Jack Black

After opening with a nicely done shadow-puppet-like explanation of how the film’s villain, a peacock named Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), came to be evil, we watch as Po, the chubby Panda voiced by Black, and his martial arts pals attempt to stop Shen from conquering China and wiping out kung fu. Moreover, Shen has a connection to what befell Po’s parents.

The rotund Po is the perfect showcase for Black and his manic comic personality, even more so than any live-action character he’s played. Black makes him an amusing and endearingly goofy character who knows kung fu, sure, but who still has weight issues (“My old enemy…the stairs”) and isn’t quite as clever as he thinks he is. Black also does well enough with Po’s heavier moments.

As well the film has its share of energetic set pieces for the kids to enjoy, from Po and his pals’ first-act scuffle with Shen’s armored wolf goons, to Po careening across rooftops and, later, deflecting flaming cannonballs. An especially enjoyable bit sees Po and the gang taking out Shen’s soldiers while hiding inside a Chinese Dragon.

That unexpectedly darker tone I was talking about, and which I welcome, is rooted in the film’s underlying theme of parental desertion, in how it shaped both Po and Shen. It’s not Freud-level stuff or anything, but it does lend the film some weight, and at the very least allows for a more interesting animated-movie bad guy. And Oldman does great work as Shen, giving him a wonderfully Machiavellian quality, but also making sure we feel his deep-seated anger and sadness.

Freshman director Jennifer Yuh Nelson nicely adds to the darker mood by rendering Po’s unsettling memories about his parents in the kind of old-fashioned hand-drawn animation reminiscent of the darker animated films of the early ’80s, like The Secret of NIMH and The Black Cauldron. She also creates a number of striking visuals, in particular the line of ships making their way down the Gongmen City canal, not to mention ominous thunderclouds and a tall toppling temple.

Now, I do realize this is a movie populated by talking animals, including a raccoon (Dustin Hoffman), a fortune-telling goat (Michelle Yeoh), Po’s goose dad (James Hong, funny and touching), a crocodile (Jean-Claude Van Damme!) and various pigs and rabbits. But you almost forget they’re not human. This goes especially for Angelina Jolie, who exudes Zen-like calm as Po pal Tigress, and Seth Rogen, hilarious as Praying Mantis, chattering on like he does about how the females of his species bite off the heads of the males. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Animation/Action/Adventure

Rated PG

Release Date: 12/13/11

I can’t say I was ever a huge fan of the first Cars film to begin with, so a sequel wasn’t exactly what I was craving. The franchise (which also includes the fairly recent direct-to-video release Mater’s Tall Tales) has been leaning more and more heavily on the automotive puns, verbal and visual, which were kinda cute at first (look closely at the buzzing insects in the first film and you’ll see they’re all little VW Beetles), but have become pretty labored (the climax of Cars 2 involves a familiar London landmark referred to as “Big Bentley”). It also becomes harder and harder to ignore the mildly disturbing strangeness of the Cars universe, in which all of the characters are manufactured products in a world that seems to lack manufacturers. Even throwaway gags or lines like “Is the Popemobile Catholic?” raise uncomfortable questions if you think about them too long. If Catholicism exists on a planet populated entirely by motor vehicles, then who was Jesus in this scenario? Was he a chariot or a handcart or a pair of sandals, or maybe his automotive analog should be something like GM’s EV-1?

Whew. Dangerous thoughts. But we’re not supposed to be thinking that much–after all, the film’s hero doesn’t. This time around, the story mostly centers on Mater, the rusty, endearingly unsophisticated tow truck, voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, who played sidekick in the first installment. This time, while he’s ostensibly heading his friend Lightning McQueen’s (Owen Wilson) entourage as he tours the globe to compete in the World Grand Prix, he gets caught up in James Bond-style espionage and international intrigue. His inadvertent spy career is mentored by ace British spy Finn McMissile (Michael Caine), who is naturally an Aston Martin DB5 outfitted with all manner of admittedly clever gadgets. Rounding out the Bond analogy is Mater’s improbable love interest, Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer), herself an apprentice agent.

