Review: "NEXT AVENGERS: Heroes of Tomorrow" - Average Story; Really Good Characters

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 68 of 2022 (No. 1880) by Leroy Douresseaux

Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow (2008) – video/animation
Running time:  78 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and some mild language
DIRECTORS:  Jay Oliva and Gary Hartle
WRITERS:  Christopher Yost; from a screen story by Greg Johnson and Craig Kyle (based on the Marvel Comics characters)
PRODUCER:  Gary Hartle
EDITOR: George P. Rizkallah
COMPOSER: Guy Michaelmore
ANIMATION STUDIO:  The Answerstudio Col, Ltd.

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/SCI-FI/ACTION with elements of drama

Starring:  (voices) Noah Crawford, Brenna O'Brien, Aidan Drummond, Dempsey Pappion, Adrian Petriw, Tom Kane, Shawn Macdonald, Ken Kramer, Nicole Oliver, Michael Adamthwaite, and Fred Tatasciore

“Marvel Animated Features” was a line of eight direct-to-DVD animated superhero films made by MLG Productions.  MLG was a joint venture between Marvel Animation (then called Marvel Studios) and Lions Gate Entertainment to produce direct-to-DVD animated films for the home entertainment market.  The first film in the series was Ultimate Avengers: The Movie, which was released to DVD in February 2006.

Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow is a 2008 straight-to-video animated superhero film directed by Jay Oliva and Gary Hartle.  It was the fifth entry in the “Marvel Animated Features” line.  The film is based on the classic Marvel Comics franchise, the Avengers, which debuted in 1963 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.  Next Avengers focuses on the children of the Avengers as they hone their powers and face the enemy that was responsible for their parents' demise.

Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow is set on a world in which its mightiest superheroes:  Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Giant Man, Wasp, Black Panther, Hawkeye, and Vision came together to protect Earth from its greatest threats.  They were “The Avengers.”  But one day, the Avengers fell before the might of the maniacal, mechanical foe, Ultron (Tom Kane), a robot.

Before they were defeated, the Avengers sent billionaire bachelor Tony Stark (Tom Kane) into hiding their children.  Twelve years later, at a hidden location, the son of Steve Rogers/Captain America, James Rogers (Noah Crawford); the daughter of Thor, Torunn (Brenna O'Brien); the son of Black Panther, Azari (Dempsey Pappion); and the son of Giant Man and the Wasp, Pym (Aidan Drummond); train under the tutelage of Tony.  The children, however, are growing restless, and their curiosity causes them to do something that brings them to Ultron's attention.

With their new ally, Hawkeye/Francis Baron (Adrian Petriw), the son of the original Hawkeye, these children of the Avengers will take on their parents' greatest adversary.  But will the children fall before this robot menace as their parents did?

Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow is an entertaining superhero action-fantasy.  The action is engaging, and the plot is good, although it is not as well executed as it could be.  The resolution undersells the potential of the characters, as if the main purpose of this movie is just to quickly as possible wrap up the story even if it wastes the potential of both the children and the story.

The animation is good, not great.  The character design, especially the children, looks good and recalls the work of animation legends such as Bruce Timm and Don Bluth.  Not all the character are well designed; for instance, the Hulk (Fred Tatasciore) looks awful.  The environments are well designed, especially Ultron's city, “Ultra City.”

The best things about Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow are the children, the “Next Avengers.”  They are especially well written and their personalities, doubts, struggles, conflicts, desires, and goals all seem genuine.  James Rogers' desire to know his father, Captain America, and Torunn's prayerful pleas for the return of her father, Thor, are powerful and poignant.  Azari's cautiousness belies the fierce fighting spirit that dwells within him, and Pym's playful nature provides good comic relief.  Hawkeye is brave and bold and witty; he could carry his own film.  Obviously, the voice actors sell the dimensions of the character drama, and like the young characters, the actors keep Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow from being mediocre.

Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow isn't great, but the children of the Avengers are great characters.  Thus, it is a shame that this animated film is, after 14 years (as of this writing), the only film in which they appear.  I recommend that fans of animated superhero films and television series that feature Marvel Comics characters try Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow.

6 of 10
B
★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, March 30, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

--------------------------

--------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Review: "SCOOBY-DOO! Return to Zombie Island" Revisits Scooby-Doo History

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 62 of 2022 (No. 1874) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island (2019) – Video
Running time:  77 minutes (1 hour, 17 minutes)
Rated TV-G
DIRECTORS:  Cecilia Aranovich Hamilton and Ethan Spaulding
WRITER: Jeremy Adams
PRODUCERS:  Amy McKenna and and Rick Morales
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Sam Register
EDITOR:  Robert Ehrenreich
COMPOSER:  Robert J. Kral
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Digital eMation

ANIMATION/FANTASY/FAMILY and ACTION/COMEDY/MYSTERY

Starring:  (voices) Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Grey Griffin, Kate Micucci, Janell Cox, David Herman, John Michael Higgins, Dave B. Mitchell, Cassandra Peterson, Roger Rose, and Travis Willingham

Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island is a 2019 straight-to-video, animated, comic mystery film.  It is the thirty-third entry in the Scooby-Doo straight-to-video series from Warner Bros. Animation, and it is a direct sequel to 1998's Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, the first movie in this series.  In Return to Zombie Island, the retired Mystery Inc. gang visits a remote, but familiar island with a dark secret.

Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island opens a few months after the events depicted in Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost.  The members of Mystery Inc.: Fred Jones (Frank Welker), Daphne Blake (Grey Griffin), Velma Dinkley (Kate Micucci), Shaggy Rogers (Matthew Lillard), and Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker), have retired, and Fred is still depressed about selling the Mystery Machine.

On her television show, legendary horror hostess, Elvira (Cassandra Peterson), announces that Shaggy has won a trip to a tropical island paradise.  Coincidentally, Shaggy is allowed to bring three friends and a dog along.  Because they are supposedly retired from mystery-solving, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo make Fred, Daphne, and Velma promise that they will not solve any more mysteries and will actually try to relax on this vacation.

As they sail on a ferry toward the island, Fred, Daphne, and Velma realize the surroundings are more swamp-like than tropical.  The ferry captain (Dave B. Mitchell) says that zombies inhabit the island, which reminds some of the gang of the last time, years ago, when they visited “Moonscar Island” a.k.a. “Zombie Island,” an island with zombies on it.

When they arrive on this supposed island paradise, two people greet them off the boat, but warn them to get out.  Also, once on the island, a mysterious dark cat creature stalks them.  Even the the hotel is coincidentally named “Moonstar Island Resort.”  Still, no matter how many times they run into something that reminds them of Zombie Island, Shaggy and Scooby make their friends stick to their promise not to try to solve mysteries.  But has that promise put them all in danger of suffering a fate from which they once only narrowly escaped?

Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island, like its predecessor, 1998's Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, has an strong premise, but clumsy execution delivers an inconsistent film.  Sometimes, the sequel is fun, fast-moving, and comically horrifying, in the tradition of Scooby-Doo TV series and films, but other times, Return to Zombie Island meanders, juggling multiple subplots.  One of those subplots pops up late in the film and involves a movie, “Zombie Teenagers and the Island of Doom.”  At this point, Return to Zombie Island loses credibility, although the film-within-a-film subplot introduces a fun character, the self-absorbed movie director, Alan Smithee, voiced by John Michael Higgins, who delivers a good performance.

Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island is a children's movie, but adults who are fans of this straight-to-video series will want to watch it.  Like me, they may even find some enjoyment in it.

6 of 10

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, October 5, 2022


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

----------------------

-----------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Review: "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" Started a Thing

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 61 of 2022 (No. 1873) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) – Video
Running time:  77 minutes (1 hour, 17 minutes)
Rated TV-G
DIRECTOR:  Jim Stenstrum
WRITERS: Glenn Leopold; from a story by Glenn Leopold and David Doi (based on the Hanna-Barbera characters)
PRODUCER:  Cosmo Anzilotti
EDITOR:  Paul Douglas
COMPOSER:  Steven Bramson
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Mook Animation

ANIMATION/FANTASY/FAMILY and ACTION/COMEDY/MYSTERY

Starring:  (voices) Frank Welker, Scott Innes, Billy West, Mary Kay Bergman, B.J. Ward, Tara Strong, Cam Clarke, Jim Cummings, Mark Hamill, Jennifer Leigh Warren, and Ed Gilbert

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is a 1998 straight-to-video, animated, comic mystery film.  It was the first animated movie in what became the Scooby-Doo straight-to-video series from Warner Bros. Animation.  In Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, the Mystery Inc. Gang reunites and visits a remote island with a dark secret.

As Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island opens, the five members of Mystery, Inc.:  Fred Jones (Frank Welker); Daphne Blake (Mary Kay Bergman), Velma Dinkley (B.J. Ward); Shaggy Rogers (Billy West), and Scooby-Doo (Scott Innes) have gone their separate ways.  They apparently became bored of mystery solving because culprits were never real ghosts, aliens, and monsters, but were practically always people in costumes.

Daphne Blake now has her own television series, “Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake,” in which she investigates claims of supernatural occurrences.  Fred Jones is her cameraman and producer.  Shaggy and Scooby are security guards, and Velma owns a book shop, “Dinkley's Mystery Book Shoppe,” which is also known as “Mystery Inc. Books.”

Daphne decides that she wants to hunt down a real ghost rather than investigating ghosts that turn out to be fakes.  So Fred calls the gang back together, and the reunited Mystery Inc. embarks on a road trip scouting haunted locations across the United States for Daphne's TV show.

That is why they end up in New Orleans, Louisiana, where they meet a curious local, Lena Dupree (Tara Strong).  She tells them that they can find real ghosts at her place of employment, a mansion and hot pepper plantation on Moonscar Island.  Skeptical at first, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby follow Lena to the island hoping to find a real ghost instead of a villain in a costume.  What they find is more than they expected in a spooky place that might as well be called “Zombie Island.”

I remember that I first heard about Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island probably about a month or so before it was released in September 1998.  It was big news in the world of the American television animation industry and in home entertainment.  I bought a copy for the elementary school age son of a close friend of mine, who was a huge Scooby-Doo fan, then.  [He is now an adult in his late twenties (as of this writing), and I don't know if he still loves Scooby-Doo.]

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island was billed as the first time that a Scooby-Doo cartoon would find Scooby and Shaggy and company facing real supernatural entities.  The advertising for this straight-to-video (VHS) release declared, “This time, the monsters are real.”  However, as early as a 1980 episode of the “Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo” animated TV series, the stories featured real aliens and a real vampire.

That aside, it is nice to see Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island pit the characters against real ghosts, real zombies, and other real supernatural creatures.  My problem with Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is that the writers open the movie with some nice character development, but by the time the characters reach Moonscar Island, the story devolves into Scooby and Shaggy running around and screaming or we get tedious scenes of Scooby chasing one or more of the cats that belong to Moonscar mansion's owner, Simone Lenoir (Adrienne Barbeau).

That animation is average to above average, with the best sequences being those with the zombies.  The film's direction presents an inconsistent pace to go with the inconsistent story, so sometimes even a haunted mansion and a zombie island seem like boring places.  Still, I am glad that I finally watched Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island.  I've been putting it off for at least two decades.

I will say that it is an important film because it launched the Scooby-Doo straight-to-video series, of which I am a big fan.  So Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is a must see for fans of all things Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc.

6 of 10
B
★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, July 7, 2021


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-------------------------

-------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Review: "DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS" is an Amusing Diversion ... for Children

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 60 of 2022 (No. 1872) by Leroy Douresseaux

DC League of Super-Pets (2022) - animated
Running time:  105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – PG for action, mild violence, language and rude humor
DIRECTOR:  Jared Stern
WRITERS:  Jared Stern and John Whittington (based on characters appearing in DC Comics)
PRODUCERS: Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Patricia Hicks, and Jared Stern
EDITORS:  David Egan and Jhoanne Reyes
COMPOSER:  Steve Jablonsky
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Warner Animation Group/Animal Logic

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna, Thomas Middleditch, Ben Schwartz, Keanu Reeves, Marc Maron, Olivia Wilde, Jameela Jamil, Jemaine Clement, John Early, Daveed Diggs, Dascha Polanco, Maya Erskine, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alfred Molina, Lena Headey, Winona Bradshaw, and Keith David

DC League of Super-Pets is a 2022 3D computer-animated, superhero fantasy and action-comedy film directed by Jared Stern with CGI animation produced by Animal Logic.  The film is based on characters and concepts appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.  DC League of Super-Pets focuses on Superman's dog and a group newly super-powered shelter animals who must stop a conspiracy hatched by a guinea pig that is an evil genius.

DC League of Super-Pets opens with the story of how baby Kal-El and a Labrador Retriever-like pup left the planet Krypton, as it was in the throes of destruction, in a space ship headed to Earth.  Decades later, the baby is now Superman/Clark Kent (John Krasinski) and his pet, Krypto the Superdog (Dwayne Johnson).  All is well between Superman and his super-best friend until Clark decides to take his relationship with Lois Lane (Olivia Wilde), a fellow reporter at “The Daily Planet,” to the next level.  Krypto suddenly feels that his relationship with Superman is threatened.

Meanwhile, LexCorp CEO and Superman's enemy, Lex Luthor (Marc Maron), has hatched a plot to bring a meteorite of “orange kryptonite” to Earth.  Superman and Krypto easily stop the plot with the aid of the Justice League:  Wonder Woman (Jameela Jamil), Aquaman (Jemaine Clement), Flash (John Early), Green Lantern (Dascha Polanco), Cyborg (Daveed Diggs), and the Batman (Keanu Reeves).

At LexCorp, Lex used guinea pigs as test subjects.  One of them, Lulu (Kate McKinnon), is also an evil genius.  She has reeled in her own piece of orange kryptonite, having discovered that it gives super-powers to animals.  Now empowered by flight and telekinesis, Lulu is determined to free the now imprisoned Lex Luthor and to destroy Superman and the Justice League.  Now, only Krypto and a ragtag band of shelter animals:  Ace a boxer dog (Kevin Hart), PB the potbellied pig (Vanessa Bayer), Merton the slider turtle (Natasha Lyonne), and Chip the squirrel (Diego Luna), are left to stop Lulu's plot and save Superman.

DC League of Super-Pets is cute, and I imagine that it may be a hit with certain young viewers.  While watching it, I couldn't wait for it to be over.  The first 56 minutes of the film is formulaic superhero movie drivel, except for a moment here and there, such as the baby Kal-El and puppy Krypto's exodus from a dying Krypton.  The film does not have another emotional moment that feels real until Kevin Hart's Ace tells his tragic story.  When the other shelter pets tell their story, those stories don't work as well as Ace's.  Also, I wasn't crazy with the design and art direction for this film.  Everything looks like second-rate retro and draw-by-number art deco.

