Weekend Watch - The Wild Robot

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the latest release from DreamWorks Animation, the film adaptation of Peter Brown’s book The Wild Robot. The film is written and directed by Chris Sanders (Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon) and features the voice talents of Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor, Stephanie Hsu, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill, and Catherine O’Hara. It follows the adventure of a helpful robot stranded on an island populated only by animals who view her as a potential predator or prey. The film opened this weekend in the U.S., winning the box office in the process. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: A; this is a top 5 film this year for me, and I expect it will be for you as well with its beautiful animation and poignant story.

Should you Watch This Film? Absolutely! This is a film you can watch on your own, with friends, with a significant other, with kids, really with anyone, and you’ll all walk away with something to appreciate.

Why?

                If you’ve seen any trailers for The Wild Robot, you already know that its animation is gorgeous both stylistically and in execution, and that rings true throughout the film, but there have been plenty of animated films in the last decade that are beautifully produced but lack in the story department. This is not one of those films. The voice acting is superb and lends to the story’s emotional weight and poignancy, and the story itself feels just fresh enough to engage even the most cynical moviegoer. While a few minor clichés hold it back from being a perfect A+ film, the story about found family, adaptation, kindness, and even motherhood is certainly one of the most original brought to a mainstream film in the medium in quite some time. It is poignant and important, imparting not just emotional payoffs but actual life lessons that we all need to learn and/or be reminded of in the trying times we live in. This film deserves to be the front-runner for most of the animated awards in the coming award season.

                I came into the theater to watch The Wild Robot expecting quality animation and potentially some emotional beats, but I didn’t necessarily expect to be so wowed by the film’s story and characters. From the jump, we are immersed in this world of wilderness where a robot like the film’s titular protagonist, ROZZUM Unit 7134 or “Roz” (Nyong’o), sticks out like a sore thumb, lacking the ability initially to even communicate with its unsuspecting “customers”. The hilarity and tragedy of Roz’s situation are portrayed excellently as she struggles to find anyone willing to even speak with her after she spends months learning to translate the language of the animals. Eventually her quest brings her an orphaned gosling to adopt and prepare for the coming migration, giving her a new directive – feed the baby goose, teach it to swim, and teach it to fly by the time the rest of the island’s geese undertake their migration ahead of its harsh winters. Roz’s conversations with her less than willing “co-parent” Fink the fox (Pascal) about “programming” and the laws of nature and survival skills mirror concepts that we all are familiar with in our own lives – nature, nurture, social norms, and the competition that society breeds into us. As the film goes on and we see Roz’s gosling Brightbill (Connor) mature into a semi-functional adult goose, those themes become more central alongside the film’s surprisingly profound exploration of motherhood and family, as viewed through the lens of Roz’s role in Brightbill’s life and the lives of the rest of the island’s inhabitants. The film’s final act has a few of its most cliché moments, but it brings everything home in a solid way without feeling the need to put a perfect bow on everything, making it one of the more adventurous mainstream animated films in that area as well.

                The Wild Robot is simply one of the best films of the year so far thanks to its gorgeous animation, skilled voice acting, and poignant story that explores themes relevant to viewers of all ages, engaging not just children, but parents, teens, and single adults as well. It’s a film worth checking out in theaters if possible, especially with its quality animation. Definitely seek it out if it’s playing near you.

Weekend Watch - Inside Out 2

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Pixar’s latest theatrical release (their first since Lightyear), Inside Out 2, the sequel to 2015’s Best Animated Feature winner. The sequel sees the return of voice actors Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan as the voices of Joy, Sadness, Anger, Mom, and Dad, joined this time by Kensington Tallman as Riley, Maya Hawke as Anxiety, Liza Lapira as Disgust, Tony Hale as Fear, and Ayo Edebiri as Envy, just to name a few of the new names and faces. The film follows Riley and her emotions as they move from childhood into adolescence with the complications of starting high school, fitting in, and puberty bringing a whole new set of issues to reckon with. The film opened this weekend to relatively positive reviews. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B; it’s not saying anything wrong; I just don’t know that what it’s saying carries the weight that I want it to.

Should you Watch This Film? If you want a good movie to see with your kids or are a fan of the first, this is worth checking out. Otherwise, you can definitely wait to stream this one later on when you’re catching up on all the Oscar nominees.

Why?

                Inside Out 2 does a lot of things right as a sequel, building on the world of the last film while telling an original story with a positive message, memorable characters, and a few good laughs. Unfortunately, it also suffers as a product of the current Disney/Pixar machine (the first after the infamous announcement that they’ll be moving away from autobiographical stories like those in Turning Red and Luca), and in its quest for “universality” (whatever that means), loses most of the emotional (ironic, I know) resonance that they’ve become so well known for. I felt more emotional connection to the characters and stories of every Pixar film since 2020 (besides Lightyear) than I did watching Inside Out 2. They’ve given us an important message with solid characters that somehow manages to avoid actually getting the audience at all invested in the characters that they’re watching on the screen. The film’s story feels like it’s been designed around getting to a couple of key points in the film’s third act, and the result is a sense of manufactured emotion rather than genuine connection (unlike the authenticity of Turning Red, Luca, Soul, Onward, and even the first Inside Out).

                Now I know you’re asking how this film got even a B rating after all this negativity, and that’s because it really is a well-made film. The animation remains beautiful both in the real world and in Riley’s mind with some new techniques on display that really impressed me and made for some fun world-building and comedy. The new characters add some fun new wrinkles to the world of these films, with both Anxiety and Envy being the standouts. There’s a few jokes in here that really work well, even if too many feel more tailored to the younger audience that filled my theater, who for the most part weren’t laughing as much as I might’ve expected. The sound design and Andrea Datzman’s music do a solid job of creating tension and atmosphere. Even the film’s message is one that checks that Pixar box of being relevant for both adults and children – that anxiety is something that can easily come to define us if we don’t monitor how we’re framing our situation, and that’ll always lead to disaster. All of that speaks to the success of the new Pixar method in theory. On paper, this is an excellent film, but in practice, it’s missing that personal element that’s made modern Pixar so successful – the autobiographical stories of Turning Red and Luca, the family narrative of Coco, the friendship narrative of Toy Story 4, etc. Inside Out 2 tries to create those personal moments by telling a story about anxiety, growing up, and friendship, but none of the beats of those stories feel authentic enough (besides an excellently realistic panic attack) to create the resonance that it wants to – maybe that’s also because most of the development in this story happens to Riley herself rather than the emotions in her mind, who are supposed to be the main characters.

                Inside Out 2 is an excellently crafted animated film that unfortunately fails to deliver on what people actually love about the other Pixar films – authentic emotion, which is unfortunately ironic for this sequel. It looks good, sounds good, and even feels pretty good, but it fails to deliver in its biggest moments. If you liked the first film, you’ll probably still enjoy this one, but I don’t know that it’s a film that everyone needs to go see immediately in theaters.

Weekend Watch - Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the latest of the rebooted Ghostbusters films, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. The film is the follow-up to 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife and sees the return of many characters from that film and from the originals, including Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, McKenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, and Logan Kim reprising their roles from Afterlife, with Dan Aykroyd’s Ray Stantz taking a more prominent role this time around, and the additions of Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, and Emily Alyn Lind to fill out the main cast. This one is directed by Afterlife writer Gil Kenan who is again joined in the writing room by Afterlife director, and son of the original Ghostbusters director, Jason Reitman. The film opened in theaters this weekend. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: C-, a weak third act and overstuffed first bring down what is otherwise a fun and well-crafted movie sequel.

Should you Watch This Film? Maybe, it’ll probably please fans of the first reboot film, and doesn’t really have anything that’ll upset die-hard classic fans too much either. If you aren’t about that Ghostbusters life, though, I doubt this film will win you over.

Why?