What follows is a moderately entertaining and surprisingly complicated spy thriller plot. I can’t quite grasp how this movie managed to get a G rating, considering the amount of shooting and gunplay going on, not to mention a spy torture scene which might scare younger kids. It’s all decent, diverting fun, but it utterly fails to achieve the heights of heart and humor exemplified by recent Pixar gems like Up and Toy Story 3. The gags here are often extremely contrived, and in one scene, very literally toilet-oriented. Which raises all manner of other uncomfortable questions. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Animation/Adventure/Comedy

The rather straightforward plot involves the attempts of 11-year-old Milo (Seth Green, doing the physical performance but not the voice) to rescue his mom (Joan Cusack) from the red planet after Martians kidnap her so they can physically extract her apparently ideal maternal instincts.

For all the effort Robert Zemeckis (who only produced this one) has put into fine-tuning the motion-capture technology, the human characters here still look a little too unrealistic, their movements a little too unnatural. Normally it would have taken me out of the film, but the film’s whiz-bang pace and incessantly irritating characters, like the ‘60s-talking female Martian and obese fellow human (Dan Fogler) that Milo encounters, prevented me from really getting into it in the first place.

At the very least director Simon Wells (The Time Machine), great-grandson of author H.G. Wells, does give us something nice to look at. The silver Martian buildings are wondrously sleek, while the massive Martian junkyard, where Milo amusingly meets a tribe of boy Martians, is a beautifully rendered creation. The Martian rocket ships launching into the air are also kind of cool.

Unfortunately, Wells seems so focused on the expensive-looking imagery that he neglects making much of the film emotionally accessible. A shame, because the first-act scenes between Milo and his frustrated mom generate some genuine warmth, and even reminded me a little of my own youth. But things turn cold fast when we go to Mars, not to mention creepy, which is the best way to describe the sight of an overweight human man flirting with a female Martian. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Rio

Rio is a sweet enough film, no doubt great fun for kids and watchable enough for most adults, which tries earnestly to capture the local flavor of its titular city during Carnival. It wants to be Black Orpheus with animated talking birds, but it’s really closer to Madagascar on a different continent. In my view, it suffers from an over-abundance of supporting characters, from the requisite menagerie of ornithological personalities to a variety of humans, be they benign ecologically-minded intellectuals or malicious economically-driven smugglers and thugs. There are also monkeys. And a dog voiced by Tracy Morgan. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

It is also genuinely, startlingly odd. Set in a palpably parched, hallucinatory Mojave Desert, it is populated by all manner of dusty, eccentric creatures, along with a hero that looks to be the result of Picasso’s formerly unknown lizard taxidermy hobby. The latter is a neurotic, domesticated chameleon (voiced by Johnny Depp) who, as the film opens, finds himself marooned on a lonely, sun-scorched stretch of desert highway. He eventually makes his way to the beleaguered town of Dirt, and through blind luck and Actor’s Studio bravado finds himself appointed as its new sheriff. This puts him in the midst of a water crisis and a sinister conspiracy rather reminiscent of a certain well-known 70’s neo-noir film.

Indeed, Rango is a gleeful exercise in homage. It doesn’t reference just any Western, but every Western, from John Ford’s Stagecoach to Sergio Leone’s Fistful of Dollars, even all the way to Robert Zemeckis‘ Back to the Future Part III, and many many more in between. Of course, it is marketed as a family film, but I’m sure most kids won’t detect the plethora of (sometimes quite subtle) nods it makes to films of yesteryear. And, when I first saw it in the theater, I wondered if the writing itself was too colorful and Coen-esque to be understood by younger audiences. Nevertheless, the kids that were present on the two occasions I saw it in public seemed transfixed enough. But then a kid doesn’t need to get all the gags in Blazing Saddles to enjoy the heck out of it. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Animation/Adventure/Comedy

Rated PG

DVD Release Date: 7/12/11

The fart jokes were not funny at all and really did not make any sense either. I was just glad that I did not see any testicle kicking or more than a few fart jokes. And the parts when a frog tells Juliet that her butt looks fat or that she looks hot made me feel sick that children think that that is funny. The ironic twist to the original ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was not so great, as they had Juliet be a super athletic super ninja. I thought they were garden gnomes, but people who want a sporty princess in a movie are in luck.