Perhaps, I have mixed feelings about this movie because I have mixed feelings about the voice performances.  Dwayne Johnson is okay as Krypto; to me, his personality seems wrong for Krypto.  Keanu Reeves is good as Batman, mainly because he captures the humorous angle written for the character.  Kevin Hart is quite good as Ace; actually, Hart's Ace would have been a better lead character.  [Maybe, we can get an “Ace the Bat-Hound” movie.]  Kate McKinnon is also really good as Lulu, and she makes a character that probably shouldn't work dominate much of this movie.  No other voice performances in this film really move me.

The last act of DC League of Super-Pets offers a satisfying superhero battle with a victory for the heroes.  McKinnon is so good at making Lulu evil that I cheered when she receives her comeuppance.  I can recommend this movie to fans of superhero films, especially fans of films based on DC Comics characters, and to young audiences.  For the most part, it is like the average DreamWorks Animation or Illumination Entertainment anthropomorphic animal movie.  There are many superhero films that I watch repeatedly, but I doubt DC League of Super-Pets will be one of them.

[This film includes an end credits scene featuring Black Adam, his dog (Anubis), Superman, and Krypto.]

5 of 10
C+
★★½ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, October 12, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-------------------

--------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Review: "LIGHTYEAR" Works Hard, But the Robot Cat Steals the Show

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 37 of 2022 (No. 1849) by Leroy Douresseaux

Lightyear (2022)
Running time:  100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA –  PG for action/peril
DIRECTOR:  Angus MacLane
WRITERS:  Angus MacLane and Jason Headley; from a story by Angus MacLane, Matthew Aldrich, and Jason Headley
PRODUCER:  Galyn Susman
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Jeremy Lasky (D.o.P.) and Ian Megibben (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Anthony J. Greenberg
COMPOSER: Michael Giacchino

ANIMATION/SCI-FI/ACTION and FANTASY/ADVENTURE/DRAMA

Starring:  (voices) Chris Evans, Peter Sohn, Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, Uzo Aduba, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., Angus MacLane, Bill Hader, Efren Ramirez, Keira Hairston, and James Brolin

Lightyear is a 2022 computer-animated, science fiction, action-adventure film directed by Angus MacLane, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.  The film is based on the character and story surrounding the character, Buzz Lightyear, that first appeared in the 1995 film, Toy Story.  Lightyear focuses on a marooned space ranger who takes on an army of robots with only an inexperienced group of recruits to help him.

In 1995, a young Andy Davis (of Toy Story) saw the film that inspired the “Buzz Lightyear” toy line that he loves so much.  Lightyear is that film.

Lightyear introduces Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans), a “Space Ranger” in Star Command and the pilot of “the Turnip,” a space exploration vessel.  Buzz and his commanding officer, Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba), are exploring the habitable planet, Tikana Prime, when a series of accidents occur.  Now, the Turnip is stranded on Tikana, marooning the entire crew.

Lightyear spends the next several decades experimenting with hyperspace crystalline fuel in a bid to get the marooned crew off the planet.  Eventually, he is mostly a forgotten outcast, with only SOX (Peter Sohn), his robotic cat his only companion.  Buzz meets another group of misfits:  Izzy Hawthorne (Keke Palmer), Alisha's granddaughter; Mo Morrison (Taika Waititi), a clumsy recruit in the colonial defense forces; and Darby Steel (Dale Soules), an elderly paroled convict conscripted into the defense forces.  Together, they will take on a ruthless army of robots and their mysterious leader, Emperor Zurg (James Brolin), who has a shocking connection to Buzz Lightyear.

Lightyear is the first Pixar Animation Studios film to receive a wide theatrical release in North America in over two years, the last being 2020's Oscar-nominated Onward.  In that time, among the Pixar films that Disney released on its streaming service, Disney+, is one almost perfect Pixar film, Soul (2020), and one perfect film, Luca (2021).

Lightyear is a good, but not great Pixar film.  Yes, it follows the formula of Pixar films of having likable and lovable characters with engaging story arcs.  The characters have to overcome flaws, such as Buzz's insistence that he go-it-alone; Izzy's determination to be just like her grandmother; and Mo's clumsiness that is always endangering the mission and his compatriots.  Like many Pixar films, Lightyear has a last act filled with peril and near-disaster, if not near-death.  That is the problem with Lightyear, however; it is simply too formulaic.

Lightyear is not a particularly imaginative science fiction film.  Tikana Prime's aggressive plant vines and killer bugs are generic elements that can be found in American comic books, Japanese manga, sci-fi cartoons, etc.  Lightyear does have one great character, the robotic cat, Sox, who is in the great tradition of both Walt Disney and Pixar's memorable and lovable animal and animal-like sidekicks.  Sox is the reason that Lightyear does not fall into mediocrity.  Also, Peter Sohn, the actor who voices Sox, sounds like actor Jason Bateman (which is a good thing), at least, to me.

After seeing it, I realize that Lightyear is the kind of animated film that I usually wait to watch via the home media release instead of going to a movie theater to see it.  But Sox makes the trip to the theater worth it, and he is the reason for the grade I am giving the film.  While the last act is a nice reward for watching the entire film, Lightyear is not a Disney “instant classic,” and that's all there is to it.

7 of 10
B+
★★★½ out of 4 stars

[This film has three post-credit scenes.]

Friday, June 17, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------

-----------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Review: Pixar's "LUCA" is a True Disney Instant Classic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 of 2022 (No. 1838) by Leroy Douresseaux

Luca (2021)
Running time:  95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA –  PG for rude humor, language, some thematic elements and brief violence
DIRECTOR:  Enrico Casarosa
WRITERS:  Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones; from a story by Enrico Casarosa, Jesse Andrews, and Simon Stephenson
PRODUCER:  Andrea Warren
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  David Juan Bianchi (D.o.P.) and Kim White (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Catherine Apple and Jason Hudak
COMPOSER: Dan Romer
Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring:  (voices) Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, Marco Barricelli, Jim Gaffigan, Peter Sohn, Lorenzo Crisci, Marina Massironi, Gino LaMoica, Sandy Martin, and Sacha Baron Cohen

Luca is a 2021 computer-animated, coming-of-age, fantasy film directed by Enrico Casarosa, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.  The film focuses on a two sea monster boys disguised as humans and the human girl they befriend.

Luca opens sometime in the 1950s in and around the Italian Riviera.  Below the surface of the waters of the Riviera live a group of sea monsters.  Luca Paguro (Jacob Tremblay), a timid young sea monster, herds goatfish below the coast of the small Italian town of Portorosso.  Luca is curious about the human world, but his parents, Daniela (Maya Rudolph) and Lorenzo Paguro (Jim Gaffigan), fear that the humans might hunt him for food.  Thus, they forbid him from approaching the surface.

One day, Luca meets Alberto Scorfano (Jack Dylan Grazer), a fellow sea monster boy who lives alone above the surface on Isola del Mare.  Alberto encourages Luca to venture out of the ocean, showing him that sea monsters turn into humans when their bodies become dry, but return to their true forms when they become wet.  Alberto invites Luca to his hideout where the boys connect and dream about owning a Vespa (an Italian luxury brand of scooter) so that they can travel the world.

