Review: "JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. THE FATAL FIVE" is Recalls a Classic Era

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 50 of 2021 (No. 1788) by Leroy Douresseaux

Justice League vs. the Fatal Five – video (2019)
Running time:  77 minutes (1 hour, 17 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence, some bloody images, language and partial nudity
DIRECTOR:  Sam Liu
WRITERS:  Jim Krieg, Eric Carrasco, and Alan Burnett; from a story by Eric Carrasco (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Sam Liu and Amy McKenna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and Bruce Timm
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSERS:  Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, and Lolita Ritmanis
ANIMATION STUDIO:  DR Movie

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Elyes Gabel, Diane Guerro, Kevin Conroy, Susan Eisenberg, George Newbern, Daniela Bobadilla, Kevin Michael Richardson, Noel Fisher, Peter Jessop, Tom Kenny, Matthew Yang King, Sumalee Montano, Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, Tara Strong, and Bruce Timm

Justice League vs. the Fatal Five is a 2019 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and director Sam Lui.  It is the thirty-fourth film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series.  The film is based on the classic DC Comics superhero team, the Justice League.  The story pits the Justice League and an amnesiac hero against a powerful group of villains from the future.

Justice League vs. the Fatal Five opens in the 31st century.  There, three members of the villainous “Fatal Five”:  Mano (Philip Anthony-Rodriguez), Tharok (Peter Jessop), and The Persuader (Matthew Yang King) attack the Legion of Super-Heroes' headquarters in order to steal the Legion's time sphere.  Legionnaires Star Boy (Elyes Bagel), Saturn Girl (Tara Strong), and Brainiac 5 (Noel Fisher) try to stop them, but fail.  Just as the villains activate the sphere, Star Boy leaps at sphere and is taken back into the 21st century with it.

In the 21st century, the members of the Justice League:  Superman (George Newbern), Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg), Batman (Kevin Conroy), and Mr. Terrific (Kevin Michael Richardson) are working on getting new members.  Batman is a mentor of sorts to Miss Martian (Daniela Bobadilla), and Wonder Woman is trying to recruit the new Green Lantern of Sector of 2814, Jessica Cruz (Diane Guerro), who is reluctant as she is still suffering from the trauma of a near-death experience.

Soon, the League finds itself in a battle with the trio of Mano, Tharok, and The Persuader, who turn out to be formidable foes.  They have some kind of connection to Star Boy, who has been suffering from memory loss sense he arrived on Earth and is currently a patient in Arkham Asylum.  Whatever these three members of the Fatal Five want, it involves Jessica Cruz, and if she resists their demands, it could lead to mass casualties across the world.

The “DC Animated Universe” (DCAU) is a shared universe of superhero-based animated television series that were produced by Warner Bros. Animation and was based on characters that appeared in DC Comics publications.  The first DCAU TV series was “Batman: The Animated” series, which debuted in September 1992, and the last was “Justice League Unlimited,” which aired its last new episode in May 2006.  Four animated feature films that fit into the DCAU were produced during that original 14-year time period.  Bruce Timm, a writer, producer, character designer, and director of films and animated television series, can be described as the chief architect of the DCAU.  He considers two other animated feature films to be part of the DCAU.  One is 2017's Batman and Harley Quinn, a continuation of the TV series, “Batman: The Animated Series” and its follow up, "The New Batman Adventures" (1997-99).

The other is Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, which is a continuation of the animated TV series, “Justice League (2001-04), and its follow-up, “Justice League Unlimited” (2004-06).  Like “Justice League Unlimited,” Justice League vs. the Fatal Five features a wide array of characters from the universe of DC Comics.  Also, the membership role of the Justice League features characters that don't usually appear as members of the League alongside stalwarts Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman.

Although I have not seen all of its films and TV series, I am a fan of the DCAU, so I was glad that both in the design of the animation and in the spirit of the narrative, Justice League vs. the Fatal Five seems like an extra-long episode of “Justice League Unlimited.”  Having DCAU voice cast regulars, Kevin Conroy (Batman), Susan Eisenberg (Wonder Woman), and George Newbern (Superman), reprise their roles is simply wonderful.  Having one of my favorite writers of animated films, Jim Krieg, work on this this film is a satisfying bonus.

I think Jessica Cruz's story arc and heroic journey make this film such a strong drama.  However, I think Star Boy's story arc is poorly developed; there are times in this film when the character is quite frankly extraneous, which makes his final sacrifice seem hollow in the narrative.  Strangely enough, I really like Elyes Gabel's voice performance as Star Boy.

I like all the voice performances in Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, and, for the most part, the actors make the characters' personalities, conflicts, and conniving seem genuine.  The action sequences are some of the best I've seen in a DC Universe Animated Original Movie.  I highly recommend Justice League vs. the Fatal Five to fans of these movies and especially to fans of the DCAU.  I could have watched another two hours of it.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, June 16, 2021


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Review: "REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN" Does Not Reign

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 48 of 2021 (No. 1786) by Leroy Douresseaux

Reign of the Superman – video (2019)
Running time:  87 minutes
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of action violence
DIRECTORS:  Sam Liu
WRITERS:  Jim Krieg and Tim Sheridan (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Sam Liu and Amy McKenna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and James Tucker
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann  
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Maven Image Platform

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Jerry O'Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Rainn Wilson, Patrick Fabian, Cress Williams, Cameron Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, Nathan Fillion, Christopher Gorham, Matt Lanter, Shemar Moore, Nyambi Nyambi, Jason O'Mara, Jonathan Adams, Rocky Carroll, Trevor Devall, Paul Eiding, Jennifer Hale, Charles Halford, Erica Luttrell, Max Mittelman, Toks Olagundoye, and Tony Todd

Reign of the Supermen is a 2019 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and director Sam Liu.  It is the thirty-third film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series and is a direct sequel to the 2018 film, The Death of Superman.  The movie takes its story from “Reign of the Supermen!” a 1993 story arc that was part of “The Death of Superman” DC Comics story line and publishing event (1992-93).  In Reign of the Supermen, several new people present themselves as possible successors to Superman, in the wake of his death.

Reign of the Supermen opens six months following the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday (as seen in The Death of Superman), and the rising crime rate in Metropolis has spread beyond the city.  Meanwhile, four new super-powered beings have emerged to take Superman's place.  Still grieving the loss of Superman and, by extension, his alter-ego, Clark Kent (Jerry O'Connell), reporter Lois Lane (Rebecca Romijn) of The Daily Planet has been investigating the new Supermen by gathering whatever information she can from different sources.

One Superman is a gold-visor wearing, energy blast-shooting vigilante called “The Eradicator.”  Another is “Steel,” the armored hero who is the identity of a young scientist, John Henry Irons (Cress Williams).  The third is a teen clone of Superman created by a scientist working for Lex Luthor (Rainn Wilson), and the public starts calling him “Superboy” (Cameron Monaghan).  The fourth, who seems the most like Superman, is part-man and part machine and is called “Cyborg Superman.”

The four “Supermen” are controversial and mysterious, and one of them is conspiring with Darkseid (Tony Todd) in the lord of Apokolips' plan to invade Earth.  Meanwhile, the Justice League:  Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson), Batman (Jason O'Mara), Aquaman (Matt Lanter), Cyborg (Shemar Moore), Flash (Christopher Gorham), Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkman, and Martian Manhunter (Nyambi Nyambi) have been sidelined.  Now, Lois and the three truly heroic Supermen must uncover the mystery of what actually happened to the real Superman if they are going to stop a plot to take over the world.