Once the Terrafirminator lawn mower (Hulk Hogan) is bought by Gnomeo’s small companion, Benny (Matt Lucas), is where the good part comes in. Of course the ending is not too great for kids my age and maybe a little bit older. Maybe too happy or maybe too fun or whatever it might be. But, I would suggest this to young kids and maybe young parents too. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Animation/Adventure/Comedy

Rated G

DVD Release Date: 5/24/11

The Illusionist

Like Tati’s other stories, this one is not strongly plot-driven. It is, rather, an establishment of setting and mood punctuated by endlessly clever yet understated comic setpieces. Though all of Tati’s films have an undercurrent of nostalgic melancholy, Illusionist serves up a sharper, more intimate sting, presumably due to the more personal nature of the story he wrote, and perhaps why he never could produce it himself.

This is a gorgeous film to look at. Chomet’s style of animation, both here and in Belleville, recalls Disney’s middle-period animated features from the 60’s through the 80’s, which were a riot of pencil-drawn spontaneity and dusky watercolor depths. His character designs blend sharply exaggerated caricature and naturalistic proportions. His use of computer-aided animation is more prominent here, but never heavy-handed or gimmicky. At one point, we even see the real Tati meet his re-animated counterpart.

It’s also plenty funny, but, true to Tati, more full of wise winks and smiles than belly laughs. Chomet and Tati share a love of visual humor–neither director’s films have much essential dialogue–teasing us, for instance, with a shot from behind of a Scotsman on a little motorboat, his kilt blowing in the wind. Or a nice little scene where the penniless magician takes a job at an auto garage and tends to a rich Texan’s ostentatious Cadillac–classic Tati, with Chomet’s satirical barbed twist (the license plate reads “B1G-A55″).

It’s appropriate that a film about a magician should itself be intrinsically and self-evidently magical. But I’m convinced that those who approach The Illusionist familiar not only with Chomet’s work but with Tati’s will find it downright exhilarating, as I did. Therefore I will end this review with an aggressive plug for Tati’s films–particularly 1967’s Playtime. To use my favorite facile tagline for it, it’s like the cinematic equivalent of “Where’s Waldo?” Be sure to watch it on as big a screen as you can–with Criterion’s Blu-Ray disc if possible. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Animation/Comedy/Drama

Rated PG

DVD Release Date: 5/10/11

Disney

Said story, of course, is “Rapunzel,” the Brothers Grimm fairy tale about a girl with really long hair locked away in a tower by an evil enchantress. Here the girl, a princess kidnapped as a baby by a vain woman who wants the kid’s hair for its magical healing properties, is made into a relatable teenager who manages to escape the tower thanks to the arrival of a roguish thief.

Unlike her classic brethren, Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore), while certainly innocent and naïve of the world, is a spirited girl here, wielding a cast iron frying pan (an object turned into an amusing running joke) and tying people up with her lengthy locks. So she makes for a better role model for girls, and, in a nice gender-reversal touch, especially for Disney, essentially gets to save the day.

The thief is voiced by Zachary Levi (TV’s Chuck), who makes the guy both smooth and vain to a hilarious degree. His funniest scenes usually involve a white palace horse named Maximus, whose behavior and facial expressions help make him the film’s funniest character. There’s also Rapunzel’s pet chameleon, who sticks his tongue in Levi’s ear and shows emotion by changing color.