                After taking a break from its usual haunt of the Big Apple in Afterlife, the Ghostbusters saga returns to NYC and the old red brick firehouse in Frozen Empire. An abundance of practical and digital effects return New York to its old, haunted self, in need of rescuing by a new generation of Ghostbusters. The characters, old and new, bring plenty of heart, if not necessarily humor, to this latest iteration of the films, which continues in the vein of its predecessor with McKenna Grace’s Phoebe Spengler taking center stage in the film’s narrative, again a solid choice, though weakened a bit by her continued fourth-place billing in the credits and attempts to create stories for the abundance of other characters filling out the film. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a film that fits the visual feel and overall vibe of the franchise with fun characters and cool, nerdy technology and ghost stuff, but it trips itself up by getting too convoluted for its fairly breezy hour-and-fifty-five-minute runtime.

                One thing you can certainly say in Frozen Empire’s favor, which goes a long way toward how much I liked this film, is that it maintains that same sense of practicality in all of its props, sets, and visuals that made the originals and Afterlife such successes. Obviously, not everything is practical, nor was it in the original, but their practical and digital effects alike remain very on-brand for the franchise. Slimer still looks like a weird puppet; there’s a lot of new ghosts that use that blend of practical and digital to great effect – some terrifying and others goofy or endearing; there’s a fantastic scene in the third act with one of the proton packs sparking up in the back that’s probably a simple effect, but it achieves this cool factor that gets you excited for what’s about to happen even if the story getting you there hasn’t. You can tell that Kenan and Reitman both care a lot for the franchise and that everyone who worked on the film wants to stay true to the originals.

                Unfortunately, love for the old films and past iterations keeps Frozen Empire’s story mired in an excessively long first act that’s mostly just exposition and setup interspersed with nostalgia grabs and reveals of new gadgets and/or ghosts. It’s a textbook first act, except for the fact that it takes up almost the entire first hour of the film. This leads into a fun second act, though, that jumps between storylines fairly fluidly and keeps you engaged with payoffs from the setups in the first act. The pace picks up and you start to remember why you like these films in the first place. However, by the time we get to the film’s final act, there’s only about twenty minutes of the film left, and we get a regrettably rushed climax that misses out on much of its tension and emotional weight by rushing things that could otherwise have had extended scenes devoted to them had it not taken half the film to get everything rolling. Couple that with an astounding amount of shoehorned nostalgia for the sake of trailer spots, and you’re left with a conclusion that feels just a little too empty to justify the amount of time spent setting it up.

                For whatever reason, they were trying to do too much. Much as I enjoyed the comedy of Kumail Nanjiani’s character, his inclusion and arc felt out of place and rushed alongside the rest of the film. It detracted some from both the screentime and character development of Phoebe, which in turn detracted from the overall impact of the film, since she’s the main character. On the other hand, relegating Finn Wolfhard’s Trevor to the role of comic relief might have been the best call they could have made – his arc in Afterlife wasn’t overly engaging, and he is absolutely the funniest part of this film, which gets me excited to see him do something more in that vein as his career develops. Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd get to fully step into the parenting roles (which Coon had in the first film as well), creating some odd tensions at certain points in the first half but paying off with some of Paul Rudd’s best scenes in the back half, so I’m mixed on that choice. Aykroyd getting some additional screentime probably shouldn’t have worked as well as it did, and don’t get me wrong, it’s no Blues Brothers or even O.G. Ghostbusters, but he makes for a passable secondary protagonist as Ray seeks purpose in his later years. Again, though, all of these extra plots and conflicts make that first act drag, when really all the film needed to work was the Spenglers (Grace, Wolfhard, and Coon) working with Gary as Ghostbusters for Ernie Hudson’s Winston Zeddemore, focusing on Phoebe’s relationship with Ghostbusting and her family, and it could have been a complete film. Everything else is fluff that drags this film’s potential down.

                All told, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a decent sequel that stays true to the formula and atmosphere of the original films that unfortunately gets bogged down in nostalgia and excessive storylines, limiting its overall impact. It definitely could have been better, but thanks to the care put into the details by the filmmakers and the actors, it manages to stay out of the abysmal territory of most of the films from the first quarter of the year so far. See it in theaters if you want, or don’t. I don’t have overly strong feelings on this one either way.

Weekend Watch - Kung Fu Panda 4

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the latest from Dreamworks animation, Kung Fu Panda 4, the latest in the Jack Black-led franchise about anthropomorphic animals doing kung fu in a stylized version of ancient China. This one sees Po, the titular panda, being thrust into a new role as the “Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace”, meaning that he has to choose a successor to be the new Dragon Warrior. His hesitation to embrace this change in titles leads him to seek one last adventure as the Dragon Warrior, bringing him into conflict with this film’s antagonist, the sorceress known as The Chameleon. This installment features the returning voice talents of Jack Black as Po, Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, Bryan Cranston as Po’s father Li, James Hong as his adoptive father Mr. Ping, and Ian McShane as Tai Lung, joined this time by newcomers Awkwafina as Zhen the gray fox, Ke Huy Quan as Han the pangolin criminal, and Viola Davis as The Chameleon. The film opened in theaters this weekend. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: D+, this is a film that’s trying to do too much all in the same movie, sacrificing quality in the process.

Should you Watch This Film? If you’ve got a kid who’s a big Kung Fu Panda fan or is really into seeing animated movies in theaters right now, this isn’t the worst option for you, but this isn’t a film that anyone really needs to seek out in theaters otherwise. It’s definitely a streamer at best in my book.

Why?

                Kung Fu Panda 4 is definitely the weakest entry in the franchise so far, missing out on so many of the pieces that make the others successful for not just kids, but adults as well. The voice acting and animation remain the highlights of the film by far with a weak story, intentionally unoriginal villain, and action pieces that don’t quite live up to the rest of the films. The ideas of the film are pretty cool – a villain who can shapeshift into past villains, a new big city for Po to visit, having Po take on a more mature role, and building on the past films’ themes of knowing yourself by exploring the concept of change. Somewhere along the way, though, the film becomes overstuffed with concepts and understuffed with execution.

                It does still justify its existence with some beautiful animation and solid voice performances, but I don’t know that they make it worth seeing in theaters. The film’s best action sequence is probably a chase through the big city, but that happens early in the film’s second act, so the rest of the film doesn’t really deliver on those big action set pieces that we’ve become so familiar with in the franchise. The final fight with The Chameleon was fairly underwhelming and the cool silhouetted fight sequence teased in the film’s trailer has too many cuts to make it look as cool as it could have. The actual settings are richly crafted by the animators, though, and the requisite mix of animation styles in the flashbacks remains solid.

                Jack Black’s vocal performance stays consistently solid, and Bryan Cranston and James Hong get some really fun buddy comedy dad moments that highlight the range of the two actors that we don’t always get to see. Awkwafina is definitely still Awkwafina in her portrayal of the enigmatic street hustler Zhen, but it works really well when she gets to do some vocal sparring with Black’s Po that give us some decently funny moments. In the more emotional moments, both of their performances come up a bit short, but I think that has more to do with the film’s story than it does with either of the actors because Jack Black has hit some phenomenal emotional beats in the past films in the franchise, and Awkwafina isn’t incapable of giving a strong performance, as showcased in The Farewell. The highlight of the voice cast, though, is by far Viola Davis, turning in yet another chillingly villainous performance as The Chameleon. She gives weight and intimidation to the villain that perfectly sets her up to be the film’s big bad, even if the actual story and execution don’t fully deliver.

                The film’s story is really where it falls apart. Most of the story beats feel even more contrived than those of the past films, with developments forced on the characters or just written into the dialogue without much lead-up, making most of the character moments feel shoehorned. While The Chameleon’s character design is really cool and an example of the film’s strong animation, her motivations are just an amalgamation of the motivations of the series’ other villains – she feels that she deserves to know the secrets of kung fu (Tai Lung), she wants to conquer China (Shen), and she’s going to do it by collecting the powers of past kung fu practitioners (Kai). While her shapeshifting goes along with the film’s theme of grappling with internal and external change just when you are starting to get comfortable with how things are, she ultimately feels like the least original of the villains, and it’s quite disappointing.