Some of the central conceits of superhero comic books and their media adaptations are that the superheroes will almost always win; the bad guys will lose; a superhero's death will ultimately not benefit the super-villain; and the villains will plot even in defeat, while the superheroes remain vigilante.  If you are never bored by this, you will generally always like or love superhero fiction.

In the case of Reign of the Supermen, the conceits are alive and well.  While the idea of Superman dying always causes the fanboy in me some internal discomfort, I found myself mostly bored by Reign of the Supermen.  I couldn't wait for this movie to end, but I wanted to finish it in order to write this review.  I did like the four “Supermen” and the drama in the film built around them.  Everything else only mildly interested me.

I found that the battle between Superman and Doomsday that made up the second half of The Death of Superman saved that movie.  The battle that dominates the last act of Reign of the Supermen only made me care about the movie a little more.  I really liked the Supermen of Reign of the Supermen, but not much else about this movie.

5 of 10
B-

Saturday, May 29, 2021


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Review: "THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN" Saved by Superman vs. Doomsday

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 47 of 2021 (No. 1785) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Death of Superman – video (2018)
Running time:  81 minutes (1 hour, 21 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of violence and action including some bloody images.
DIRECTORS:  Sam Liu and Jake Castorena
WRITER:  Peter Tomasi (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Sam Liu and Amy McKenna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and James Tucker
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann  
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Studio MIR

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Jerry O'Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Rainn Wilson, Rosario Dawson, Nathan Fillion, Christopher Gorham, Matt Lanter, Shemar Moore, Nyambi Nyambi, Jason O'Mara, Jonathan Adams, Rocky Carroll, Trevor Devall, Paul Eiding, Jennifer Hale, Charles Halford, Erica, Luttrell, Max Mittelman, and Toks Olagundoye

The Death of Superman is a 2018 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and directors Sam Lui and Jake Castorena.  It is the thirty-second film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series.  The movie takes its story from “Doomsday!” (also known as “The Death of Superman”), a story arc that ran in various DC Comics titles in late 1992.  In The Death of Superman movie, Superman battling a seemingly insurmountable foe.

The Death of Superman finds Superman (Jerry O'Connell) at the height of his popularity as a superhero in Metropolis and around the world.  However, Superman has some brewing domestic issues in his civilian life as Clark Kent (Jerry O'Connell).  Clark is dating Lois Lane (Rebecca Romijn), a fellow reporter at The Daily Planet.  Clark's parents, Ma and Pa Kent (Jennifer Hale and Paul Eiding), are visiting, and they will finally meet Lois, but that only forces Clark to face the fact that he has not told Lois that he is Superman.

Elsewhere, without warning, a meteor has crashed on Earth causing trouble above in Earth orbit and below in the ocean depths.  Emerging from the meteor is a gray-skinned, white-haired monster with incredible strength, stamina, and invulnerability.  Also, its skeleton protrudes through its skin in the form of multiple razor-sharp spurs.

The creature, whom Lois dubs “Doomsday,” quickly dispatches the Justice League.  Doomsday beats Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson), Batman (Jason O'Mara), Aquaman (Matt Lanter), Cyborg (Shemar Moore), Flash (Christopher Gorham), Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkman, and Martian Manhunter (Nyambi Nyambi) nearly to death.  Now, only Superman stands before the creature, but to defeat him, Superman may lose his own life.

The Death of Superman is not the first time that the “Doomsday”/“The Death of Superman” story line has been adapted into a direct-to-DVD animated film.  The first was 2007's Superman: Doomsday, which I did not care for all that much.  Concerning this newer film, I don't like the graphic design of the characters, who all appear to have anemic faces.  In fact, their heads are all face – odd, angular faces.  I find them a little jarring to look at, but the animation moves smoothly.

I thought the first half of 2018's The Death of Superman was dull, but the second half is a blast to watch.  Doomsday's fights with the other members of the Justice League are filled with bone-crushing blows and near-death intensity.  The Superman vs. Doomsday battle is so powerful that calling it “epic” does not completely describe the insane violence displayed in this literally to-the-death fight.

The character drama between Clark and Lois is also well-developed, and the depiction of the edginess in their relationship keeps the first half of the movie from being a total loss.  This film also includes a strong version of Lex Luthor (Rainn Wilson), one that could have taken over this film.  Ultimately, I am giving The Death of Superman a high recommendation because of the Superman-Doomsday battle.  This fight is like an animated equivalent of a battle one might find in a Disney/Marvel Studios' Avengers films.

7 of 10
B+

Saturday, April 24, 2021


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Review: "BATMAN: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT" Runs on Jet Fuel

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 44 of 2021 (No. 1782) by Leroy Douresseaux

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – video (2018)
Running time:  78 minutes (1 hour, 18 minutes)
MPAA – R for some violence
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR:  Sam Liu
WRITERS:  Jim Krieg (based on characters from the graphic novel, Gotham by Gaslight, by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and Bruce Timm and Benjamin Melniker & Michael Uslan
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann  
ANIMATION STUDIO:  The AnswerStudio

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Bruce Greenwood, Jennifer Carpenter, Scott Patterson, John DiMaggio, Grey Griffin, Anthony Head, Bob Joles, Yuri Lowenthal, William Salyers, and Tara Strong

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is a 2018 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and director Sam Lui.  It is the thirtieth film in the “DC Universe Animated Original Movies” series.  It is also a loose adaptation of the 1989 Batman graphic novel, Gotham by Gaslight, written by Brian Augustyn and drawn by Mike Mignola and P. Craig Russell.  Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is set in an alternate world in which Batman begins his war on crime in Victorian Age Gotham City just as Jack the Ripper begins killing women in the city.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight opens in Victorian-era Gotham City.  A serial killer called “Jack the Ripper” is killing Gotham's poor and destitute women, especially in the area of the city known as “Skinner's End.”  Bruce Wayne (Bruce Greenwood) is also operating in the city as the bat-garbed vigilante, “the Batman.”  One night, Batman saves an unwary couple from being robbed by a trio of orphans who are in service of an abusive criminal handler.  At the same time, Pamela Isley, a prostitute and exotic dancer who performs under the name “Ivy the Plant Lady,” encounters Jack the Ripper, who savagely kills her.

Many citizens of Gotham believe that the Batman and Jack are the same man.  Stage actress, Selina Kyle (Jennifer Carpenter), is a protector of the women of “Skinner's End.”  She berates Gotham Police Commissioner James Gordon (Scott Patterson) and Chief of Police Harvey “Bulldog” Bullock (John DiMaggio) for their failure to stop the Ripper murders.  Later, when the Ripper targets Selina, Batman rescues her, but Batman discovers that Jack the Ripper is a formidable opponent who possesses the fighting skill to defeat him.  Initially, Selina rebukes Batman, but soon the two begin working together, even as the city prepares to blame Bruce Wayne for all the Ripper murders.

Writer Jim Krieg, probably one of Warner Bros. Animation's best writers (if not the best, as far as I'm concerned), has fashioned, in Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, a Batman “cinematic universe” that could be as interesting as any other world of Batman films.  Taking the source material (the Gotham by Gaslight comic), Krieg has created a world that has possibilities rather than just being a one-off, alternate-universe spin on Batman.  Batman: Gotham by Gaslight feels like it has a tangible back story behind it and an unknown, but full future ahead of it.

Krieg fills Batman: Gotham by Gaslight with highly-developed versions of familiar Batman characters.  Here, Bruce Wayne and Batman are one and the same; there is no light and dark, separate personalities so much as there is a man who understands the right time and right place to put on the correct public face – or mask, as it may be.