As well directors Byron Howard (who also made Bolt) and Nathan Greno render the film beautifully, wholly succeeding in their stated aim of making it sometimes resemble an oil painting, in particular the wondrous scene in which hundreds of lighted lanterns are released into the air. They also wring some genuine emotion from the story, like when the queen gently wipes a tear from the king’s eye.

Granted, the characters don’t look perfectly real (their eyes are a little too big), and the demise of Rapunzel’s captor (voiced with perfect wickedness by Donna Murphy) might prove a bit intense for some tots. But such darkness, which is present in the best of Disney’s animated films, is easily balanced out here by the sight of a tavern full of brutes singing about having dreams.- [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Animation/Comedy/Family

Rated PG

DVD Release Date: 3/29/11

Tales From Earthsea

The superficial look of the characters and environments is classic Miyazaki. Supposedly, Hayao had no involvement at all with his son’s film once it was underway (they were apparently not even on speaking terms), so it is disappointing that Goro did not establish his own aesthetic for his film, rather than borrowing his father’s style wholesale. But despite the clear intention to mimic the appearance of a Miyazaki classic, Earthsea’s characters look strikingly flat, opaque and disconnected from their watercolor environs. At times I even thought it looked like a lower budget television production, not the blockbuster feature film it was in Japan. In the end, though, it mostly only pales in comparison with other works from Ghibli. The world of anime in Japan is vast, encompassing a broad spectrum of genre and quality. To put it another way, Hayao Miyazaki is to Pixar what Goro is to Dreamworks Animation. As for its suitability for kids, I wouldn’t recommend Earthsea for younger kids–its content is closer to the PG-13 range. Of course, even if you don’t watch Tales From Earthsea, that shouldn’t stop you from revisiting the real Miyazaki classics. This week also saw the release of Hayao’s second feature, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, on Blu-ray, which is a perfect excuse to watch (or rewatch) one of the great classics of animation. – [DVD]

Animation/Adventure/Fantasy

Rated PG-13

Once upon a time there was an animated ogre named Shrek.
He was in a movie that made a lot of money, so its studio said, what the heck?
There are enough ideas for a few more rounds.
We’ll make some sequels and try not to run the idea into the ground.
They came close, those studio suits did.
This fourth movie just manages to be entertaining, but hopefully this is it.

Shrek married a lady ogre named Fiona and together they made a life.
Three babies and many dirty diapers later, he finds his domestic bliss full of strife.
He just wants some time alone.
So an evil little imp named Rumpelstiltskin throws him a bone.
Sign this piece of paper, he says, and you’ll be the scary Ogre you once were.
Shrek happily does this, and then bad things occur.

The movie is more sweet than funny, really.
But it still has stuff that will make kids laugh, don’t be silly.
Like Eddie Murphy as the voice of Donkey, Shrek’s faithful buddy.
Who had some babies of his own with a dragon; boy, is that nutty.
There’s also the cat known as Puss ‘n’ Boots, who turns lazy and fat.
He can’t lick himself or turn over; oh, how they’ll chuckle at that.

I myself thought Rumpelstiltskin was a real hoot.
He looks and acts like a spoiled brat, and wears big wigs that reflect his mood.
In one clever bit, he hires The Pied Piper to get rid of Shrek.
He tells a witch, “It’s time to pay the Piper,” and to get his book full of checks.
In another he poses a question to Pinocchio, who, of course, lies.
And the wooden boy’s nose grows really long and pokes Rumpelstiltskin in the eye.

The broomstick ride through the castle is also a thrill, thanks to the director named Mike.
Who also includes a touching ending that adults will probably like.
But I must object to all the pop songs on the soundtrack.
Many of them tunes I like, as a matter of fact.
Lionel Richie, Karen Carpenter, The Monkees and Stevie Wonder, they’re all there.
Yet their constant presence made this movie just a little harder for me to bear. – [DVD]

Animation/Adventure/Comedy

Rated PG

DVD Release Date: 12/7/10