                Underdeveloped plot and characters and less-than-impressive action sequences leave much to be desired from this good-looking and well-voiced animation sequel, making Kung Fu Panda 4 one to stream later even for die-hard fans of the franchise. It’ll keep kids happy enough if you really want to get out of the house as spring breaks start happening here in the U.S., but I definitely wouldn’t say it’s a must-watch for anyone else. I wish it could’ve been better because I really do think that its ideas are strong, but their execution is just so weak that I can’t recommend it.

Weekend Watch - Wonka

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week will be our last Watch of 2023, as I’ll be taking the holiday weekends off. The topic this week, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Paul King’s prequel to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that released this week, entitled Wonka. The film stars Timothée Chalamet as the titular chocolate magician, and he is joined by Calah Lane as the orphan Noodle, Olivia Colman as landlady and launderess Mrs. Scrubitt, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, and Mathew Baynton as the chocolate “cartel”, Keegan-Michael Key as the Chief of Police, Jim Carter, Rakhee Thakrar, Natasha Rockwell, and Rich Fulcher as Wonka’s fellow lodgers and workers in town, Sally Hawkins as Wonka’s mother, and Hugh Grant as the Oompa-Loompa. The star-studded musical has thus far landed with a solid splash. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B+, but in a good way; this film feels like a solid, wholesome end to 2023, not necessarily perfect but definitely a much-needed bolt of positivity in December.

Should you Watch This Film? Yes! This film is another example of Paul King making good family fun without feeling saccharine or forced, and it’s always refreshing.

Why?

                Wonka delivers everything you might want from an obvious cash-grab of a prequel – an engaging story, fun songs, well-managed fan service, and a fun blend of old and new characters, all of which gives some new perspective to the franchise(?) and the character of Willy Wonka. Chalamet, while initially a questionable pick to take over the mantle of the iconic chocolatier, perfectly slots into his role in the film, bringing the right blend of charisma, madcappery, and heart to the younger, less jaded version of Willy Wonka. King’s direction and writing take this musical to a place of family iconography that should hold a lasting place in the libraries of many movie fans. It’s not a film free from flaws, as some of its more fan-servicey moments and CGI feel a bit on-the-nose, but for a prequel that no one really asked for, those elements remain fairly few and far between.

                The film’s story delivers a slightly different plot than the trailers seemed to promise, focusing on an already fairly skilled Willy as he comes to the city to make his fortune selling the whimsical chocolates that he’s learned to make in his adolescent travels. The conflict stems from a lack of funding rather than from a lack of talent, and it becomes a film of class solidarity and the potential to overcome the wealthy and corrupt when working together toward a common goal. After being swindled into owing an inordinate amount of money to his landlords, Willy is forced to work off his debt rather than making his chocolate, which puts him into close contact with other victims of the price gouging of Scrubitt (Olivia Colman) and Bleacher (Tom Davis) – the orphan Noodle (Calah Lane), accountant Abacus Crunch (Jim Carter), telephone operator Lottie Bell (Rakhee Thakrar), plumber Piper Benz (Natasha Rothwell), and aspiring comedian Larry Chucklesworth (Rich Fulcher) – who then become his comrades in arms in his plot to make it big in the Gallery Gourmet, where all the best chocolate in the world is made. The chocolatiers of the gourmet pose the other primary obstacle to Wonka’s rise, with Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas), and Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton) holding a veritable oligopoly on the trade of sweets in the Gallery, using their excess of chocolate to bribe city officials, police, and the clergy into helping them maintain their hold on the trade. The escapades of Willy’s little group, which is eventually joined by Hugh Grant’s Oompa-Loompa, comprise the majority of the film’s runtime and make for some solid entertainment along the way. It’s not without a few plot holes and a few convenient deus ex machina’s in the closing act, but overall, it’s a fun story with a positive message of solidarity and companionship that is always welcome in the holiday season (even if this isn’t an explicitly holiday film).

                Chalamet’s performance is the driving force of the film, and now that I’ve seen it, I understand his Golden Globe nomination. He sings more than passably in the film’s plethora of upbeat and fun musical numbers, and his personification of the iconic character feels like a healthy homage to Wilder’s and Depp’s other iterations while bringing that youthful flair that the prequel’s story asks for. He’s well-cast, and I’m sorry for any disparaging remarks I may have made after watching the film’s underwhelming trailers. The rest of the film’s ensemble does their jobs decently without any major standouts. Colman seems to be doing her best homage to Mrs. Lovett of Sweeney Todd, but it works as a solid secondary villain. Though they are the film’s antagonists, Slughorn, Prodnose, Fickelgruber, and the Chief of Police also serve as its primary source of comic relief, and the timing and delivery from all four actors manage to elicit some laughs just about every time they’re onscreen.

                Chalamet’s impressive leading performance works with Paul King’s creative prequel narrative and some strong costume and production design to elevate Wonka above the typical prequel fare even if it does stray at times into that territory with some overt fan service and inconsistent CGI. It’s a great time at the theaters in this season of celebration, and once again, Paul King has given us a film that the whole family can enjoy without feeling too pandered to. You can check this one out in theaters for the next few weeks, and if you’re looking for something more upbeat, I have to recommend it.

Weekend Watch - The Boy and the Heron

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers is The Boy and the Heron, the newest film from acclaimed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. The film has been reported as the filmmaker’s final film, but more recent reports seem to imply that he might have one more in him. Either way, after opening in Japan in July, this film opened in U.S. theaters this weekend. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: A; animation, themes, characters, and story all hit those notes that we’ve come to expect from Miyazaki, yet again in a new and exciting tale.

Should you Watch This Film? Yes, but I do think that not everyone will love this film equally.

Why?

                Whether The Boy and the Heron truly is Miyazaki’s final film or not, much of the film feels like a swan song from the master of animation. The story, drawing its name from the novel by Genzaburo Yoshino, is loosely based on the filmmaker’s own adolescence during World War II, while also drawing on themes from his other works and combining all of that with his own sense of self and nearing the end of his life and career. It’s a film by Miyazaki for fans of Miyazaki first and foremost, but it doesn’t stop there, offering an engaging coming-of-age story for all audiences with one of the most complex protagonists that the animator has ever delivered. With what might be the filmmaker’s best display of animation, just the right amount of levity, and an engaging exploration of grief, growing up, aging, and generational responsibility, this film delivers a strong endcap to a year full of animated instant classics.

                The film’s story follows Mahito, a teen living in Japan during World War II, who loses his mother in a fire and then moves to the countryside when his father marries his mother’s younger sister, Natsuko. At their new house, Mahito struggles to accept Natsuko as his new mother and is harassed by a grey heron who lives on the grounds. Eventually, though, when Natsuko disappears into the forest surrounding the house – apparently taken by the mischievous grey heron – Mahito takes it on himself to bring her back, following her with one of the elderly women of the house (Kiriko) to the abandoned tower on the grounds that was built by his eccentric granduncle many years past. In the tower, the heron informs Mahito that his mother is still alive somewhere within the tower and that Mahito has to save both her and Natsuko before he leaves. Mahito’s adventure into the magical world of the tower brings him into conflict with the human-sized, man-eating parakeets that have taken up residence there and seek to rule it for themselves. To face them down, he is aided by a young fisherwoman named Kiriko, a magical girl with fire powers named Himi, and the heron who might have designs of his own. Ultimately, Mahito must choose between staying in the tower as its new master or returning with Natsuko to his world and his father. It’s one of Miyazaki’s more complex stories if you’re going beat by beat (which this recap certainly wasn’t), but it’s still fairly easy to follow in terms of the key points and very engaging thanks to the characters and animation.