All the supporting characters are strong.  In fact, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight's Selina Kyle could carry her own film.  She is fierce and independent; she is beautiful and personable, even when she is being forceful in her mission to protect poor women.  Hugo Strange (William Salyers) is what some critics might call “deliciously devious,” while Alfred Pennyworth is devious in a benevolent and sly way.  And I can't help but love the “cock robins,” Dickie, Jason, and Timmy.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is pretty in its graphic design and art direction, and the animation moves smoothly.  Director Sam Liu oversees a film that not only plays a mystery, but offers an actually mystery that requires Batman and Selina Kyle to do some investigating.  The film's last act – a rousing section of prison escapes, brutal fights, and a burning park – is perfect escapism and also entertainment with a touch of art.  I thought that I might like Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, and I did.  I simply got far more joy out of it than I imagined I would.

8 of 10
A

Saturday, April 17, 2021


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Movie Review: "RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON" Has Lovable Characters

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 41 of 2021 (No. 1779) by Leroy Douresseaux

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Running time:  107 minutes
MPAA – PG for some violence, action and thematic elements
DIRECTORS:  Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada with Paul Briggs and John Ripa (co-directors)
WRITERS:  Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim; from a story by Paul Briggs, Don Hall, Adele Lim, Carlos López Estrada, Kiel Murray, Qui Nguyen, John Ripa, and Dean Wellins
PRODUCERS:  Peter Del Vecho and Osnat Shurer
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Rob Dressel
EDITORS:  Fabienne Rawley and Shannon Stein
COMPOSER:  James Newton Howard

ANIMATION/FANTASY/FAMILY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring:  (voices) Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Izaac Wang, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, Jona Xiao, Sandra Oh, Thalia Tran, Lucille Song, and Alan Tudyk

Raya and the Last Dragon is a 2021 computer-animated fantasy film from directors Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada and is produced Walt Disney Animation Studios.  It is the 59th animated feature film in the “Walt Disney Animated Classics” line.  Raya and the Last Dragon is set in a magical realm where a young princess searches for the whereabouts of the last dragon in order to save her world.

Raya and the Last Dragon opens in the realm of “Kumandra.”  Five hundred years earlier, Kumandra was ravaged by the “Druun,” a mindless plague of evil spirits that consumed life and turned everything and everyone they touched into stone.  Kumandra had been made prosperous by the presence of dragons, magical creatures who brought water, rain, and peace.  The Druun manage to petrify all the dragons, except the last one, “Sisudatu,” who used a magical gem to banish the Druun.  However, a power struggle for the “Dragon Gem” divided Kumandra's people into five tribes:  Heart, Tail, Talon, Spine, and Fang.

Five hundred years later, Chief Benja (Daniel Dae Kim) of the Heart tribe trains his daughter, Raya (Kelly Marie Tran), in the fighting skills she will need in order to become a “Guardian of the Dragon Gem,” like her father.  Benja also steadfastly believes that the five tribes can be united, so he decides to hold a feast for the leadership of all five tribes.  During the feast, Raya is betrayed in a plot to steal the Dragon Gem, but this leads to the gem being broken into five pieces during the scuffle to possess it.  The four other tribes each steals a piece of the gem, which reawakens the Druun, who promptly go on a rampage and begin turning people into stone.

For the next six years, Raya and Tuk Tuk (Alan Tudyk), Raya's best friend and trusty steed (a mix of an armadillo and a pill bug), continue their search for the resting place of Sisudatu, also known as “Sisu” (Awkwafina).  After she finds Sisu, Raya must obtain the other four pieces of the Dragon Gem so that Sisu, the last dragon, can revive Kumandra.  Joining Raya and Sisu are the boy captain, Boun (Izaac Wang); a warrior from Spine, Tong (Benedict Wong); and a toddler con artist, Little Noi (Thalia Tran), and her trio of monkey-like companions, the Ongis.  But standing in her way is an old rival, Namaari (Gemma Chan), and the land of Fang.

Honestly, Raya and the Last Dragon would be little more than a version of The Lord of the Rings based on Southeastern Asian culture, myth, and religion … if not for this Disney's film's great characters.  Every character, from Raya and her friends to her rivals and enemies, is honestly wonderful.  I couldn't get enough of them.  I think Namaari, both the child and older version, should have her own stories.  I could see her as the star of her own movie.  Little Noi and her Ongis are so cute that they make it impossible for me to really find fault with this movie.  Noi and her monkey-like companions are the kind of great supporting characters that only the magic of Disney storytelling can create.  Boun is also adorable and wholly capable of having his own stories.  Benedict Wong gives the most layered and nuanced voice performance, in a film full of exemplary voice performances, in creating Tong as a fully developed, three-dimensional character.

Kelly Marie Tran, who was a social media punching bag over her role in the Star Wars “sequel films,” does as much as Raya and the Last Dragon's great animators in making Raya a believable hero on a journey of learning and of discovery.  Tran transforms Raya into a great female hero, on par with the best live-action female action movie heroes.

Like the typical Walt Disney animated feature film, Raya the Last Dragon has gorgeous animation that moves in seemingly impossible ways, and the colors are dazzling.  The themes of trust and hope permeate this film and feel genuine.  I will say that Kumandra's basic concepts and myths feel contrived.  I expected something different and more imaginative from a film inspired by Southeast Asia.  Still, Raya and the Last Dragon is dazzling entertainment.  And like the best Walt Disney animated classics, I see it having a long, long life, entertaining generations of movie audiences.

8 of 10
A

Sunday, June 20, 2021


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Review: "THE BOSS BABY" is Boss Entertainment

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 40 of 2021 (No. 1778) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Boss Baby (2017)
Running time:  97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some mild rude humor
DIRECTOR:  Tom McGrath
WRITER:  Michael McCullers  (based on the picture book, The Boss Baby, by Marla Frazee)
PRODUCER:  Ramsey Naito
EDITOR:  James Ryan
COMPOSERS:  Steve Mazzaro and Hans Zimmer
Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring:  (voices):  Alec Baldwin; Miles Bakshi, Tobey Maguire, Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, James McGrath, Conrad Vernon, ViviAnn Yee, Eric Bell, Jr., and David Soren

The Boss Baby is a 2017 computer-animated comedy-fantasy film directed by Tom McGrath and produced by DreamWorks Animation.  The film is loosely based on the 2007 picture book, The Boss Baby, by Marla Frazee.  The film became the first installment in “The Boss Baby” franchise.  The Boss Baby the movie follows the adventures of a suit-wearing, briefcase-carrying baby and his seven-year old brother as they try to stop a plot against the world's babies.

The Boss Baby begins with a man, Timothy Leslie Templeton (Tobey Maguire), telling the story of his childhood.  He was simply Tim Templeton (Miles Bakshi), an imaginative seven-year-old boy, the only child of his parents, Ted and Janice Templeton (Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow).  One day, Tim is surprised to see his parents bringing home a baby, which turns out to be an infant wearing a business suit.  Tim's parents refer to the infant as Tim's little brother.  Tim is immediately jealous of the attention the new baby receives.  However, Tim is also suspicious because the baby exhibits strange behavior to which Ted and Janice are oblivious.

When Tim learns that the baby can talk, act, and move like an adult, the baby reveals that he is “The Boss Baby” (Alec Baldwin), and that he is a secret agent.  Coming to a mutual agreement in order to get what they each want, Tim and Boss Baby must stop a conspiracy against the babies of the world created by Tim's parents' employer, Puppy Co.  But can a child and an infant secret agent, who are rivals, come together long enough to save the day?