Venturing into Portorosso as humans, the boys discover that a local children's triathlon, the “Portorosso Cup,” is about to take place.  They run afoul of Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo), the local bully and five-time champion of the Portorosso Cup.  They also meet a young girl named Giulia Marcovaldo (Emma Berman), the daughter of a fisherman, Massimo Marcovaldo (Marco Barricelli).  Giulia has participated in the triathlon, but has never won.  Hoping to win the money they need to buy a Vespa, Luca and Alberto form a team with Giulia.  Through Giulia, Luca learns that there is so much more to the surface world, but his feelings for her threaten everything, including his plans with Alberto.

I could say that Luca is one of Pixar's most beautiful films, and I will, although that is redundant.  Pixar's films always have beautiful visuals, and sometimes they are stunning and a wonder to behold.  The film is drenched in the bright colors of the Italian Riviera and reinterprets them as if they were watercolor paintings.

Dear readers, perhaps you are familiar with the animated films of the Japanese master, Hayao Miyazaki.  His films are a symphony of wondrous colors and stunning locales, and those films clearly have an influence on Luca on a number of levels, especially in terms of visuals and in the tone of the story.  Luca's town of Portorosso may be named in honor of Miyazaki's 1992 animated film, Porco Rosso, which is also set in Italy.

I think the elements that really drive this film, its beauty aside, are the characters and voice performances.  The characters are very well developed:  their personalities, their goals, and fears.  From Alberto's jealousy and fear of loss to Giulia's determination and open-mindedness, the viewer can believe in these characters.  Luca is ostensibly a coming-of-age story focusing on Luca.  His sense of adventure is overcome by his fear of trying new things, whether it is actually going to the surface world or going to school.  In Luca, we see the film's themes of acceptance (accepting others, accepting help, and accepting oneself) and overcoming fear (especially the fear of change).  Luca takes on a beautiful journey as we see the evolution of the title character, and as for the coming-of-age angle, this film feels like only the first chapter of Luca's coming of age.

The voice performances make the characters seem like real people.  If there were an Oscar for voice performances, Jacob Tremblay as Luca would be worthy of being nominated.  Every performance is winning, from major characters to bit players.  I am crazy about the performances here.

Dan Romer's beautiful score highlights and accentuates the journey of change and evolution that is Luca, both the film and the character.  Luca is one of Pixar's most convincing boy characters, which is quite a feat in a filmography full of wonderfully drawn characters.  Speaking of drawn, the character design and art direction and production design are on par with Pixar's best.

I always thought that I would like Luca, and now that I have seen it, I am in love with it.  For me, Luca is one of Pixar's best ever films, and it is one of 2021's very best films  I recommend it without reservation; everyone should see it.

10 of 10

Thursday, April 28, 2022


NOTES:
2022 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren)

2022 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren)

2022 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination:  “Best Motion Picture-Animated”

2022 Black Reel Awards:  1 win: “Outstanding Voice Performance” (Maya Rudolph)

2022 Image Awards (NAACP):  1 nomination: “Outstanding Animated Motion Picture”


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

---------------------

---------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Review: "SING 2" is Full of Feel-Good Magic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 of 2022 (No. 1833) by Leroy Douresseaux

Sing 2 (2021)
Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPA – PG for some rude material and mild peril/violence
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Garth Jennings
PRODUCERS:  Janet Healy and Chris Meledandri
EDITOR:  Gregory Perler
COMPOSER:  Joby Talbot

ANIMATION/FANTASY/MUSICAL AND FAMILY/COMEDY

Starring:  (voices) Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, Jennifer Saunders, Garth Jennings, Chelsea Peretti, Bobby Cannavale, Nick Offerman, Adam Buxton, Eric Andre, Halsey, Letitia Wright, Bono, Pharrell Williams, Julia Davis, Peter Serafinowicz, and Wes Anderson and Spike Jonze

Sing 2 is a 2021 computer-animated, jukebox musical comedy film written and directed by Garth Jennings and produced by Illumination Entertainment.  It is a sequel to the 2016 animated film, Sing.  In Sing 2, the Moon Theater crew must persuade a media mogul and a reclusive rock star to believe in their new show.

Sing 2 opens some time after the events depicted in Sing.  Buster Moon the koala (Matthew McConaughey) and the rebuilt “Moon Theater” are thriving.  His latest goal is to impress Suki (Chelsea Peretti), a talent scout from Crystal Entertainment in Redshore City, but Suki is definitely not impressed with the stars of the theater.  So Buster leads his troupe:  Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), a housewife and mother of 25 piglets; Gunter (Nick Kroll), the exuberant pig performer who wants to dance as much as he wants to sing; Ash (Scarlett Johansson), the punk-rock porcupine and singer; Johnny (Taron Egerton), the teenage gorilla singer, and Meena (Tori Kelly), the shy teenage elephant singer, to their destiny in Redshore.

Once there, they infiltrate Crystal Tower Theater in order to get an audience with Jimmy Crystal (Bobby Cannavale), a white wolf and media mogul, but Crystal brushes them off.  Desperate, Buster starts making promises to Crystal.  The first is that he and his troupe can stage a massive space-themed musical, “Out of This World.”  Secondly, Buster says that he can get reclusive rock legend, Clay Calloway (Bono), to be part of his show.

The problem is that Calloway has not been seen in over fifteen years since his wife died.  Buster sends his secretary, Miss Crawly (Garth Jennings), to find him.  After Miss Crawly fails spectacularly, Buster's show is in trouble and his life is on the line with Jimmy Crystal.  Is there anyway or anyone that can save “Out of This World?”

I recently watched the original film, Sing, for the first time.  I found that all the obstacles that Buster and his troupe face in the original were all over the place and overkill, and I did not think that Matthew McConaughey's voice performance amounted to much.  McConaughey is better in Sing 2, but not great.  The conflict and obstacles that Buster and the Moon Theater troupe face are singularly focused or directly related to putting on their sci-fi show, “Out of This World.”

In Sing 2, I find the returning characters to be likable or more likable, perhaps, because I am now more familiar with then.  There are also some excellent new characters.  I hope Letitia Wright's Nooshy, a lynx and a street dancer who teaches Johnny to dance, returns if there is another film in the series.  Porsha Crystal (Halsey), Jimmy's daughter, actually grows as a character in the film.  Bobby Cannavale has a fine old time with his performance as Jimmy Crystal, and noted film director, Spike Jonze, is excellent as Jerry the cat, Jimmy's loyal and groveling assistant.  As Clay Calloway, Bono (of the legendary rock band, U2) doesn't sound like Bono, and his performance is mostly flat.

The film's big musical finale, the actual performance of “Out of This World,” is sweet and lovely, although it is a little over the top.  It is an excellent show-stopper, and serves as a nice send off for Buster Moon and his troupe – on to better things.  I hope that there is a third film in the series.  Watching the endearing Sing 2 reminded me of why I really love watching animated films, especially computer-animated films.  They are the warm cup of cocoa in my life as a movie lover.