                As always, Miyazaki’s animation is gorgeous, capturing a combination of realism, fantasy, and whimsy in the characters and landscapes that he brings to the screen. It might actually be the best that he’s ever done. The opening sequence of the film on its own is one of the two best animated scenes I’ve seen this year – the Spider-Gwen montage from the beginning of Across the Spider-Verse being the other – and the rest of the film keeps that excellence going, even if it’s never quite at that level again. I was struck by the realism of the way that Mahito was animated, with movements that look and feel like the movements of a real human, more than any character that I have ever seen in one of the director’s films. At the same time, the fantastical animations of the heron, the parakeets, the warawara (the requisite cutesy spirits that, in this case, look strikingly like plastic bags with faces), and the magical world of the tower feel inspired and totally new and distinct from Miyazaki’s other works, even while drawing inspiration from them. In particular, the parakeets give the film a feeling of levity that keeps the audience from falling too deeply into the potential for melancholy that the film’s story offers.

                Miyazaki has offered us a story full of the deeply human themes of loss and growing up and responsibility that still manages to stay light in the midst of its heavy realism thanks to his incredibly fun characters and animation that will leave audiences coming back to this film over and over again, discovering something new every time. While the film’s story might be overwhelming on the first watch, its wealth of detail and depth of themes make it an easy film to revisit, and the emotion and characters make it one that you’ll want to revisit. Currently, this film is showing (both subbed and dubbed) in theaters, and if my experience was any indication, I strongly recommend seeing it while you can on the big screen.

Weekend Watch - PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating and review. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers (and a surprisingly large number of my wife’s friends), is the latest animated film about every child’s favorite group of crime fighting pups: PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie. The film is the sequel to 2021’s commercially successful PAW Patrol: The Movie, the first theatrical spin-off of the widely popular Nick Jr. show about a team of dogs who work with a boy to keep their town safe from a wide array of disasters, utilizing large vehicles in pursuit of this goal. Notable additions to the usual voice cast of the film include McKenna Grace taking over to voice the pup Skye, Taraji P. Henson voicing the new villain Victoria Vance, and Lil Rel Howery voicing Adventure City’s news anchor Sam Stringer. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: D without young children, B+ with young children; there’s really only one brief scene that makes this film feel like it’s paying any attention to the adults in the crowd, but the small children that permeated the audience were having a fantastic time.

Review:

                Anyone vaguely familiar with the PAW Patrol franchise probably gets the gist of what this film is about – there’s dogs, they have big vehicles, their boss(?) is an unexplainably independently wealthy child, they want to protect people from bad things happening – and if you’ve seen any marketing for this specific film, you probably know the rest – the dogs get super powers from a meteor and have to stop a mad scientist from stealing their powers and using them to destroy Adventure City. Nothing in this film feels overly original (or makes a ton of sense), but it delivers what the young fans of the franchise come to the theater to see – dogs in cool cars and outfits getting superpowers and doing even more than they usually can thanks to those new powers. The sense of delight and fun was palpable in the theater even if the actual film didn’t give me much in terms of content – the kid next to us in a Chase costume was having a spectacular time, and it was just endearing enough to keep me having a good time.

                The Mighty Movie is not entirely devoid of moments with a bit more depth than the television show typically showcases. This story focuses on the character of Skye – the smallest of the pups who flies a helicopter and, now, a plane as well – and her desire to prove herself as just as good as the rest of the crew despite her smaller stature. Her backstory as the runt of the litter who willed herself to being adopted by Ryder features in a flashback reminiscent of the flashback montages in Pixar films like Cars or Toy Story 2, complete with an emotional song and different color palette. It’s that moment that keeps this film feeling like it almost considered a broader audience than just the kids, but it quickly returns to the fast-paced, less-than-logical action sequences that the crowds came to see.

                While adults in the audience – especially those without young children – won’t find a lot in this film for them, it still delivers some emotional moments and plenty of the kid-friendly action that audiences come to this type of film to see, pleasing the kids in the audience as it should. Don’t expect groundbreaking animation like the Spider-Verse films or innovative stories like TMNT or Nimona, but just come in looking for a good kid-friendly romp, and you shouldn’t be overly disappointed.

Weekend Watch - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating and review. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, the latest reboot of the TMNT franchise, this time written and produced by Seth Rogen and written and directed by Jeff Rowe (of The Mitchells vs. the Machines and Gravity Falls fame). The film features the vocal talents of Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon as the four titular turtles, joined by the likes of Jackie Chan, Ayo Edebiri, Maya Rudolph, John Cena, Paul Rudd, Ice Cube, Hannibal Burress, Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Natasia Demetriou, Giancarlo Esposito, and Post Malone to fill out the rest of the mutant and human cast. The film opened last weekend to surprisingly high reviews but middling box office returns. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: A-; this is quite possibly the best Ninja Turtles content that’s ever been produced, and it deserves recognition for also being some really high-quality animation too.

Review:

                In a not-so-surprising turn of events, filmmakers have finally found a non-muppet-based winning formula for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, and that formula is to lean harder on those first two words than they do on the third one. Mutant Mayhem delivers what its title promises – more mutants than expected and some truly wild and crazy fight scenes utilizing them. It also brings with it a healthy dose of heart, humor, and authenticity (strange in an animated film about mutant turtles, I know) that wins the day for the film, making it my second-favorite animated film of the year so far.

                By leaning into the teenage and mutant aspects of the quartet of heroes, Mutant Mayhem sets itself apart in a fun, humorous, and heartfelt way from its predecessors. Featuring references to memes and pop culture that current 15-year-olds would reference and talk about, leaning into the archetypes of the four turtles and how they actually translate to real teens, and centering around the turtles’ desire for acceptance allows the film to follow the familiar beats of a high school comedy with plenty of mutant ninja action connecting its pieces together. In a lot of ways, this film feels more like the successor to Sky High or The Lego Movie in the ways that it blends realness with humor, action, and fantasy than it does a successor to the TMNT films of the 90s or even the television shows of the 2000s and 10s, and that’s a good thing.

                Mutant Mayhem also follows in the footsteps of its more recent predecessors – Into the Spider-Verse, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and Across the Spider-Verse – by delivering some great animation, comedy for kids and adults, and some all-time needle drops to tie it all together. Where Disney and Pixar have embraced animation that blends realistic textures and images with fantastical settings, Sony and Paramount have stepped into this realm of stylized animation, with Sony copying comic book panels and art styles in its animated Spider-Man films and Paramount putting on displays of 2-dimensional meets 3-dimensional in a way that showcases the realness of the world in science fiction settings. In TMNT, that looks like oddly misshapen but highly detailed human faces, grungy buildings that match the sewers below, and mutants that look like monsters but still have hearts of gold. This animation carries over into the action sequences backed by some great songs, all of which feel fun, original, and well-directed for the target audience while still keeping the non-kids in the room happy.

                The only true knock against Mutant Mayhem (and reason why it doesn’t receive a higher rating) is that its stakes never get high enough to induce that high-octane thrill that the action scenes deserve. There’s great action front to back, but you never feel like the outcome of the fights is in question. Even when they get down, the turtles and their allies never quite stay down long enough to get you worried that they won’t be getting back up again. The downs don’t hit quite as hard as the ups, and they are overcome a bit too easily for the film to feel fully earned. I still love it and had a great time watching it, but I wish that the stakes had felt more dire. There’s enough humor to warrant a few more down moments, but they don’t come, so here the film sits at an A- with potential for an A+ somewhere (probably) on the cutting floor.

                Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem comes through on its promises of mutants, mayhem, teens, turtles, and ninja action in a glorious way, with plenty of heart and humor to carry it over the finish line, even if its stakes never quite get to a dire point that leaves you on the edge of your seat. Hopefully, the film does well enough to get the sequel that it deserves (and maybe a solid TMNT trilogy for once) because it really is a great time at the theater and so much better than anyone was giving it credit for going in.

