otis the Cow, the adopted son of Ben the Cow
Jeff Garcia: his little buddy Pip the Mouse
Tino Insana: Pig the Pig (now isn’t that a clever and original name for a pig?)
Sam Elliott: Ben the Cow, the barnyard’s leader
Courteney Cox: Daisy the Cow
Wanda Sykes: her best friend Bessy the Cow
Andie MacDowell: Etta the Hen
Cam Clarke: Freddy the Ferret, best friend of Etta (how weird is that?)
David Koechner: Dag the Coyote
Danny Glover: Ben’s old friend Miles the Mule
Dom Irrera: Duke the Dog, contender for the position of barnyard boss
Maria Bamford: the barnyard neighbour Mrs. Beady
Steve Oedekerk: her husband Mr. Beady

REVIEW
The very best way to get some appreciation as to how the target audience (ages 6 to 10) judges the movie is to attend a rainy day, matinée-afternoon performance with the kids outnumbering the adults by about 10 to 1.

The very first question heard is: “how come the boy cow has those things?”
Translation: how come Otis, the son of Ben, has prominent udders?
Which I knew because this anatomical feature only serves to confuse the whole thing. And there’s no need for it because later we see some bulls without udders (but with their special parts hidden behind a fence or blocked from view by other animals as the case may be.)

Although there are downright funny parts, a couple of chuckles and some toe-tapping interludes, it is only mildly entertaining and really, a bit of a disappointment.

CLASSIFICATION
for some mild peril and rude humor.

P.S.
Once again a movie with one person taking on several important roles (in this case Producer, Director, Writer and in even the voice of one of the characters, Mr. Beady) is less than the sum of its parts.

MONSTER HOUSE

Animated adventure

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Ryan Newman: a blonde pigtailed little girl
Mitchel Musso: 12-year old DJ
Fred Willard: his father, a dentist
Catherine O'Hara: his mother
Sam Lerner: DJ's best friend Chowder
Maggie Gyllenhaal: Elizabeth (aka Zee), the baby-sitter
Steve Buscemi: Old Man Nebbercracker, the owner of the decrepit old house
Spencer Locke: Jenny, student selling school items door-to-door
Jason Lee: Zee’s boyfriend Bones
Kevin James: Officer Landers
Nick Cannon: his rookie partner Lister

REVIEW
This is an old-style adventure story pitting the good guys against the forces of evil but done using the latest CGI technology. Despite the fact the movie is fairly short (1½ hours), character development has not been overlooked. Each of the principals has their own body language, their own way of speaking and what they say actually seems real.

Although there are some scary images, the producers have stayed away from really frightening ones. What a relief for “fraidy cats” like me.

CLASSIFICATION
for scary moments for the really young (5 and under ?)

P.S.
The movie is a natural for 3D viewing and some theatres will be showing it in this format. BTW: there’s one more chuckle just before the final credits.

CARS

Animated comedy

PRINCIPAL VOICES
Owen Wilson: Lightning McQueen, car #95 a rookie NASCAR-type race car
Michael Keaton: car #86 a racing veteran, Chick Hicks
Richard Petty: car #43 The King a former series winner, a 1970 Plymouth
John Ratzenberger: Mack the truck
Michael Wallis: the Sheriff, a 1949 Mercury police cruiser
Larry the Cable Guy: Mater the tow truck
Bonnie Hunt: Sally Carrera the motel owner, a Porsche 911
Paul Newman: Doc Hudson the town judge, a 1951 Hudson Hornet
George Carlin: Fillmore, a 1960 Volkswagen bus
Paul Dooley: his neighbour Sarge, a 1942 WWII Willys Army jeep
Cheech Marin: Ramone, a 1959 Chevy low-rider
Jenifer Lewis: his wife the owner of Flo’s V-8 Café, a 1950’s show car
Tony Shalhoub: Luigi the owner of Casa Della Tires, a 1959 Fiat 500
Guido Quaroni: Guido, his forklift buddy
Guest “appearances” by race car drivers Mario Andretti, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Michael Schumacher, sports broadcaster Bob Costas and late night TV host Jay Leno

REVIEW
Although geared to people of all ages, young children will probably be bored after the first 10 minutes once the action leaves the race track and becomes a story about new friendships and misadventures. For the most part it moves along at a good clip but at two hours it is simply too long. There are few outright laughs but certainly a lot of amusing and clever things throughout the movie. The animation is first rate and even has something new: reflections off the shiny bits.

Neatly woven into the story are several important lessons: the need to be dedicated and to be hard-working, to be loyal and to accept the fact that winning is not everything.

CLASSIFICATION


P.S.
Some of the sight gags include the scrolling news headlines on television appropriately labelled Braking News.
It’s worth while sticking around for one last chuckle following the end credits.