7 of 10
A-

Saturday, April 9, 2022


NOTES:
2022 Image Awards (NAACP):  1 win: “Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance-Motion Picture” (Letitia Wright); 2 nominations: “Outstanding Animated Motion Picture” (Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance-Motion Picture” (Eric André)


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Review: "SING" is Animated by Pop Music Hits

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 of 2022 (No. 1832) by Leroy Douresseaux

Sing (2016)
Running time:  108 minutes (1 hour, 48 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some rude humor and mild peril
DIRECTOR:  Garth Jennings with Christophe Lourdelet
WRITER:  Garth Jennings
PRODUCERS:  Janet Healy and Chris Meledandri
EDITOR:  Gregory Perler
COMPOSER:  Joby Talbot

ANIMATION/FANTASY/MUSICAL AND FAMILY/COMEDY

Starring:  Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Jennifer Saunders, Garth Jennings, Peter Serafinowicz, Nick Kroll, Leslie Jones, Rhea Perlman, Beck Bennett, Jay Pharoah, Nick Offerman, Laraine Newman, Wes Anderson, and Jennifer Hudson

Sing is a 2016 computer-animated, jukebox musical comedy film written and directed by Garth Jennings and produced by Illumination Entertainment.  The film focuses on a struggling theater owner who holds a singing competition to save his theater.

Sing is set in a city (Calatonia) inhabited by anthropomorphic (humanoid) animals.  The film introduces Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), a koala who owns the “Moon Theater.”  The theater is struggling, and Judith (Rhea Perlman), a brown llama who represents Buster's bank, is threatening the theater with foreclosure.  In a bid to get people interested in the theater, Buster decides to hold a singing competition with a prize of $1,000 going to the winner.  However, Buster's secretary, Miss Crawly (Garth Jennings), an elderly iguana, accidentally creates a typo that adds two extra zeros to the prize money.  The misprinted fliers for the competition, which declare a $100,000 prize, are also accidentally blown all over the city.

Soon, animals are lined up in front of the theater for the competition's open audition, but Buster only chooses a select few to participate in the singing competition.  There is Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), a housewife and mother of 25 piglets.  She is paired with another pig, Gunter (Nick Kroll), an exuberant performer who wants to dance as much as he sings.  Ash (Scarlett Johansson) is a punk-rock porcupine and singer who is trying to find her voice as a songwriter.

Johnny (Taron Egerton) is a singer and teenage gorilla, but he is also reluctantly part of his father, Big Daddy's (Peter Serafinowicz) gang of thieves.  Mike (Seth MacFarlane) is a white mouse who is a street musician and singer of swing music.  Meena (Tori Kelly), a teenage elephant, could be a contestant, but she has terrible stage fright.  Can Buster and his friend, Eddie Noodleman (John C. Reilly), a sheep, bring everyone together and save the theater before financial doom sinks them all?

The Hollywood film industry, sometimes called a “dream factory,” has consistently been pedaling fantasies in which plucky underdogs overcome obstacles in order to achieve something positive, which provides the audience with a happy ending.  Some films pile trials and tribulations, errors, failures, and misfortune upon the hero and supporting characters so much so that it often strains credulity.  The idea seems to be that the more the underdog has to overcome, the greater the pay off for the audience when the underdog wins in the end.

That is Sing in the proverbial movie nutshell.  I found it rather tiresome.  Poor old Buster Moon suffers so much failure, most of it brought upon him by his own actions, that it made Buster less sympathetic to me.  Buster is a plucky theater owner.  He is also such a con artist that it is hard to imagine him as much more than a loser, which is what most people would call him.  It did not help that I found Matthew McConaughey all wrong as the voice of Buster.

For me, there are a couple of things that enhance Sing.  First is Seth MacFarlane, who is best known for the Fox Network's long-running, prime time animated television sitcom, “Family Guy.”  Initially, I did not recognize his voice as Mike the white mouse, but when I did, it made sense to me.  MacFarlane is a genius at voice acting in both live-action and animated productions.  He can sing the heck out of big band and swing music standards, and as Mike, he steals most of the scenes in which the character appears.  Seth certainly makes a case for a Mike solo movie.

Second, I also initially did not realize that Scarlett Johansson was the voice of Ash, the punk-rock porcupine.  Johansson gives a voice performance full of texture, emotion, and personality, and when Ash sings, Johansson kills it.  [Johannson has released one solo album and an album recorded with Pete Yorn].  I spent most of movie wanting for her to be back on screen.  I'm one vote for an Ash movie.

Finally, the third thing that saves this film is the last 20 minutes.  Most of Sing's characters are caricatures and character types, as pleasant as they may be.  However, all the characters (except Buster) shine in the film's riveting, song-filled final 20 minutes.  This rousing songfest even offers a thrilling jail break and a crazy car chase.  I avoided Sing for years, and I am not really interested in singing competitions, in general.  I only really watched it because I am going to watch and review its recent sequel, Sing 2.  However, MacFarlane, Johansson, and the show-stopping finale made me glad I watched Sing.  I like animated movies – even the ones that are not Pixar-great.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, April 2, 2022


NOTES:
2017 Golden Globes, USA:  2 nominations: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Ryan Tedder, Stevie Wonder, and Francis and the Lights for the song, “Faith”) and “Best Motion Picture – Animated”


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Review: "THE ADDAMS FAMILY 2" is a Truly Disappointing Sequel

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 9 of 2022 (No. 1821) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Addams Family 2 (2021)
Running time:  93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
MPAA – PG for macabre and rude humor, violence and language
DIRECTORS:  Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon
WRITERS:  Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen, and Susanna Fogel; from a story by Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit (based on the characters created by Charles Addams)
PRODUCERS:  Gail Berman, Alison O'Brien, Danielle Sterling, and Conrad Vernon
EDITOR:  Ryan Folsey
COMPOSERS: Jeff Danna and Mychael Danna

ANIMATION/FANTASY/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring:  (voices) Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Javon “Wanna” Walton, Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, Conrad Vernon, Bill Hader, Wallace Shawn, Brian Sommer, Cherami Leigh, and Ted Evans

The Addams Family 2 is a 2021 computer-animated supernatural comedy from directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan.  The film is a sequel to the 2019 animated film, The Addams Family.  Both films are based on the characters created by The New Yorker cartoonist, the late Charles Addams (1912-1988).  The Addams Family 2 focuses on the Addams Family as take a road trip, during which a scientist pursues Wednesday.

The Addams Family 2 opens at a school science fair.  There, Wednesday Addams (Chloe Grace Moretz) presents her experiment, in which she uses DNA from her pet squid, Socrates, on her Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll) to show how humans can be improved.  Wednesday is somewhat put off that her family:  father, Gomez Addams (Oscar Isaac); mother, Morticia (Charlize Theron); and her brother, Pugsley (Javon “Wanna” Walton) have decided to attend the science fair, which is sponsored by the Cyrus Strange Foundation.  Cyrus Strange (Bill Hader) himself appears at the fair as a 3D hologram, and he is instantly drawn to Wednesday experiment and hopes to recruit her to work for him.

Back at home, Gomez Addams worries that the children are drifting apart from him and Morticia.  He decides that a family vacation is just what is needed to keep the family together, so he declares that they are going on a road trip across the United States.  Uncle Fester, Thing (the sentient hand), and Lurch (the butler) join them on the vacation, with everyone packing into an huge, odd-looking camper.  Gomez even takes the family to Miami where he hopes Cousin Itt (Snoop Dogg) can help with the family dilemma.

There is a complication in these vacation plans, however.  Cyrus Strange is determined to have Wednesday, and sends a shady lawyer, Mr. Mustela (Wallace Shawn), and a brutish henchman, Pongo (Ted Evans) to trick Gomez and Morticia into believing that Wednesday might be Cyrus' child.  Wednesday is already having doubts about her connections to the Addams Family, so which family will she decide to choose, the Addams or Cyrus Strange?