Weekend Watch - Haunted Mansion

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating and review. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Haunted Mansion, the latest of Disney’s films based on rides from their parks. This film is in no way related to the Eddie Murphy film from the early 2000s except in its inspiration coming from the same ride. The current film stars an ensemble cast of LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chase Dillon, and Jared Leto. It focuses on Dawson’s Gabbie and her son Travis (Dillon) who have bought a new home outside of New Orleans with the goal of turning it into a bed and breakfast and have discovered that it is haunted, leading them to turn to a series of experts – a physicist, medium, historian, and priest played by Stanfield, Haddish, DeVito, and Wilson respectively – to rid themselves of their ghost problem. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B-; this film isn’t “good” like last week’s slate of excellence, but it knows its lane and delivers a solid film for its genres and target audience.

Review:

                Haunted Mansion is every bit the Disney ride adaptation that we’ve come to expect, never quite hitting the highs of the first Pirates film, but delivering a quality blend of goofy effects, Easter eggs for the devoted fans, and light comedy in the midst of serious stakes. For me, I’d say this film outperforms the more recent ride adaptations – Jungle Cruise, Tomorrowland, The Country Bears, and The Haunted Mansion – thanks to better comedy, better acting, and a simpler story.

                The humor can be hit and miss, but for my wife and me, it was certainly more hit than miss – even if the rest of the audience didn’t quite seem as tickled by a lot of it. This can’t come as much of a surprise, considering writer Katie Dippold’s track record – writing such hits as Parks and Rec’s “Indianapolis” and “The Set Up” but also flops like Ghostbusters (2016) and Snatched. The jokes and characters all feel very trope-y in an endearing way that keeps the film familiar even if it’s not overly original. With a story that does a good job of establishing characters and connections, including a fun heist-esque montage of recruiting the various players, the film is at its best in the first two acts with a third act that rushes a bit to get the characters to a conclusion that only feels satisfying for one of its characters but leaves you happy enough with the outcome.

                The actors help to make their archetypes work well, introducing unique flairs to their characters to help them stand out against the familiarity. Dawson plays maybe the most familiar character in Gabbie, the unsuspecting homeowner and mother who gets caught up in a haunting. She plays her with the right amount of heart and backbone to hold the unlikely team together. Dillon’s Travis plays an interesting addition/sidekick to Gabbie’s character, struggling with his recent disconnection from his father (Gabbie’s husband). Dillon brings a lot of fun to the son character while still giving a deep enough performance to make his character arc interesting. Stanfield’s Ben Matthias has the most depth of the film’s players, struggling with an inner grief that he portrays in a surprisingly heartfelt and moving way for such an otherwise simple and comedic film. His acting far outweighs the rest of the cast for most of the film, but he manages to tone it down enough in the funny moments to get some laughs for himself as well. Wilson, Haddish, and DeVito deliver the most laughs of the film as the supporting cast, each with their own unique takes on the familiar character tropes. Wilson’s priest with a shady background, Father Kent, brings that familiar Owen Wilson squirrely charm to the typical unorthodox priest character. Haddish’s medium, Harriet, gets the most laugh-out-loud moments and lines in the film, coming across as a fraud with just a hint of authenticity, keeping the energy very light as we’ve come to expect from the skilled comedienne. DeVito’s historian, Bruce Davis, mostly exists to give some exposition, but he also gets some moments to be the funny, irreverent old man that DeVito so often embodies these days.

                With an ensemble cast that brings a solid blend of heart and humor to the familiar (and maybe a bit too rushed) story, plenty of nods to the ride that inspired it, and just enough mild and goofy horror moments, Haunted Mansion is a passable and fun time at the movies that won’t necessarily break any new ground in its genres but should please the crowd. It far outshines some of the more recent live action Disney outings, but it also won’t be making anyone’s top-10 family or horror or comedy films any time soon. Go in hoping for a lighthearted good time that won’t make you think too hard, and you won’t be disappointed.

Weekend Watch - The Little Mermaid (2023)

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers is Disney’s latest live action remake – The Little Mermaid. This film adapts the 1989 animated film of the same name and stars Halle Bailey in the titular role, featuring the voice talents of Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, and Jacob Tremblay as Ariel’s various animal friends, and featuring Jonah Hauer-King, Melissa McCarthy, and Javier Bardem in the supporting roles of Prince Eric, Ursula, and King Triton, respectively. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: C+; did we need a live-action remake? No. Does this do some creative things with the original and even improve on it in some places? Sure. Does this feature one of the worst songs in Disney history? Absolutely.

Should you Watch This Film? If you need a decent theatrical experience this weekend, particularly that’s kid-friendly, this is good enough to warrant a visit. It’s not necessarily a must-watch if you hadn’t planned on seeing it.

Why?

                While most remakes don’t feel overly necessary, The Little Mermaid follows in the footsteps of its more positively received predecessors (The Jungle Book, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin) by staying true to the beloved story and characters of the original while adding just enough good new pieces to justify its existence. With almost an hour of extra runtime, The Little Mermaid fleshes out the romance at its heart, giving it legs to stand on (pun slightly intended) in a way that the original never really achieved. At the same time, its 2 hour and 15-minute runtime feels a bit long for its target audience, its CGI only looks good in certain scenes, and it does add one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard in a Disney film in its extended runtime.

                One of the most legitimate critiques of the original The Little Mermaid is how shallow its romantic narrative is (see Childish Gambino’s “II. Worldstar” for reference). The live-action remake improves that aspect greatly, giving Ariel and Eric points of connection beyond mutual levels of hotness. They feel more connected to each other before the official washing up on shore occurs. Is the three days to fall in love trope still a little bit troubling? Yeah, but they again give the characters more interpersonal connections so that it doesn’t feel quite as shallow. These romantic additions are helped also by Halle Bailey’s expressive performance and strong vocals and a passable supporting performance from Jonah Hauer-King. They both look the part of the roles they play and sell the romance individually and together. Bailey, in particular, holds her own as the leading lady, keeping the part familiar while adding her own flairs here and there to really own the role.

                Visually, the film fluctuates with some underwater scenes that are truly breathtaking but most of which just come across as disappointing after seeing Avatar: The Way of Water. The digitally choreographed “Under the Sea” scene is one of the best musical numbers in any of the Disney remakes and really was a joy to watch. Unfortunately, the scenes around it were full of underwhelming animation and strange character designs that only work one in three times. The designs for Scuttle and Flounder both invoke just a little bit too much of an uncanny valley for my taste, while the Sebastian design actually works for whatever reason – maybe it’s because crabs don’t have noticeably moving mouths and eyes for the most part, unlike fish and birds. I’d also be remiss if I did not mention the most jarring and cringeworthy song – an Awkwafina rap as Scuttle that feels so out of place in the film and isn’t even good enough to justify its weirdness (unlike Moana’s “Shiny”). Awkwafina’s voice-acting for Scuttle is really not that bad, but her song is up there with the ice cream song from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for most disconcerting movie moments of the 2020s.

                Where The Little Mermaid improves on and lives up to the success of the original animated film, it really works; unfortunately, an extra-long runtime, up and down visual effects, and a truly upsetting new song hold it back from reaching true greatness. It’s good enough to be a passable kids film that adults will also enjoy, but it’s by no means the turnaround in live action remakes that will suddenly change your mind about them. It’s good enough to warrant seeing in theaters if you want, but it isn’t necessarily a must-watch for every moviegoer.

Weekend Watch - The Super Mario Bros. Movie

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the latest animated release from Illumination studios. The film is an adaptation of the Super Mario Bros. IP from Nintendo, featuring the voice talents of Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, and Fred Armisen as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, Toad, Donkey Kong, and Cranky Kong respectively. The film hit theaters on Wednesday and is projected to hit nearly $200 million at the box office in its opening weekend, one of the biggest of the year. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: C-; the film provides excellent nostalgia and references to the IP, but that doesn’t mean that it’s free of any other flaws.

Should you Watch This Film? Maybe, if you’ve got kids, this is going to be a solid watch for them, particularly if they struggle with attention spans; if you don’t, I’m not sure that the nostalgia and references do enough for me to recommend it to you.

Why?