DreamWorks Animation has perfected a kind of high-concept comedy that seamlessly mixes fantasy, adventure, and action into a frothy brand of feature animation entertainment that is pleasing if not necessarily memorable.  The films of Pixar Animation Studios are always seeking something deeper in terms of character arcs, personal development, and emotional journeys in which characters often discover that the things they most want have been right there in front of them all along … or at least nearby.  This is why Pixar can tell the story of an old man who starts a new adventure in life by becoming a surrogate father to a lonely boy and a new owner to a bunch of misfit dogs, and the result is the Academy Award-winning Up.  DreamWorks Animation gives us a story of a boy and a baby who save the world from a conspiracy of puppies and bitter, weird men.  The Boss Baby gives empty affirmation to mainstream culture with its tired (white) nuclear family tropes, but at its heart, this film is merely escapist fantasy.

Like other DreamWorks Animation films, The Boss Baby's animation, visuals, and graphic design recall the television animation of the 1950s and 1960s, including Jay Ward Productions, Warner Bros. Cartoons, and Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc., to name a few.  There is more than a touch of retro- Space Age, Atomic Age, and Googie influences.

Well, The Boss Baby isn't Pixar, and its visual style is retro, but I have to admit that this film is really entertaining.  A lot of its concepts and especially its plot and story elements are ridiculous, silly, and too far-fetched, but the film's leads, Tim and Boss Baby, have screen chemistry.  Miles Bakshi comes across like a veteran voice performer as Tim Templeton, and, of course, Alec Baldwin is a master of sly and droll comedy.  Great actor that he is, Baldwin makes Boss Baby menacing and edgy and adorable at the same time.  For the most part, I found them likable, even lovable, and I wanted to follow them on their breathtaking and ridiculous adventures.

Baldwin, Bakshi, and the voice cast make The Boss Baby succeed in spite of its contrived self.  Also of note, Eric Bell, Jr. kills it as the voice of the “Triplets.”  The Boss Baby's exciting adventure and intense action mostly overcomes the film's shallowness and absurdities.  You might not watch it a second time, dear readers, but I think that there is a good chance that you will really enjoy The Boss Baby the first time you watch it.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
2018 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Tom McGrath and Ramsey Naito)

2018 Golden Globes, USA 2018:  1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture – Animated”


Friday, June 18, 2021


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Review: The Fabulous Lightfoot Brothers Carry "Onward"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 39 of 2021 (No. 1777) by Leroy Douresseaux

Onward (2020)
Running time:  102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA –  PG for action/peril and some mild thematic elements
DIRECTOR:  Dan Scanlon
WRITERS:  Dan Scanlon, Keith Bunin, and Jason Headley
PRODUCER:  Kori Rae
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Sharon Calahan (D.o.P.) and Adam Habib (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Catherine Apple
COMPOSERS: Jeff Danna and Mycheal Danna
Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring:  (voices) Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer, Mel Rodriguez, Kyle Bornheimer, Lena Waithe, Ali Wong, Tracey Ullman, Wilmer Valderrama, George Psarras, and John Ratzenberger

Onward is a 2020 computer-animated, comedy-drama, and fantasy film from director Dan Scanlon and is produced by Pixar Animation Studios.  Onward focuses on two elf brothers who embark on a quest to bring their late father back to life for one day.

Onward is set in an urban fantasy world that is inhabited by mythic creatures such as elves, centaurs, and pixies, to name a few.  Once upon a time, magic was common place, but over several millennia, technological advances made magic obsolete and largely discarded.  The story opens on the sixteenth birthday of an elf boy named Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland), who is shy and struggles with self-confidence.  He has an older brother, Barley (Chris Pratt), an enthusiastic role-playing gamer and fanatic about both the history of the world and about magic.  The boys live with their mother, Laurel Lightfoot (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a widow.

Laurel's late husband and the boys' father, Wilden Lightfoot (Kyle Bornheimer), died shortly before Ian was born.  For Ian's sixteenth birthday, Laurel gives both her boys a gift from Wilden.  The gift is a magical wizard staff, a rare Phoenix gem, and a letter describing a magical spell.  It is a “visitation spell” that can resurrect Wilden for a single day, and while Ian succeeds in casting the spell, he is unable to finish it.  As a result, Ian has summoned the lower half of Wilden's body.  Ian and Barley take their father (such as he is) and embark on a quest to complete the spell.  However, the brothers' quest is more dangerous than they know.  It will take Laurel; her boy friend, Colt Bronco the centaur (Mel Rodriguez); and a legendary figure, The Manticore (Octavia Spencer) to make sure that the brothers' quest to meet their deceased father does not end with them being deceased.

I don't want this review to spoil Onward if you have not yet seen it, dear readers.  I can say that one of the film's main themes is that people are often looking hard for something they already have.  Another theme is that sometimes we blame people for the mistakes we think they are making when it is really our lack of trust in them that leads to trouble.  And of course, the themes of relationships between brothers and of brotherly love dominate this film.

Ian and Barley carry this film, and Onward's off-beat, quest fantasy, role-playing game design and mood/mode keep the film from being just another tale of brotherly love.  In fact, the first forty minutes of the film are quite problematic, but once the film gets to the heart of the matter – Ian and Barley's quest and each brother's reason for the quest – Onward comes alive.  While Onward is not a Pixar classic, it does make strong use of the Pixar's formula of comedy, adventure, heartwarming relationship drama, and an emphasis on getting to the heart of the story.

I would never waste your time telling your that a Pixar film has magnificent animation, great colors, eye-popping environments, and striking graphics and visuals, in general.  I will say, as usual, that the voice performances are good.  I really like that Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Laurel and Octavia Spencer as “The Manticore” actually have important roles in both the drama and the action-adventure, and these two fine actress shine in their supporting roles.  Is it fate or magic that Tom Holland as Ian and Chris Pratt as Barley have … magical screen chemistry?

If not for the first half of the film, I would call Onward a Pixar classic.  As it is, it is still the kind of exceptional film that we expect of Pixar and, except for some missteps, they deliver.  And yes, I did find the world of Onward to be a bit odd, even weird, although Jeff Danna and Mycheal Danna's musical score is pitch perfect for this world.  Still, one of the highest compliments I can give a film is that by the end of it, I still wanted to watch more.  The way that the relationship between Ian and Barley plays out is something worth watching.  So I am recommending Onward.

8 of 10
A

Thursday, June 10, 2021


NOTES:
2021 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae)

2021 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture - Animated”

2021 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae)


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Review: "Batman and Harley Quinn" is an Ode to Bruce Timm-Era Batman TV

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 31 of 2021 (No. 1769) by Leroy Douresseaux

Batman and Harley Quinn – video (2017)
Running time:  74 minutes (1 hour, 14 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual content, language, violence and action, and for rude humor
DIRECTOR:  Sam Liu
WRITERS:  Bruce Timm and Jim Krieg; from a story by Bruce Timm (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSERS:  Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, and Lolita Ritmanis
ANIMATION STUDIO:  DR Movie

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Kevin Conroy, Melissa Rauch, Loren Lester, Paget Brewster, Kevin Michael Richardson, John DiMaggio, Eric Bauza, Robin Atkin Downes, Trevor Devall, Rob Paulsen, Mindy Sterling, and Bruce Timm

Batman and Harley Quinn is a 2017 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and director Sam Lui.  The film shares a connection and design style with the animated television series, “The New Batman Adventures” (1997-99), and is spiritually related to that series' predecessor, “Batman: The Animated Series” (1992-95), which is the series in which Harley Quinn made her first appearance.  In Batman and Harley Quinn, Batman and Nightwing are forced to team with Harley Quinn in order to stop a global threat.