Charles Addams' macabre cartoon characters first became “The Addams Family” in the former ABC television series, “The Addams Family” (1964-66).  I have been a fan of that series since I was a child.  As a child, I was also a fan of NBC's former Saturday morning cartoon series, “The Addams Family” (Hanna-Barbera, 1973).  That series depicts the Addams Family on a cross-country road trip, exploring the United States in their “Creepy Camper” that resembles their Victorian-style mansion home.  The Addams Family 2 is not a remake of that old cartoon series, but it does borrow a few elements from it.

The Addams Family 2019 was enough of a hit that producing a sequel probably seemed obvious to MGM, which holds the rights to produce Addams Family film and television series.  The end result is something that looks and feels like a sequel that was rushed into production.  The idea of Wednesday not being an Addams is a ridiculous plot.  I can certainly accept the notion of a precocious child wondering about her parentage and lineage.  However, if she is different from the rest of her family, it is because each member of the Addams Family is different from all others.  That is the point this film makes at end of the story, but we didn't need an entire mediocre movie to tell us that.  Raising questions about Wednesday's family is just a lame plot line.

So, it goes without saying that I did not like this film.  The Addams Family 2 ends up being the latest in a long line of pitiful Hollywood road trip movies.  I will say that the last 17 minutes of the film – before the end credits – are actually good.  It is the only time that the film has any real conflict, melodrama, or action, and what happens in these seventeen minutes is actually consequential to the both the Addams Family and a few other supporting characters.

The Addams Family 2019 is my favorite media adaptation of “The Addams Family” characters outside of the 1960s and 1970s.  It manages to be sweet, charming, heartwarming, and, of course, macabre – the way it should be.  I gave it a B+, but The Addams Family 2 bored the hell outta me until the last seventeen minutes.  I'm being generous giving it a C.

4 of 10
C

Wednesday, February 23, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

----------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).

Review: "JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: Apokolips War" - As Endings Go, This One is Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 of 2022 (No. 1820) by Leroy Douresseaux

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War – video (2020)
Running time:  90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
MPAA – R for bloody violence, language, and some sexual references
DIRECTORS:  Matt Peters and Christina Sotter
WRITERS:  Ernie Altbacker and Mairghread Scott; from a story by Mairghread Scott (based on characters appearing in DC Comics)
PRODUCER:  Amy McKenna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and James Tucker
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Tiger Animation

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Matt Ryan, Camilla Luddington, Taissa Farmiga, Jerry O'Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Rosario Dawson, Jason O'Mara, Stuart Allen, Hynden Walch, Rainn Wilson, Liam McIntyre, Ray Chase, John DiMaggio, Roger Cross, Shemar Moore, Christopher Gorham, and Tony Todd

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is a 2020 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation.  It is the thirty-eighth film in Warner Home Video's line of “DC Universe Animated Original Movies.”  This film features the marquee DC Comics superhero teams:  Justice League, Teen Titans, and Suicide Squad.  The title of the movie references the supernatural-leaning version of the Justice League, the “Justice League Dark.”  In Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, the Earth's remaining superheroes engage in an epic battle to save what is left of Earth from Darkseid.

As Justice League Dark: Apokolips War opens, Superman (Jerry O'Connell) has devised a plan in which the Justice League will lead a first-strike attack on the all-powerful New God, Darkseid (Tony Todd), who has made two failed attempts at conquering Earth.  The plan is also for the Teen Titans to stay behind and protect the planet.  Unfortunately for the heroes of Earth, Darkseid has learned of their plans and overwhelms them with his “Paradooms,” a genetic hybrid creature made from combination of Darkseid's Parademons and Doomsday, the alien creature that once “killed” Superman.

Two years later, Earth is in ruins, and Darkseid has placed three devices, known as “Reapers,” on Earth to mine the planet's core of its magma.  Some superheroes, such as Cyborg (Shemar Moore), Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson), and Batman (Jason O'Mara), are now Darkseid's slaves.  Many of the surviving heroes blame Clark Kent/Superman for leading them into failure, and worse, Superman has been forcibly de-powered after Darkseid tattooed his chest with liquid kryptonite.  Still, the Man of Steel has not given up on saving Earth.

Supeman and Lois Lane (Rebecca Romijn) have hatched a new plan to stop Darkseid.  Clark recruits the remaining Teen Titans, Damian Wayne/Robin (Stuart Allen) and Raven (Taissa Farmiga), who is struggling to maintain her father, Trigon's (John DiMaggio) imprisonment.  But everything may hinge on the troublesome con man and sorcerer, John Constantine (Matt Ryan).

Within the “DC Universe Animated Original Movies,” there is the “DC Animated Movie Universe.”  The line began in 2013 with the straight-to-video release of Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox and is comprised of 15 feature length films.  The point of the “DC Animated Movie Universe” was to make animated films that were loosely based on “The New 52.”  Started in 2011, “The New 52” was the publishing initiative in which DC Comics relaunched its entire line of superhero comic books.

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is the last film in the “DC Animated Movie Universe.”  That factoid is second in importance to the fact that Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is a really good DC Comics animated film.  The film probably uses the “Justice League Dark” title rather than simply “Justice League” because of the tone of the story and because, in many ways, John Constantine, the star of 2017's Justice League Dark animated film, is the lynch pin of Apokolips War.

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War takes the viewers in some inventive and intriguing directions in regards to characters, relationships, and mythologies.  The film offers a surprising amount of emotionally fulfilling character drama and arcs, including the usual Lois Lane and Clark Kent relationship.  However, John Constantine and Zatanna (Camilla Luddington) offer a poignant pairing, but the most surprising is the romance between Damian Wayne and Raven.  They're good enough to be the stars of their own animated film.

The surprising turns and compelling directions in which this film travels are matched by some high quality animation, a strong script, and some surprisingly lean and mean directing.  Such a large cast and so many subplots could have dragged on Apokolips War.  Instead, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is an exciting and riveting film, and it is a great way to end one universe in the DC Comics multiverse.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, August 18, 2021


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

----------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).

Review: Walt Disney's "TARZAN" is Something Old, Something New, and Sometimes Amazing

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 114 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tarzan (1999)

Running time:  88 minutes ( hour, 28 minutes)

MPAA – G

DIRECTORS:  Chris Buck and Kevin Lima

WRITERS:  Tab Murphy and Bob Tzudiker & Noni White; from a story by numerous writers (based upon the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel Tarzan of the Apes)

PRODUCER:  Bonnie Arnold

EDITOR:  Gregory Perler

COMPOSER:  Mark Mancina

SONGS:  Phil Collins

Academy Award winner

ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE/FAMILY

Starring:  (voices) Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Glenn Close, Brian Blessed, Lance Henriksen, Wayne Knight, Alex D. Linz, Rosie O’Donnell, and Nigel Hawthorne

The subject of this movie review is Tarzan, a 1999 animation fantasy-adventure film and musical directed by Chris Buck and Kevin Lima.  The film is based on Tarzan of the Apes, the first Tarzan novel written by Tarzan creator, Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Walt Disney’s Tarzan focuses on a man who was raised by gorillas, but who must decide where he really belongs when he discovers that he is a human.

Tarzan, Walt Disney’s animated version of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic character Tarzan, was one of the best films of the year 1999.  In fact, it was better than the Academy Award winner for Best Picture that year, American Beauty.  Many film fans and critics point to 1989’s The Little Mermaid as Disney’s return to the kind of high quality animation that made the studio so famous from the later 1930’s to the early 1950’s.  From 1989 to 2004 (when Disney stopped making feature length animated films for theatrical release, for the foreseeable future), Tarzan stands as a high water mark, being one of the best efforts of that second golden age of Disney animation (known as the “Disney Renaissance”).