                The Super Mario Bros. Movie is one of those films that pours most of its effort into making references and keeping the action moving with very little story to speak of. The nostalgia factor is huge, and they have done a great job capturing the fun of Mario with creative platforming, a race down Rainbow Road, a fight with Donkey Kong, and plenty of musical cues to take you back to your days of playing the games yourself (they do play the “DK Rap”, and I might have ascended to heaven when it came on). Even the majority of the needle drops in the film work to enhance the scene they are part of without taking you out of it too much.

                The voice cast has done a solid job of capturing the characters they play, and no one really feels out of place. Are Mario and Luigi’s accents still of indeterminate Italian origin? Yes, but their less cartoonish nature allows the characters to go through their more emotional beats without feeling too out of place. Anya Taylor-Joy’s Peach is fine, leaning more into the recent iterations of a fully capable Peach who just gets captured due to obligations of her station rather than helplessness. Keegan-Michael Key lends a bit of fun to Toad, blending the memeable vocals with his own to make the character fit in with the story’s other heroes. Seth Rogen’s Donkey Kong is really just Seth Rogen in video game form, but that works for what he’s asked to do – be the goofy, overconfident side hero. The film’s true vocal highlight comes in the form of Jack Black’s Bowser, who really takes on the most complex form of the character that we’ve ever seen. Indeed, Black’s portrayal allows the character to be just as menacing as always while still having a sympathetic side that explains why they keep inviting him to things like races and parties for fun.

                Where the film’s entertainment value falters, though, is its story, or lack thereof. The characters are really just thrown from situation to situation, and the only character with any complex motivation is Bowser. Peach, Mario, and Luigi are all given moments of development, but most of those happen in the form of flashbacks or in the middle of fights when they hit that rock-and-a-hard-place moment that pushes them beyond their limits, more out of necessity than out of true growth. Even the film’s plot unfolds in the form of random location jumps and convenient devices that allow them to throw in another video game reference. To quote another review that I read, the film’s plot is “Paper Mario thin”, which is actually not the most accurate statement, since the Paper Mario games actually have some of the most complex plots of any Mario game. In response to defenses of the film’s lack of plot in the name of it being a kids’ movie or not having much to work with in the actual games, I have to point out that there are plenty of great films targeted at children that do have great stories to go along with them. Perhaps one of the best examples is The Lego Movie (2014), which has some of the best innovation of IP with little story to speak of while still being commercially successful and loved by adults and kids alike. I get that kids (and a lot of adults) don’t really ask much of their movies beyond simple entertainment value, but you can ask for more than this particular film gives in terms of story and still come in right around the hour and a half mark.

                The Super Mario Bros. Movie hits the mark with its referential material and its vocal cast but is heavily lacking in the story and message department, leaving it as a mixed bag for moviegoers. If you want to be part of the conversation this week or if you want to scratch that Mario movie itch, this is not the worst thing you could go see in theaters. Otherwise, I’d suggest waiting for it to hit streaming and calling for a better story in the next film (because a sequel is definitely coming).

Weekend Watch - Creed III

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers is Creed III, the latest film in the follow-up series to the Rocky films, again starring Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, and Phylicia Rashad, this time joined by Jonathan Majors, Mila Davis-Kent, and Jose Benavidez. The film follows Adonis Creed as he grapples with retirement, family life, mistakes from his childhood, and the return of an old friend who is hungry for the opportunity he believes he was denied after spending eighteen years in prison. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: A, the film has its flaws, but they are small and easily forgiven thanks to a strong story, moving characters, and excellent fights.

Should you Watch This Film? Yes! It looks great, feels great, and is fairly easy to digest even for someone with limited knowledge of the rest of the RCU (Rocky Cinematic Universe).

Why?

                Creed III benefits from a combination of successful endeavors, with great performances from its two leads, an engaging story both in and out of the ring, a banging soundtrack, and visuals that might outshine all previous films in its franchise, highlighting the truly visceral nature of the fights it focuses on. Michael B. Jordan wears two hats for this film, playing the lead and directing (his first film ever) and he carries both burdens admirably, doing far more in both roles than I ever would have given him credit for. The script from Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin (Oscar nominee for his King Richard screenplay) and the story from Ryan Coogler give the rookie director plenty to work with, and he also benefits from getting to act across from one of the biggest new talents in the game, Jonathan Majors.

                The film’s story picks up at the “end” of Adonis Creed’s career with his very last fight – a bout against “Pretty” Ricky Conlan to solidify Creed as the universal champ on his way out. It then moves to his retirement as the audience gets to watch his interactions with his wife Bianca (Thompson) and their daughter Amara (Davis-Kent) who was born deaf in the previous film. The Creed family dynamic serves as the heart of the film, as Donny struggles to open up to his wife about some of the more troubling aspects of his past and as together they try to help their daughter communicate her emotions and unify that with her desire to fight like her father. The reintroduction of Majors’s “Diamond” Dame Anderson to Creed’s life comes after an eighteen year absence and gives the film its meat and spine – Dame returns from his time in prison hungry and hurting after losing his opportunity to achieve his dream and watching his friend live it instead. The exploration of both men’s pasts and their difficulty voicing and communicating emotion through anything but fighting serves as the start to a deeper conversation on masculinity and emotions that culminates in the film’s concluding act, which I’m not going to spoil here if I can help it.

                The film’s performances carry its story. Tessa Thompson isn’t given a lot to do besides be a record producer and supportive wife, but she does it well with true commitment to the character. Phylicia Rashad gives an admirable, and even emotional, return to her character Mary-Anne Creed, Adonis’s adopted mother and the widow of Apollo Creed, serving as the inspiration for some of the film’s most deeply personal moments. Majors brings plenty of gravitas, swagger, and grit to the character of Dame to hold his own as the film’s antagonist – feeling in many ways like the parallel life of Adonis. The pain of his life and the passion of his future come through in chilling fashion as the character returns to boxing with a fire that threatens so much of what Adonis has built. He’s the most well-established and well-performed villain of probably any film in the entire franchise – Rocky and Creed. This might actually be the best performance I’ve seen from Michael B. Jordan. With plenty of solid co-stars to work with and the opportunity to showcase more than just his anger in his big moments, he shows off a more vulnerable side of the character and of his own persona. The role he plays feels incredibly well-thought-out and authentic to the experience he’s trying to capture. He is given more to do here, and he does more than just clench his teeth and yell about how he’s been waiting his whole life for this, and I was legitimately impressed with his performance.

                Jordan also dazzles in the director’s chair, putting together quite possibly the most entertaining trio of fights in any of the films. Each fight showcases something different for the audience, and each also brings in a new element of filming that makes it feel, as Jordan was quoted to have said, in the “spirit” of an anime showdown. The Conlan fight utilizes slow-motion to emphasize Creed’s physicality and the ways that he understands his opponents, sizing them up in bullet time, so to speak. The Dame-Chavez fight utilizes the hyper-detail of zoom and hi-def cameras to showcase Dame’s less-than-legal style of fighting and the pain he seeks to inflict on his opponents, also highlighting his ability to break down opponents and setting him up as a legitimate contender. The final fight between Adonis and Dame might be the best fight in the entire saga, visually and emotionally engaging from start to finish. I won’t spoil what makes it so good but suffice it to say that this is a beautiful fight.

                A gorgeous trio of fights, great leading performances, and a solid story about family and masculinity help Creed III outshine any minor detractions it might have and give Michael B. Jordan an excellent first entry in his directing repertoire. It's fun, engaging, emotional, well-paced, and a legitimate great time from start to finish. Check this one out in theaters while you can, and if you can’t, be sure to hit it up when it gets to streaming. I’d be surprised if this film didn’t manage to make my personal top 10 films of 2023 by the end of it all.

Weekend Watch - M3GAN

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Blumhouse’s latest horror cult classic in the making, M3GAN. The film released last weekend to surprisingly great reviews (a 72 Metacritic score and 95% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes) considering its genre, marketing, and the month of January. The film about an A.I. doll that gains increasing levels of sentience, leading to drastic actions in pursuit of its prime directive of protecting the child Cady, stars Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, and Amie Donald and is now showing in theaters. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B; it’s definitely not “good” but by embracing its ridiculousness it triumphs, nonetheless.