Batman and Harley Quinn opens with Batman (Kevin Conroy) and his partner, Nightwing (Loren Lester), who was once known as Robin, the Boy Wonder.  The duo has discovered that the villainess, Poison Ivy / Pamela Isley (Paget Brewster) has teamed up with Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man (Kevin Michael Richardson), an alien plant creature that shares Poison Ivy's desire to give plants supremacy of Earth over humanity.  Poison Ivy and Floronic Man plan to create their own viral version of the “bio-restorative formula” that transformed Dr. Alec Holland into the Swamp Thing (John DiMaggio).  To that end, they have kidnapped a scientist, Dr. Harold Goldblum (Rob Paulsen), and forced him to help them replicate the formula.

Ivy and Woodrue are unaware that their altered formula could destroy all life (human, animal, and plant), so Batman and Nightwing must stop them before they finish their formula.  However, “the Dynamic Duo” are struggling in their mission to find the villains and reluctantly turn to Ivy's best friend, Harley Quinn (Melissa Rauch), in the hopes that she will have an idea or two on where to find Ivy.  But Harley has gone into hiding after her most recent recent parole from imprisonment.  Finding Harley won't be easy, and who says she wants to help Batman and Nightwing find her BFF – best friend forever!  And if she does cooperate, can Batman and Nightwing trust Harley?

Bruce Timm was one of the main creative forces behind “Batman: The Animated Series” and “The New Batman Adventures,” as well as other wonderful animated television series that featured DC Comics superheroes.  So I am always happy when he returns to his corner of the animated DC Universe, this time as a writer and executive producer.  One of my favorite animation writers, Jim Krieg, co-wrote Batman and Harley Quinn with Timm.  Voice actor Kevin Conroy, who is beloved for his work playing the voice of Batman / Bruce Wayne on several animated TV series and films, also returns as the voice of Batman for this film.

So I have a few reasons to love Batman and Harley Quinn, and I did indeed enjoy it, but it isn't one of the better direct-to-DVD animated DC Universe films.  The Floronic Man is an uninteresting bag of wind as a villain despite the best efforts of talented voice actor, Kevin Michael Richardson.  Also the Poison Ivy of this film is shallow, and looks weird.

The plot is lame, but their a few things that make me like Batman and Harley Quinn.  First, Timm and Krieg offer strong takes on the characters of Batman, Nightwing, and Harley, and the relationship dynamic between them as a trio or as a trio of duos sparkles with wit and genuine feeling.  Secondly, there are some surprisingly magical moments in this film, such as the karaoke medley in the middle of the film.  The Sarge Steel (John DiMaggio) and A.R.G.U.S. subplot is nice.  Finally, I love the design of the animation and the animation in general in this film.  It is as if “The New Batman Adventures” returned from the old cartoons graveyard for an hour or so.

Despite my reservations concerning its weak plot and villains, I highly recommend Batman and Harley Quinn to fans of Bruce Timm's 1990s Batman TV shows.  When it comes to animation overseen by Timm, I'll take anything and everything I can get.

7 of 10
B+

Tuesday, March 30, 2021


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Review: Takes a Bit, But Pixar's "Soul" Finds its Soul

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 30 of 2021 (No. 1768) by Leroy Douresseaux

Soul (2020)
Running time:  100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes0
MPAA –  PG for thematic elements and some language
DIRECTORS:  Pete Docter with Kemp Powers (co-director)
WRITERS:  Pete Docter, and Mike Jones, and Kemp Powers
PRODUCER:  Dana Murray
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Matt Aspbury (D.o.P.) and Ian Megibben (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Kevin Nolting
COMPOSERS: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross with Jon Batiste (jazz compositions and arrangements)
Academy Award winner

ANIMATION/FANTASY/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring:  (voices) Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Phylicia Rashad, Donnell Rawlings, Ahmir-Khalib Thompson a.k.a. Questlove, Angela Bassett, Cora Champommier, Margo Hall, Daveed Diggs, Rhodessa Jones, Wes Studi, Sakina Jaffrey, Ochuwa Oghie, Jeannie Tirado, Dorian Lockett, and Marcus Shelby

Soul is a 2020 American computer-animated, comedy-drama, and fantasy film from director Pete Docter and co-director Kemp Powers and is produced by Pixar Animation Studios.  Soul is also the first Pixar film to feature an African-American protagonist.  Soul focuses on a jazz pianist who finds himself trapped in a strange place that exists between Earth and the afterlife.

Soul introduces Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx), a pianist living in New York City and who dreams of playing jazz professionally.  He is also a middle school music teacher at M.S. 70, and the school's Principal Arroyo (Jeannie Tirado) has just offered to make him a full-time teacher.  Joe's mother, Libba, (Phylicia Rashad) insists that he make teaching a full time job, fearing for his financial security as a jazz musician chasing gigs and sessions.

One day, a former student, Lamont “Curley” Baker (Ahmir-Khalib Thompson a.k.a. Questlove), who is now a jazz drummer, tells Joe that there is an opening in the jazz group, “the Dorothea Williams Quartet,” and that auditions are being held at “The Half Note” jazz club.  Dorothea Williams is a legend, and playing in a jazz outfit like hers has been Joe's dream for years.

But an accident causes Joe's soul to be separated from his body, and Joe ends up trapped between “the Great Beyond” and “the Great Before.”  And perhaps the only thing that can save Joe is helping a wayward soul known as “22” (Tina Fey).

Soul may feature Pixar Animation Studios' first African-American lead, Jamie Foxx's Joe Gardner,, but it is not really a “black film.”  The film is not a celebration of ordinary black people, but it dares to imagine black people as ordinary folks who have the same ups and downs, successes and failures, and hopes and dreams as everyone else.  Also, Soul is the most adult film that Pixar has produced to date.  I think children could enjoy it, but Soul deals with the kind of existential questions that adults face.  In fact, I found that the film's story seemed to confront me about my life on more than a few occasions.  I also like that the film asks a lot of questions, but bluntly and stubbornly refuses to answer all of them.

I did find the first 50 minutes of Soul to be muddled in terms of the narrative.  Everything about it is technically proficient, but the story lacks … soul.  It is not until Joe and 22 reach Earth that Soul really begins to grapple with the struggle between living a life with a purpose as in goals and living a life in which once enjoys living.

Whenever I review a Pixar film, I really don't get into the quality of the animation.  From the standpoint of technology and art, Pixar has practically always been astounding and awesome.  For a long time now, Pixar's computer-animation (or 3D animation) has been so good and so beautifully rendered and colored that it makes me forget that I am watching an animated film.  Soul, in its dazzling colors, inventive characters, and imaginative settings (“the Great Beyond” and how it welcomes a soul), is about as strong as its predecessors

Soul's film score recently won an Oscar.  Jon Batiste's jazz compositions and arrangements are captivating, and made me feel like I was right there in the performance.  Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' score, especially when the story moves into the realms of the soul, is ethereal, magically, and futuristic, and sounds like music from another world.

I like the voice performances.  Jamie Foxx does not fully sound like Jamie Foxx, and, in that, he makes Joe Gardner feel like a genuine character.  What more can I say about Tina Fey?  As “22,” she shows, once again, that she has talent to burn.  Also, I think Phylicia Rashad makes the most of every line she has in the film; she makes Libba Gardner seem like a real mother.

Ultimately, Soul reminds me that I really need Pixar Animation Studios in my life.  Pixar's feature films find the best of humanity and emphasize the beauty in us all.  This time, Pixar gives us Soul to remind us to look up and notice the beauty in us and in the world around us.