However, the film isn’t just a great effort in animation, it’s also a great film, period.  Like classic Disney films, there is something for everyone.  The drama, humor, action, and adventure reach across generations to entertain anyone, especially if adults have open minds about opening up to the story of an animated film.

In this version of the classic tale, the gorilla Kala (Glenn Close) rescues an orphaned human after she finds its parents’ murdered bodies.  She names him Tarzan (Alex D. Linz) and takes him as her own because she is left childless after a leopard killed her infant.  Years later, the adult Tarzan (Tony Goldwyn) discovers he is human when he falls in love with Jane Porter (Minnie Driver), who comes to Tarzan’s jungle home with her father, Professor Porter (Nigel Hawthorne).  His love for Jane forces Tarzan to decide where he belongs when he has to choose between staying with his gorilla family or following Jane back to England.

Unlike many Disney animated films, Tarzan is thoroughly a boys’ action/adventure tale filled as it is with jungle chases over trees and through dense foliage and with combat fought to the death.  He is a boy’s man, having fun all day, surfing by his feet over thick and long tree branches, and he’s a whirling dervish of flips, twists, spins, leaps, dives, etc.  The film is, however, also quite poignant in its drama, particularly in the romance between Tarzan and Jane and in the relationship between Tarzan and his mother, Kala.

What would a Disney cartoon be without laughter and songs?  There is plenty of humor, some of it surprisingly provided by Rosie O’Donnell as Tarzan’s gorilla playmate, Terk (performed when she was still the “Queen of Nice.”).  The musical score is also very good, soaring and emotional.  However, it is Phil Collins’ song score that really makes the film, and Collins finally won his long sought after “Best Music, Original Song” Oscar® for a track entitled, “You’ll Be in My Heart.”

9 of 10

A+

NOTES:

2000 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Music, Original Song” (Phil Collins for the song “You'll Be In My Heart”)

2000 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Phil Collins for the song “You'll Be In My Heart”)

Updated:  Saturday, August 02, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).

Review: "Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold" Deserves an Encore

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 67 of 2021 (No. 1805) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2018) – Video
Running time:  75 minutes (1 hour, 15 minutes)
DIRECTOR:  Jake Castorena
WRITERS: Paul Giacoppo; from a story by James Tucker (based on characters from Hanna-Barbera and characters from DC)
PRODUCER: Michael Jelenic
EXECUTIVE PRODUCES: Sam Register and Benjamin Melniker & Michael E. Uslan
EDITORS:  Christopher D. Lozinski and Molly Yahr
COMPOSERS:  Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, and Lolita Ritmanis
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Digital eMation, Inc.

ANIMATION/FANTASY/SUPERHERO/FAMILY and ACTION/COMEDY/MYSTERY

Starring:  (voices) Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Grey Griffin, Kate Micucci, Diedrich Bader, Jeff Bennett, Jeffrey Combs, John DiMaggio, Nicholas Guest, John Michael Higgins, Kevin Michael Richardson, Fred Tatasciore, Nika Futterman, and Tara Strong

Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold is a 2018 straight-to-video, animated, comic mystery film.  It is the 30th animated movie in the Scooby-Doo straight-to-video series from Warner Bros. Animation, which began in 1998 with Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island.  This film is also a crossover between Scooby-Doo and the Cartoon Network animated television series, “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” (2008-2011).  The story finds Scooby-Doo and his friends joining Batman and superhero colleagues in order to solve a mystery involving a scary new villain.

Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold opens as Mystery Incorporated: Fred Jones (Frank Welker), Daphne Blake (Grey Griffin), Velma Dinkley (Kate Micucci), Shaggy Rogers (Matthew Lillard), and Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) investigates a series of thefts performed by the ghost of Puppetto the Puppeteer and his puppet, Fredo.  As the gang struggles to capture the ghost, Batman (Diedrich Bader) intervenes and warns them to leave things to the professionals.

Mystery Inc. manages to capture Puppetto and Fredo and discovers that the ghost and his puppet are really the superheroes, Martian Manhunter (Nicholas Guest) and Detective Chimp (Kevin Michael Richardson).  Batman, Manhunter, and Detective Chimp reveal that the Puppetto mystery was a test for Mystery Inc., which they passed.  So the heroes initiate Scooby and company into the “Mystery Analysts of Gotham,” the world's preeminent crime-busting organization.  The superheroes also inform the gang that they could use their help on a few cases.

A week later, Mystery Inc. visits the Mystery Analysts' headquarters where they meet the other members:  The Question (Jeffrey Combs), Black Canary (Grey Griffin), and Plastic Man (Tom Kenny), as well as the tag-a-long Aquaman (John DiMaggio), who desperately wants to be a member of the Analysts.

Mystery Inc. gets a chance to take the lead in the next case for the Analysts and follows the heroes to Gotham Chemical Storage.  There, they encounter a red-cloaked figure, calling himself “the Crimson Cloak” (John DiMaggio).  Why is he swearing revenge on Batman, and how is he tied to the one case Batman has never been able to solve?

I only watched a few episodes of “Batman: The Brave and the Bold.”  The series had a lighter tone than some of the Batman animated TV series that came before it, and it depicted Batman as being witty and playful.  I was curious how a collaboration between Scooby-Doo and this iteration of Batman would work.

As a child, I was a huge fan of the second Scooby-Doo animated TV series, “The New Scooby-Doo Movies,” which premiered on September 9, 1972 and ran for two seasons on CBS until 1974.  It was the first Scooby-Doo cartoon series that I ever saw, and it began my life-long love of Scooby-Doo and his pals.  It also began my life-long love affair with Batman and Robin.  The Dynamic Duo were guests stars on two Season One episodes of “The New Scooby-Doo Movies” – Episode #2's “The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair” and Episode #15's “The Caped Crusader Caper.”  These episodes were my first encounters with Batman and Robin, and I was immediately fascinated by the mysterious Batman and his colorful young sidekick.

Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold reminds me of those old cartoons, and while this film doesn't quite take me back to the 1970s, I enjoyed it immensely.  The animation is good, and it allows for the many colorful DC Comics' superheroes and super-villains that appear in this film to move in a way that really conveys the action.  The color palette is perfect for the comic mystery atmosphere of Scooby-Doo, and, to some extent, recalls those old Mystery Inc./Batman team-ups of the 1970s.

The story is good, but it has more superhero characters than it really needs.  Sometimes, Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold comes across like an advertisement for a DC Comics toy fair.  Aquaman, who eventually proves to be useful to solving the mystery, is often extraneous, and he is constantly and annoyingly yelling “Outrageous!”  And The Question, Black Canary, and Plastic Man seem like nothing more than IP placement.  Luckily, there is a surprisingly happy ending.

Still, Scooby-Doo and Mystery Incorporated teaming up with Batman casts a spell that is still effective on me.  I had fun, and I can't wait for them to do it again.

8 of 10
A

Tuesday, September 21, 2021


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

--------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).

Review: Strong Women Flow Through "WONDER WOMAN: Bloodlines"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 58 of 2021 (No. 1796) by Leroy Douresseaux

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines – video (2019)
Running time:  83 minutes (1 hour, 23 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of fantasy action and violence, and some bloody images
DIRECTORS:  Sam Liu and Justin Copeland
WRITER:  Mairghread Scott (based on characters appearing in DC Comics)
PRODUCERS: Amy McKenna and Sam Liu
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and James Tucker
EDITOR:  Frederik Wiedmann
COMPOSERS:  Christopher D. Lozinski
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Digital eMation, Inc.