Should you Watch This Film? Absolutely! It’s a great time, a welcome escape for a quick hour and forty-two minutes with enough heart and story to keep everyone entertained; though you can probably wait for this to hit streaming if you’d rather.

Why?

                Move over, Child’s Play, we’ve got a new scary doll movie that might just be about to make some franchise waves. M3GAN lets you know from the jump exactly what kind of experience this is about to be – irreverent, on-the-nose, and surprisingly tame in terms of its violence. This film has no desire to be in the same club as Get Out or Hereditary or even writer James Wan’s The Conjuring and does a phenomenal job carving out its own niche among the more under-the-radar horror comedies like Happy Death Day or The Cabin in the Woods. In this case, M3GAN’s niche happens to be that of toy horror and its modern evolution out of haunted/possessed dolls into threatening A.I. The film delivers all that you could want from a PG-13 version of this film, with a solid combination of build-up and jump scares, a touching story about family and coming to terms with loss, and so many payoffs you’d swear the writers studied under Chekhov himself.

                As surprising as M3GAN’s success has been, I should also note here that the film is by no means perfect. For January, it might be the closest we’re ever going to get to a perfect wide release, but M3GAN still has its issues. For starters, its PG-13 rating keeps the elements that could have made it a great slasher at a minimum. With no major gore or physical horror to speak of, the film feels a bit muzzled in the horror department. When she finally goes on her rampage, M3GAN only actually kills two characters, neither of which felt overly impactful to the lives of the protagonists. The film’s total body count, including animals and people not killed by the robot, comes to a grand total of seven – not the most violent, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be.

                M3GAN makes up for some of its lack of horror with plenty of (I think intentional) comedy. My theater was laughing out loud noticeably in at least four distinct moments in the film that I can remember, and I found myself and/or my wife chuckling to ourselves in at least ten or twelve others. Ultimately, the film’s embrace of its comedic nature is what has endeared it to audiences and made it one of the most commercially successful January releases in quite some time. A doll singing Sia after it makes a kill, doing a dance as a threat to a potential victim, and running through the woods after a kid on all fours are only a few of the moments that stand out as prime examples (all of which featured in the trailer, so this avoids spoilers) of the filmmakers going full-send on their film’s wild premise. Any film that is so unapologetically itself as M3GAN is deserves recognition and appreciation, and I’m glad to offer it here.

                M3GAN’s ability to embrace its blend of horror, childishness, and fresh takes helps it overcome quite a bit of its shortcomings in the horror department, launching the film on what I anticipate will be a franchise-starting path. It’s currently showing in theaters if you can’t wait to go see it. Otherwise, it’ll probably hit streaming around March, and I definitely recommend giving it a watch.

Weekend Watch - Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers is Netflix Animation’s new Best Animated Feature frontrunner, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. The film is a reimagining of the classic tale, set in fascist Italy, done with stop-motion animation, and featuring the voice talents of Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Ron Perlman, Finn Wolfhard, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, and a few others. The animated musical is now streaming on Netflix; let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: A-; the many reimagined elements of the story keep it fresh, and it has enough emotional weight to engage both children and adults.

Should you Watch This Film? I think so. The animation, del Toro’s direction, and the story itself make it a quality film, worth watching for most audiences (note: there are a few scenes that take on a bit of del Toro’s horror proclivities, so think of this more like Alice in Wonderland than Zootopia in terms of its kid-friendliness).

Why?

                Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio has been easily one of the most anticipated films of the year, particularly for fans of “real cinema” (awards bait films), and it lives up to that hype for the most part. It’s not going to win Best Picture or anything, but the argument against this winning Best Animated Feature is going to be very hard to get across (apparently the Puss in Boots sequel bangs though, so I might have to eat my words in a couple of weeks). The film’s animation style, its reimagined story elements, and the story as a whole go a long way in making the film one of the best of 2022.

                Mark Gustafson’s animation direction is gorgeous to look at, bringing del Toro’s vision to life with rich textures, expressive characters, and scenes chock full of minute details to hold the audience’s attention. His most famous other work is Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson’s first stop-motion film, which is also phenomenal and animated with similar excellence. In Pinocchio, Gustafson has created for del Toro a world that is equally fantastic and realistic, reminiscent of the production design of two of the prolific director’s greatest films – The Shape of Water and Pan’s Labyrinth. It feels grounded enough to give the story a sense of realism but also fantastical enough to take the audience into another world just adjacent to ours.

                Gustafson’s animation allows del Toro’s reimagining of the classic tale to really work well. The film contains most of the story beats of the classic book and Disney’s animated adaptation but with a totally different brand of execution. Geppetto makes a boy out of wood who is then brought to life by a fantastical blue creature. The boy then gets involved with a circus, Count Volpe, and a boy named Candlestick before being swallowed by a large sea creature along with his father and then escaping out of its blowhole. Those surface-level similarities are where the parallels end. Del Toro has chosen to set his Pinocchio in fascist Italy, a choice that allows him to craft yet another beautiful, anti-fascist story of dark childlike wonderment. The characters and backstory are a bit more fleshed out than in the Disney version, and the moral of the story is not the basic (and a bit overdone) “Children, obey your parents.” Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio engages with a far deeper theme – what it means to be a “real boy” and how society treats its children. It is a film that is made not just for the children who will watch it and enjoy the whimsical animation and the funny songs and Ewan McGregor’s lighthearted narration but also for the parents who will watch it with their children and be drawn into a story about parenting and the treatment of children and the ills of fascism and the importance of childlike wonderment – I should point out here, that the film is trying to do a lot, and only the most important themes of the film really get fleshed out while the others feel a bit more like hints of spice to keep the audience guessing.

                One of the only other major drawbacks of this new take on the story is that, with its extra story beats, it has extended its runtime to nearly two hours, making it one that might be more difficult to watch with smaller children. I do think that the animation, the songs, and the characters should be enough to keep them engrossed for most of it though. I also think that even people (like myself) without children will be able to find plenty to enjoy here. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is an excellent animated feature for anyone who takes the time to watch it, presenting the classic story in a new way that presents an entirely new and arguably more important message for a new generation of movie watchers, though perhaps in an overlong format.

Weekend Watch - Wendell and Wild

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s subject, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Netflix’s latest stop-motion animated film Wendell and Wild. The film features the voice talents of Lyric Ross, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Angela Bassett, James Hong, Sam Zelaya, and Ving Rhames. It tells the story of Kat, an orphaned girl who makes a deal with two demons (Wendell and Wild) to bring them to the world of the living in exchange for her parents’ resurrection. It’s an interesting film that has been getting some awards buzz in recent days, so let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: C+, there’s a lot to like here, but it ends up being a little underwhelming.

Should you Watch This Film? If stop-motion animation or films about the prison industrial complex are your particular cup of tea, this film is for you. Otherwise, there’s not a ton to write home about.

Why?

                Wendell and Wild is an animated film that has both style and substance but is lacking in the department that brings those two elements together – its story. For starters, there are a lot of fun things going on in the animation department. The colors, the textures, the movements, and the sets all look great and craft a really fun world for the film to explore, both in the underworld and on the surface. Fans of the stop-motion style of animation who enjoy finding the little details in each shot will be rewarded with plenty of easter eggs to keep them happy on multiple rewatches. The film’s overall message and themes are surprisingly heavy, dealing with issues of privatized prisons, coping with the death of loved ones, and the evolving role of parents in the lives of their children. By the end of the film, I was able to say that I agreed with the film’s message and that it felt fairly relevant. Unfortunately, the film’s story does not have a whole lot going for it to make the delivery of its message feel worthwhile. The plot progresses via convenient development after convenient development with few of the film’s conflicts providing any kind of actual issue for the film’s protagonist and her friends. In addition, Kat, the protagonist, ends up being one of the film’s least compelling characters. She is the archetypal troubled teen, lacking in much complexity aside from some very questionable decision-making skills. Wendell and Wild also fail to live up to the typical charm of Key and Peele, ending up feeling more like childish caricatures than fully fleshed-out characters. The film’s most compelling character and its high point, in my opinion, is Kat’s friend Raoul. Raoul’s hesitancy to trust the demons and drive to help his mother discover the culprits that ruined their hometown serves to make him the film’s most interesting character with ties to both Kat’s present and her past and his own story of seeking acceptance within their school community. At the end of the day, Wendell and Wild’s weak story detracts from its stellar animation and resonant message to create a film that is somewhat underwhelming, bolstered only by its more compelling side characters. This film is currently streaming on Netflix, so if you need an okay spooky season watch in the next couple of days, check it out.