8 of 10
A

Sunday, May 2, 2021


NOTES:
2021 Academy Awards, USA:  2 wins:  “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures-Original Score” (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste) and “Best Animated Feature Film” (Pete Docter and Dana Murray); 1 nomination: “Best Sound” (Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott, and David Parker)

2021 Golden Globes, USA:  2 wins: “Best Motion Picture – Animated” and “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste)

2021 BAFTA Awards:  2 wins: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Pete Docter and Dana Murray) and “Original Score” (Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross); 1 nomination: “Best Sound” (Coya Elliott, Ren Klyce, and David Parker)


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost" is a Happy Meal

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 3 of 2021 (No. 1741) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost (2018) – Video
Running time:  77 minutes (1 hour, 17 minutes)
DIRECTOR:  Doug Murphy
WRITER: Tim Sheridan (based on the Hanna-Barbera characters)
EDITOR:  Scott Fuselier
COMPOSERS:  Matthew Janszen and Jake Monaco
ANIMATION STUDIO: Digital eMation, Inc.

ANIMATION/FANTASY/FAMILY and ACTION/COMEDY/MYSTERY

Starring:  (voices) Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Grey Griffin, Kate Micucci, Jim Cummings, Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis, Marcus Samuelsson, Maya Haile, David Kaye, Salli Saffioti, Dana Snyder, Jason Spisak, and Audrey Wasilewski

Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost is a 2018 straight-to-video, animated, comic mystery film.  It is also the 31st animated movie in the Scooby-Doo straight-to-video series from Warner Bros. Animation, which began in 1998 with Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island.  In Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost, Mystery Inc. meet celebrity chefs and a relentless Revolutionary War-era ghost.

Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost opens in Newport Cove, Rhode Island, the year 1780.  Local chef and Revolutionary War hero, Chef Edward DuFlay (David Kaye), delights his neighbors with a gift, but later, disappears not long after he returns to his home and place of work, the Rocky Harbor Inn.  The last thing the townsfolk here is Chef DuFlay yelling “the Red Ghost, the Red Ghost!”

Moving to the present, we find Mystery Inc.: Fred Jones (Frank Welker), Daphne Blake (Grey Griffin), Velma Dinkley (Kate Micucci), Shaggy Rogers (Matthew Lillard), and Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) arriving at the Rocky Harbor Inn, where Fred's uncle, Bobby Flay (Bobby Flay), has invited them to stay.  Actually, Fred is surprised to learn that Uncle Bobby is a celebrity chef.

Inside the inn, Bobby informs the gang that he has remodeled Rocky Harbor Inn and has changed its name to Rocky Harbor Culinary Institute.  It is a state-of-the-art kitchen fantasy camp designed to make cooking easy and fun.  It has a high-tech kitchen where “Rocky” (Grey Griffin), an interactive computer program, keeps the kitchen humming.

The gang also meet other famous resort attendees.  The first is celebrity chef, Giada De Laurentiis (Giada De Laurentiis) and her cat, Bella.  Then, they meet fellow celebrity chef, Marcus Samuelsson (Marcus Samuelsson), and his super-model wife, Maya Haile (Maya Haile), both of whom have previously had a run-in with Shaggy.

But all is not fun and games and eating great food.  The legendary “Red Ghost” is still haunting Rocky Harbor Inn, and apparently wants to destroy it.  And there seems to be some unpleasantness tied to the memory of Fred and Bobby Flay's ancestor, Chef Edward DuFlay.  Can Mystery Inc. solve this latest supernatural mystery before Bobby Flay loses everything he has worked so hard to create with Rocky Harbor Culinary Institute?

Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost is one of the best Scooby-Doo! direct-to-DVD animated films that I have seen since I started watching the series on a regular bases a little over a decade ago.  I think the reason that I like it so much is that real-life celebrity chefs and television personalities, Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis, Marcus Samuelsson, and Maya Haile (all playing themselves), bring some fresh ingredients to this series.

Writer Tim Sheridan also offers a buffet of fresh and tasty subplots that brings out the flavor of the main plot (solving the mystery of the Red Ghost).  The animation is especially good, and the directing and editing create a fast-paced, but thoughtful film, full of both engaging mystery and zany action.  I highly recommend Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost to fans of the series and to fans of Scooby-Doo!

8 of 10
A

Monday, January 18, 2021


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Review: "The Addams Family" Gives the Middle Finger to Assimilation

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 of 2021 (No. 1739) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

The Addams Family (2019)

Running time:  86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)

MPAA – PG for macabre and suggestive humor, and some action.

DIRECTORS:  Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon

WRITERS:  Matt Lieberman; from a story by Matt Lieberman, Erica Rivinoja, and Conrad Vernon (based on the characters created by Charles Addams)

PRODUCERS:  Gail Berman, Alison O'Brien, Alex Schwartz, and Conrad Vernon

EDITORS:  Kevin Pavlovic and David Ian Salter

COMPOSERS: Jeff Danna and Mychael Danna

ANIMATION/FANTASY/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring:  (voices) Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, Allison Janney, Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara, Tituss Burgess, Jenifer Lewis, Elsie Fisher, Conrad Vernon, and Pom Klementieff

The Addams Family is a 2019 computer-animated comedy from directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan.  The film is based on the characters created by The New Yorker cartoonist, the late Charles Addams (1912-1988).  The Addams Family the movie focuses on an eccentrically macabre family and their interactions with the denizens of a colorful, but bland suburb.

The Addams Family opens as Gomez (Oscar Isaac) and Morticia (Charlize Theron) prepare to marry in front of their eccentric, odd, and weird family members.  However, the people of the local town despise the macabre nature of the happy couple and their family, and chase them away.  Luckily, the newlywed Morticia and Gomez and their companion, Thing (sentient hand), escape to New Jersey.  There, the trio finds two things.  The first is a home in an abandoned and decaying manor-style building that was once an asylum, and the second is a butler in the hulking Lurch (Conrad Vernon).

Thirteen years later, Morticia and Gomez have two children – a precocious and mordacious, Wednesday (Chloe Grace Moretz); and an explosives-loving son, Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard).  The family is in kind of a state of crisis.  Gomez struggles as he prepares Pugsley for his upcoming “Sabre Mazurka,” a rite of passage that every male Addams family member must pass.  Morticia struggles to keep Wednesday from wanting to experience the world outside the mansion, which includes the girl's desire to go to school.

Elsewhere, reality TV host, Margaux Needler (Allison Janney), is in the middle of building a perfect planned community that she is calling, “Assimilation.”  This is supposed to be the highlight of her television series' season finale.  However, when she discovers that the Addams' dilapidated home overlooks Assimilation, Margaux is determined to give their home an extreme makeover, whether they like it or not.  Meanwhile, many members of the Addams clan are gradually arriving in order to celebrate Pulley's big day.

I have been a fan of ABC's 1960s television series, “The Addams Family” (1964-66), since I was a child.  As a child, I was also a fan of NBC's Saturday morning cartoon series, “The Addams Family” (1973).  I have mixed feelings about Orion Pictures' two 1990s live-action films, The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993).  As an adult, I became a huge fan of the work of Charles Addams, especially of his delightfully macabre cartoons that featured the characters that would become known as “The Addams Family.”

The latest media iteration of these characters, the computer-animated The Addams Family, borrows elements from the Addams Family media that has come before it.  Here, the illustrative and graphic design of the characters and their world recall both Addams cartoons and the 1973 TV series, although I find the way this film's Morticia and Gomez look to be a little off-putting.  Overall, however, I find the look of this film visually appealing, and I think the Addams family's relatives are an interesting lot of inventively designed characters.