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices)  Rosario Dawson, Jeffrey Donovan, Marie Avgeropoulos, Kimberly Brooks, Michael Dorn, Mozhan Marnò, Adrienne C. Moore, Cree Summer, Courtenay Taylor, Nia Vardalos, Ray Chase, and Constance Zimmer

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines is a 2019 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and directors Sam Liu and Justin Copeland.  The film features classic DC Comics character, Wonder Woman, and is the 36th film in the “DC Universe Animated Original Movies” line.

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines opens several years in the past before the main story begins.  United States military pilot, Captain Steven “Steve” Trevor (Jeffery Donovan), is engaged in an aerial battle with Parademons.  He crash lands his fighter jet near Themyscira, the island home of the warrior race, the Amazons.  Princess Diana (Rosario Dawson), daughter of the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta (Cree Summer), rescues Trevor.  After he is healed, Trevor is taken prisoner because no men are allowed on Themyscira.  However, Diana sees Trevor's arrival as a sign that she needs to leave the island because it is her duty to protect man's world from a great evil she believes is coming.  This decision causes Hippolyta to disown her daughter.

In Washington D.C., Diana finds a place to stay in the home of geologist Julia Kapatelis (Nia Vardalos) and her daughter Vanessa (Marie Avgeropoulos).  Julia's hobby is the study of Amazons, so she is happy to have Diana live with them.  Vanessa, who already has issues with her mother, however, begins to resent Diana's presence in the home.

Five years later, in the present, Diana is the superhero, Wonder Woman.  Julia asks her help in finding Vanessa, who has stolen an artifact from Julia's employer, Veronica Cale (Constance Zimmer), of Cale Pharmaceuticals.  Vanessa has apparently fallen in with a cabal of villains lead by Dr. Cyber ( Mozhan Marnò) and Doctor Poison (Courtenay Taylor) and become part of their diabolical plot.  Now, Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor, and his friend, intelligence officer Etta Candy (Adrienne C. Moore), race to stop Cyber and Poison, but can Wonder Woman save Vanessa Kapatelis?

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines is standard DC Universe animated fare in terms of fights scenes, action, and animation.  In that, the film is entertaining enough.  Where it stands out is that writer Mairghread Scott offers a story that delves deeply into mother-daughter relationships – from love and war to rebellion and reconciliation.  At the point in which I finally realized that the strife between Julia Kapatelis and her daughter, Vanessa, mirrored the discord between Diana and Hippolyta, I suddenly became interested in a film that was, for the most part, boring me.

I also like the fact that the film is almost entirely driven by female leads and female supporting characters, with Etta Candy being most appealing to me.  Adrienne C. Moore delivers a standout voice performance as Etta, and I hope that Moore gets to reprise her performance if Etta appears in another DC Universe animated film.

Steve Trevor is good not great, which I can also say about Jeffrey Donovan's performance as Trevor.  On the other hand, Michael Dorn, best known as “Worf” on the the former television series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” makes the most of his small role as Ferdinand the Minotaur.

I heartily recommend Wonder Woman: Bloodlines to fans of Wonder Woman.  While it is not a great film, I think fans of animated films based on DC Comics characters will also like this.

7 of 10
B+

Tuesday, July 27, 2021


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

--------------------

Review: "BATMAN: Hush" Film is as Mediocre as Its Source Material

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 55 of 2021 (No. 1793) by Leroy Douresseaux

Batman: Hush – video (2019)
Running time:  82 minutes (1 hour, 22 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence and action, suggestive material, and language
DIRECTOR:  Justin Copeland
WRITER:  Ernie Altbacker (based on characters appearing in DC Comics and on the story arc, “Batman: Hush”, by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee)
PRODUCER: Amy McKenna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and James Tucker and Benjamin Melniker & Michael Uslan
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann  
ANIMATION STUDIO:  NE4U Inc.

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Jason O'Mara, Jennifer Morrison, Sean Maher, James Garrett, Bruce Thomas, Geoffrey Arend, Stuart Allan, Sachie Alessio, Chris Cox, Adam Gifford, Peyton R. List, Peyton List, Jerry O'Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Jason Spisak, Maury Sterling, Hynden Walch, Tara Strong, Vanessa Williams, and Rainn Wilson

Batman: Hush is a 2019 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and director Justin Copeland.  It is the thirty-fifth film in the “DC Universe Animated Original Movies” series.  It is also a loose adaptation of the Batman story arc, “Batman: Hush” (Batman #608-619; cover dated: October 2002 to September 2003), written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Jim Lee.  Batman: Hush the movie focuses on a mysterious villain intent on sabotaging Batman by using the Dark Knight's worst adversaries and some of his friends against him.

Batman: Hush opens with Batman (Jason O'Mara) rescuing an abducted child that the villain, Bane (Adam Gifford), was holding for ransom.  Shortly afterwards, Catwoman (Jennifer Morrison) steals the ransom.  While Batman is pursuing her, a masked vigilante shoots at him, severing the Bat-rope Batman was using to swing through the city.  Batman falls onto the sidewalk and cracks his skull.

Batgirl (Peyton R. List) takes Batman back to the Batcave where his butler, Alfred Pennyworth (James Garrett), and, his former ward and sidekick, Dick Grayson/Nightwing (Sean Maher), create an alibi that not Batman, but his secret identity, Bruce Wayne, suffered the injury.  Alfred contacts Bruce's childhood friend, Dr. Thomas Elliot (Maury Sterling), a renowned brain surgeon, to provide Bruce's medical care.

Back on his feet, Batman discovers that his conflict with Bane and Catwoman was just part of an elaborate scheme perpetrated against him by a mysterious villain known only as “Hush.”  It seems that Hush is willing to use every major figure in Batman's “rogues gallery” to bring the Bat down.  Hush seemingly even knows the people close to Bruce Wayne and is using them.  Further complicating Batman's investigation of Hush is the growing relationship between Bruce Wayne and Catwoman's alter-ego, Selina Kyle.

I have only read the Batman story line, “Batman: Hush,” once, and that was during its original publication.  I found it to be longer than it needed to be.  I am not really a fan of writer Jeph Loeb, although he has written some comic books that I have thoroughly enjoyed.  As a story, “Hush” felt like something Loeb padded with a bunch of appearances by all-star DC Comics characters.  As beautiful as Jim Lee's art for Hush was and still is, some of it came across as cold, as if it were drawn in a manner to make it attractive to collectors of comic book original art.  But at least I found “Hush” the comic book story to be enjoyable most of the time.

Batman: Hush the film is mostly dull.  The chase between Batman and Catwoman and the subsequent Catwoman-Batgirl fight are exciting.  The big battle at the end of the film is good, except when it seems to run too long – of course.  Catwoman is well-written in this film, and I like the way Alfred Pennyworth and Dick Grayson/Nightwing are presented in Batman: Hush.

The character designs are mostly good, except Batman, who looks awkwardly drawn in this film.  The animation is mediocre, except for a few action scenes when it looks like the people involved in this production suddenly felt energized.  I will only recommend this film to fans of the “DC Universe Animated Original Movies” line.  People who mostly know Batman from the modern Batman live-action films will likely not find much to like in Batman: Hush.

5 of 10
C+

Tuesday, July 13, 2021


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

-------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).