Weekend Watch - Minions: The Rise of Gru

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give a brief review and recommendation. This week, we are taking a look at the first film to be selected by followers on the blog’s Instagram account: Minions: The Rise of Gru, the sequel to 2015’s Minions and prequel to the Despicable Me trilogy that released to record-breaking success at last weekend’s box office and continues to wow audiences. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B; solid, definitely watchable animated family flick

Should you Watch This Film? Yes, it’s a mostly enjoyable if a little bit imperfect animated film. Kids will absolutely love this, as will fans of the Despicable Me/Minions franchise.

Why?

                Minions: The Rise of Gru does not try to stray from its lane in the entertainment world and succeeds greatly for that. It gets back to the formula of the original Despicable Me, playing on a combination of rude and witty visual and verbal humor with original characters and worldbuilding all with a heartfelt message about family. What this sequel does well is comedy, setting, and message. As an adult with no kids, I went with my wife to see this film and sat down the row from a group of small children who were absolutely losing it at everything the Minions did, giving the film a more endearing film for sure, because it was succeeding with its target audience. However, I also found myself laughing at jokes and gags that definitely went over my younger peers’ heads and never felt that I had made a huge mistake in going to see what all the buzz was about (might’ve also helped that I went on a discount ticket day, idk). The setting of 1970s America comes through from the opening sequence and carries through in the different characters, vehicles, and situations for basically the entirety of the film; it is apparent that the animators and writers wanted this to stay true to the setting, and they achieved that. The message of the film is fairly simple, but effective: We need people to live life well and should treat other people well if we want to see that happen. It comes through in the young Gru’s relationship with the Minions that develops throughout the film from frustration to appreciation and care and is also reflected in the development of the relationships of the other villains in the film (all of which are very well-themed and fit the setting well). It’s a good message for both kids and adults to remember to treat the people around us well. With all of its high points, the film does struggle a bit on the story side. There are a lot of moments where things just happen in this film, especially in the film’s action-packed third act. I wish there was just a little bit more explanation of a certain object’s abilities before it got used, and I could also have used some more in between moments showing how the main Minions (Kevin, Stuart, and Bob) got to the final showdown. The final showdown itself is pretty entertaining; it’s just the moments immediately leading up to it that feel a little bit rushed. I feel like they could have added like five more minutes of content (barely breaking the 90-minute mark can’t be that cardinal of a sin) and made this an even more enjoyable film for the adults that will inevitably watch this. If you can suspend certain expectations about story and plot holes, Minions: The Rise of Gru is a delightful family film that delivers solid comedy, well-developed 70s characters and settings, and a simple but relevant message. Check it out in theaters, or wait for it to come to streaming, but this is definitely worth watching at some point.

Weekend Watch - Lightyear

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where we take a look at a new film or show that is out right now and give you a brief review and recommendation as to whether it necessitates watching. This week, we’ll be taking a look at Pixar’s latest outing based on existing I.P. Lightyear. It stars Chris Evans as the titular Buzz Lightyear and is apparently the film the toy in Toy Story is a product of. Let’s jump into it.

Letter Grade: B-/C+; it’s a solid kid’s sci-fi film, but not quite the fare of your typical Pixar

Should you Watch This Film? If you absolutely need something in theaters and have already seen Top Gun and Everything Everywhere All at Once and Doctor Strange and maybe even The Bad Guys, this is a solid other option, especially if you have kids.

Why?

                As a children’s film, sci-fi film, and action film, Lightyear is passable, bringing decent comedy, solid voice acting, and an interesting world to the big screen. Unfortunately, Lightyear fails to live up to the hype that most of its Pixar predecessors have created. Its simple messaging about the importance of teamwork overshadows its more complex and less overtly delivered message about letting go of the past and challenging the status quo in favor of progress. In doing so, Lightyear becomes much more akin to the Cars sequels or Brave or even The Good Dinosaur but perhaps also even less ambitious and more cash-grabby. Lightyear’s entertainment value is high enough to warrant watching, delivering a solid combination of laughs, suspense, action, and human connection that kept me watching it for its duration. At the same time, its simplicity and lack of ambition left me disappointed with Pixar. When I look at Pixar’s other offerings of the last couple of years – Onward, Soul, Luca, and Turning Red – I see films that champion unique causes and characters and stories from all over the globe and from all walks of life. I see films that connected with the children and adults in the audience in meaningful and emotional ways. With Lightyear, I felt none of that and left somewhat disappointed. That being said, I do not believe that the film is deserving of its currently incredibly low 5.0 IMDB score that it currently has. That is due primarily to bombing from certain circles that were unhappy with Buzz’s original commander being a lesbian, which a completely ridiculous reason to review bomb any film, but it’s happening right now so… Don’t go into Lightyear expecting Ratatouille or Coco, and you most likely will not be disappointed. I have little doubt that the children in your life will really have a good time with this one, and you won’t be completely frustrated with the time that you have spent watching this film. Check it out if you want, or wait for the Disney+ release in a couple of months if you’d rather.

Weekend Watch - Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of entertainment media and give a brief review and basic recommendation for watching or skipping that show or film. This week, the topic of conversation is the new Disney+ film Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, featuring the voice talents of Andy Samberg, John Mulaney, Will Arnett, Eric Bana, and J.K. Simmons and the live action actress KiKi Layne, directed by Hot Rod and Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping director Akiva Schaffer.

Letter Grade: B; fun family movie with a little bit for everyone

Should you Watch This Film? If you have kids and Disney+, absolutely; if you are feeling nostalgic and have Disney+, probably so; if you want some less raunchy Lonely Island-esque humor, yes

Why?

                Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a film that definitely feels like it knows its place in the world of entertainment pretty dang well. It’s not looking to be some awards-bait pseudo-children’s movie, but it works well as an elevated family movie. Akiva Schaffer and Andy Samberg working together means the comedy levels are going to hit for adults, kids, and all people in between, a sure sign of a family film worth watching. The film’s premise is really fun, playing off of the groundwork of films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Space Jam, creating a world where every piece of entertainment media is actually portrayed by a real person, cartoon, puppet, Claymation figure, etc. This world creates an abundance of references in every single shot to keep the adults happy. Some of the bits might be a little more meta than the film as a whole. For example, ugly Sonic (yes, from the OG Sonic the Hedgehog trailer) makes a cameo at the beginning of the film (voiced by Tim Robinson of I Think You Should Leave) but then ends up being an important side character for the film’s third act, and I’m not convinced that I wanted to see that much of the failed Sonic animation. Seth Rogen also voices/plays a henchperson animated in the “uncanny valley style” like Polar Express, which again works as a brief bit when first introduced but breaks down the more he appears on-screen. Each bit of comedy plays on a combination of nostalgia and irreverence that works well in parody but sometimes fails to connect with the wider story. The story is a basic Chip and Dale mystery with cartoon characters going missing and being made into bootleg versions of themselves – the bootleg bit is really well done throughout the film and is actually very funny. The mystery is complemented by a story of friendship and reconnection between the two titular characters, which again helps elevate the film beyond just an hour and a half episode of the 90s television show. Overall, the family aspects of Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers combined with the irreverent comedy of Schaffer and Samberg make it into a solid, if at times over-the-top, Disney outing for their growing streaming service.