One thing that I think The Addams Family 2019 has over The Addams Family 1990s film franchise is that this animated film gets it right in the way it contrasts the Addams family against the outside world.  Charles Addams' best cartoons juxtaposed his creepy characters and their playfully insidious actions with the normal human world.  Much about the 1990s films was insular and did not send the family out into the normal world.  The second film did, at least, send Wednesday and Pugsley to summer camp, which is why I think the second film is much better than the first.

By sending the Addams down the mountain to meet their neighbors in this film, the filmmakers get to play with themes and ideas of individuality, conformity, acceptance, change, and family, which makes this movie more than just another cartoon romp featuring a bunch of strange characters.  Ultimately, The Addams Family 2019 emphasizes that a family can be made up of both different people and of people who live and act differently from the rest of the family.

This film's standout voice actor/character pairs are Chloe Grace Moretz as Wednesday and Allison Janney as Margaux Needler.  Nick Kroll delivers a killer turn as Uncle Fester, and Bette Midler takes what is a small role in Grandmama Addams and makes it feel like a major part.  Jenifer Lewis, with her commanding voice and delivery, turns Great Auntie Loom into a character that steals scenes.

The Addams Family 2019 is my favorite media adaptation of “The Addams Family” characters outside of the 1960s and 1970s.  I highly recommend this film to fans of the characters.  It does take a while for the film to get going – about 20 minutes into the story, but it manages to be sweet, charming, heartwarming, and, of course, macabre – the way it should be.

7 of 10
B+

Sunday, November 8, 2020


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Movie Review: "Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay" is Way Better Than "Suicide Squad" Live-Action Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 25 of 2020 (No. 1738) by Leroy Douresseaux

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay – video (2018)

Running time:  86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)

MPAA – R for strong bloody violence throughout, sexual content, brief graphic nudity and some drug material

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR:  Sam Liu

WRITER:  Alan Burnett (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)

EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinsk

COMPOSER:  Robert J. Kral

ANIMATION STUDIO:  DR Movie

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Christian Slater, Vanessa Williams, Billy Brown, Liam McIntyre, Tara Strong, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Gideon Emery, C. Thomas Howell, Jim Pirri, Dania Ramirez, Dave Fennoy, Greg Grunberg, Cissy Jones, Julie Nathanson, and James Urbaniak

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay is a 2018 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation.  A part of the “DC Animated Movie Universe,” this film stars the DC Comics antihero super-team, the Suicide Squad.  Hell to Pay finds the squad on a mission to obtain a powerful mystical object that a lot of other powerful people also want.

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay opens three years in the past.  Amanda Waller (Vanessa Williams) has dispatched Task Force X, her “Suicide Squad” of super-villains and disgraced superheroes, to retrieve stolen intelligence.  By the end of the mission, Floyd Lawton a.k.a. “Deadshot” (Christian Slater) proves his absolutely loyalty to Waller.

In the present, after learning that she is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Waller reassembles Task Force X with a new roster:  Harley Quinn (Tara Strong), Captain Boomerang (Liam McIntyre), Killer Frost (Kristin Bauer van Straten), Copperhead (Gideon Emery), and Bronze Tiger (Billy Brown), with Deadshot as their leader.  Their mission is to find a man whose current identity is that of “Steel Maxim” (Greg Grunberg), a male stripper/dancer.  By a chance of … fate, Maxim is in possession of a mystical black card with the words, “Get Out of Hell Free,” emblazoned across it.  The card is indeed a magical item that will allow a person who is damned, upon death, to get out of hell free.

Task Force X, however, is not the only party interested in obtaining Maxim's card.  Professor Eobard “Zoom” Thawne, also known as “Reverse Flash” (C. Thomas Howell), and his two cohorts, Silver Banshee (Julie Nathanson) and Blockbuster (Dave Fennoy), have been chasing the card for some time.  Plus, Scandal Savage (Dania Ramirez) and her brawny girlfriend, Knockout (Cissy Jones), have their own specific reasons for wanting the card.  But there is one who seeks the card who is so cunning and so powerful that it may take all the other seekers' powers to stop him from getting it.

I rented Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay from DVD.com (Netflix) because I thought I would enjoy it and because I really enjoyed the Suicide Squad's previous appearance in an animated film, 2014's direct-to-DVD film, Batman: Assault on Arkham.  Turns out that I really enjoyed Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay.

The story, focusing on the quest for the card, is a mere contrivance, but the action, especially the brutal fights and violent battles, makes this movie a joy to watch.  There are some dry patches in this film, but the superhero-fantasy violence and the impudent, rude, murderous, and entertaining characters make up for the times when the film slows down.

Tara Strong is … strong in her voice performance as Harley Quinn.  Billy Brown is all righteousness and pathos as the thoroughly likable Bronze Tiger, and Christian Slater is surprisingly slow and steady as Deadshot.  Slater is successful in making Deadshot the center of this 15-ring circus of crazy super-powered people looking for that magical card.  I hated that live-action Suicide Squad film from 2016, and I find the Suicide Squad comic books that DC Comics has published over the last decade to be a bore.  But I am down with animated Suicide Squad.  The best thing that I can say about Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay is that after it ended, I really wanted more.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, November 18, 2020


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Review: "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" Turns Out to Be Fun

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract – video (2017)

Running time:  84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for language, some violence, sensuality, thematic elements and brief drug use

DIRECTOR:  Sam Liu

WRITERS:  Ernie Altbacker (based on the comic book story by Marv Wolfman and George Perez and on the DC Comics characters)

EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinsk

COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann

ANIMATION STUDIO:  The Answerstudios

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Sean Maher, Kari Wahlgren, Stuart Allan, Taissa Farmiga, Brandon Soo Hoo, Jake T. Austin, Christina Ricci, Miguel Ferrer, Gregg Henry, Meg Foster, Masasa Moyo, Jason Spisak, Crispin Freeman, and Kevin Smith

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is a 2017 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation.  The films stars the DC Comics superhero team, the Teen Titans.  The film's story is based on “The Judas Contract,” the 1983-84 story arc that was published in The New Teen Titans #39 to #44 and in The New Teen Titans Annual 3, which were created by the writer-artist team of Marv Wolfman and George Perez.  Teen Titans: The Judas Contract the movie focuses on the Teen Titans and their battle against an insane cult leader and his conspiracy against them.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract opens with the original Teen Titans:  Robin/Dick Grayson (Sean Maher), Speedy (Crispin Freeman), Kid Flash (Jason Spisak), Beast Boy (Brandon Soo Hoo), and Bumblebee (Masasa Moyo).  During a mission, the Titans rescue an alien princess, Koriand'r of Tamaran (Kari Wahlgren), also known as “Starfire,” from her captors.

Five years later, Dick Grayson, now known as “Nightwing,” rejoins the Teen Titans, who are led by Starfire.  In addition to original member, Beast Boy, the team is now comprised of Raven (Taissa Farmiga), Terra (Christina Ricci), Blue Beetle (Jake T. Austin), and the current Robin, Damien Wayne (Stuart Allan).  The Titans have been battling a high-tech terrorist organization called “H.I.V.E.” and are trying to find its leader, “Brother Blood” (Gregg Henry), the head of a terrorist cult.

Brother Blood has grown tired of the Titans interfering in his plans, but he desires to possess their powers.  Blood hires the mercenary/assassin, Deathstroke (Miguel Ferrer), to capture the Titans, and to that end, Deathstroke has a spy inside the Titans.

For most of the 1980s, The New Teen Titans was one of DC Comics' most popular comic book titles, and for awhile, it was the publisher's most important and popular title.  “The Judas Contract” was The New Teen Titans' signature story line.  Teen Titans: The Judas Contract the movie is true to the spirit of the original story, both in depicting how close a team of disparate individuals can become and in depicting the sting of betrayal committed by one member against the rest of the team.

I really enjoyed this movie, and I am surprised that I liked all the characters and all the voice actors' performances.  Christina Ricci does stand out and conveys the pathos and conflict within Terra Markov, while Brandon Soo Hoo gives comedic depth and dramatic weight to Beast Boy.  I will note, however, that film director, Kevin Smith, appears as a cartoon version of himself, and Teen Titans: The Judas Contract could have done without him.

Fans of the direct-to-video, DC Comics animated films will find that Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is a high point in this long-running series.  Teen Titans fans will also find that, although the film changes the original story quite a bit, this version of The Judas Contract maintains the core of the comic book original, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract.

8 of 10
A

Sunday, October 25, 2020


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Review: "Hellboy: Sword of Storms" Animates Hellboy

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 40 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hellboy Animated:  Sword of Storms (2006) – TV
Running time:  78 minutes
DIRECTORS:  Phil Weinstein and Tad Stones
WRITERS:  Matt Wayne and Tad Stones; from a story by Tad Stones and Mike Mignola (based upon characters created by Mike Mignola)
PRODUCERS:  Scott D. Greenberg and Sidney Clifton
EDITORS:  John Hoyos and Jeffrey Perlmutter
COMPOSER: Christopher Drake

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ACTION/HORROR

Starring:  (voices) Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Hurt, Peri Gilpin, and Yuriana Kim

Born a little, red demon with a giant hand, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) grew up to become a hero, saving the world from supernatural horrors and apocalypse.  In his latest adventure, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (the BPRD) sends him to Japan to investigate the disappearance of a college folklore professor.  However, an ancient, enchanted samurai sword transports Hellboy to a spirit world of specters and assorted bogeymen from Japanese folklore.

It seems two storm demons defeated by the sword’s owner and subsequently imprisoned in the sword want to escape to the physical world.  Once there, they’ll open up the floodgates and allow their demonic brethren into our world.  In order to escape from the sword, the storm demons need Hellboy to shatter the sword.  While Hellboy fights in the spirit world, his partners Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) are stranded off the coast of Japan with their own hands quite full.

Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms was originally broadcast on the Cartoon Network (October 28, 2006) before being released on DVD in February 2007.  Like 2004’s Hellboy, this animated film is based on the comic books and characters created by veteran comic book artist, Mike Mignola.  The animation for Sword of Storms is as good if not a little better than Marvel and Lionsgate’s Ultimate Avengers direct to DVD films.  Hellboy has several nice action sequences, and the character design is quite nice.

In fact, the script is not only imaginative in its use of Japanese folklore, but the writing here is much better than in the 2004 Hellboy live action film.  As far as taking viewers to exotic locales and creating imaginative supernatural scares, Hellboy Animated is similar to an Indiana Jones movie, but the character writing isn’t as good.  The voice acting is mixed – some good and some average.  Ron Perlman and Selma Blair were average to good as the live action Hellboy and Liz Sherman, respectively, and their voice performances here are the same.

Still, Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms is really fun to watch, and I’d like to see it again.  Although this isn’t Disney level animation when it comes to creating all things magic and supernatural, this is as good as TV action/fantasy animated features get, and that’s pretty good.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, February 23, 2007

Revised:  Friday, June 12, 2020


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and  syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Toy Story 4" is Very Good, But Not Great

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 13 (of 2019) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Toy Story 4 (2019)
Running time:  100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – G
DIRECTOR:  Josh Cooley
WRITERS:  Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom; from an original story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Josh Cooley, Valerie LaPointe, Rashida Jones, Will McCormack, Martin Hynes, and Stephany Folsom
PRODUCER:  Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera
EDITOR:  Axel Geddes
COMPOSER:  Randy Newman

ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/DRAMA/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring:  (voices) Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele,  Madeleine McGraw, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, Ally Maki, Jay Hernandez, Lori Alan, Joan Cusack, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Carl Weathers, and June Squibb

Toy Story 4 is a 2019 computer-animated feature film from Pixar Animation Studios.  It is the fourth film in the Toy Story franchise.  The new film focuses on a new toy and a road trip that will change the life of a beloved toy.

Toy Story 4 opens nine years earlier when Woody (Tom Hanks) and the gang were still Andy's toys.  Woods leads the successful rescue of a toy car, R.C.   In the present, Woody and the other toys are happy in their new life as the toys of a little girl named Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw).  Bonnie is about to enter kindergarten and is distressed about going to school.  Woody sneaks into Bonnie's backpack and joins her on her first day of school.  Woody's action even lead to Bonnie using discarded arts and crafts supplies to transform a “spork” (spoon-fork) into a new toy she names “Forky” (Tony Hale).  Although Forky becomes Bonnie's favorite toy, the spork does not believe that he is a toy, and he is always trying to return to a trash can.

Bonnie and her mom (Lori Alan) and dad (Jay Hernandez) go on an RV road trip, and Bonnie takes Forky, Woody and company with her.  Instead of enjoying the trip, Woody spends his time trying to rescue Forky.  This misadventure leads Woody to an antique story, Second Chance Antiques, and also to a fairground/playground, where he is reunited with old friends and makes new friends.  And Woody learns just how big the world can be for a toy with an open mind.

Toy Story 4 is a good movie, not as good as Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and Toy Story 3, but quite good.  Keegan-Michael Key as Ducky and Jordan Peele as Bunny are nice additions to the cast.  Keanu Reeves is a surprise and gives a surprising voice performance as Duke Kaboom, the Canadian daredevil toy.  The sycophantic ventriloquist's dummies, “the Bensons,” are a nice, creepy distraction.  Christina Hendricks is appropriately pathetic and menacing as the tragically desperate doll, Gabby Gabby.

But Toy Story 4 is, more than the first three films, a movie about adult issues and regrets that tries to be a family movie, if not an outright kids' movie.  More than anything, Toy Story 4 is Woody's movie.  [In this film, Tim Allen's Buzz Lightyear is a supporting character and not a co-lead].  In this movie, Tom Hanks gives one of the best voice performances for an animated film that I have had the pleasure of enjoying.  In Hanks' performance, you can feel it.  Woody is like a father who “lost” one child, Andy (because he grew up and gave away his toys), so he is an obsessive “helicopter parent” about the new child, Molly, who does not need Woody as much as he thinks she does – if at all.

It would be pretentious of me to say that this movie is about becoming a man and putting away the things of boy.  No, I think Toy Story 4 is about the change and the passage of time that is forced upon us, so if we don't change and move on, change and the passage of time is going to happen anyway.

Yes, each Toy Story film has its Mission: Impossible-like operation in which our beloved toys try to save another toy or toys, my favorite being the race to save Woody from an unscrupulous toy dealer and a devious toy in Toy Story 2.  In Toy Story 4, the new “toy,” Forky, needs to be saved, and Woody keeps endangering first, himself, and then, others in increasingly desperate and dangerous bids to save the spork.

Ultimately, however, this movie feels like the franchise has come back one too many times.  The end of Toy Story 3, in which a grown-up Andy gave his beloved Woody and the other toys to Molly, was really meant to be the happily ever after.  Once Toy Story 3 grossed over a billion dollars in worldwide box office, it seemed like common-moneymaking-sense to make a fourth film.  Don't make another Toy Story film, Disney.  Let Toy Story 4 be a very good, but not great coda to the series.

7 out of 10
B+

Tuesday, July 2, 2019


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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