Movie Review - Alice in Wonderland (2010)

by Alex Popp



Fantastic fun for the whole family.

Not really.

In "Alice in Wonderland," directed by Tim Burton, now 19-year-old Alice is welcomed back to the fantastical land that she went through 13 years earlier. There she meets up with the Mad Hatter, played by Johnny Depp, and encounters random creatures and objects including a floating, ghostly cat and a smoking caterpillar. Alice realizes that she is there to conquer the horrific Jabberwocky and restore the rightful queen to her throne.

How this film made over $1 billion, I will never know. Maybe everyone just wanted to see another performance by Johnny Depp. He isn't a bad actor at all, but his role as the Mad Hatter doesn't come close to the charming wittiness of Jack Sparrow.

I felt like I was on speed or something watching this movie. I guess it's supposed to be kind of a sequel to the hand-drawn version from the fifties and I actually remember being seven and liking it. But this one was just plain weird. The effects are pleasant to the eye, though nothing like "Avatar." I'll tell you when we saw trailers for it, my brother said it looked to him like a children's horror flick.

Rated PG for intense violence and perilous situations, far out of anything that young kids could view. But it was also PG for something that no other movie has been before: a smoking caterpillar. Yes, it literally says that in the MPAA rating! I guess they had to tell you some way that it isn't a human smoking.

Two stars (out of four) for the weird and vaguely unsatisfying, "Alice in Wonderland."

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

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Emperor's thoughts... I think there was a little more to it. I really enjoyed Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. Johnny Depp's performance was great, but it did seem similar to his Willie Wonka.

And the movie had a fun story with good action and effects. I could tell, though, that Burton was having a lot of fun with creepy things like having Alice jump onto floating decapitated heads.

Overall, I have to agree that it was a tad too creepy for Disney. Was it strange and seem like a bad trip? Sure, a little, but then again, so do the books. Disney originally painted the weirdness with a fun and light perspective. But Burton views the weirdness with a haunting and violent perspective.

- The Emperor

Movie Review - To Save a Life

by Alex Popp



Some people are just dying to be heard.

The most popular kid in High School feels like he's got the whole world at his feet until a childhood friend commits suicide in "To Save a Life."

The teenager had everything. He had a beautiful girlfriend, he was the champion in basketball and beer pong, and everyone loved him, but now after the death of his friend, he is forced to ask himself "Could I have saved him?" As he sets out to find out how he can stop others from doing the same, he gets acquainted with a local church and begins to have a change of heart, and it all leads to very surprising results.

This is definitely the kind of movie that should not have famous actors, and most of them are unknown except for Sean Michael Afable from "Akeelah and the Bee."

I was there when the whole youth group saw it back in February. The great thing was that I hardly knew anything about the movie until I saw it, and I was completely blown away. In fact, it's part of the reason I went to Reaching: Seattle. This film is so influential; it gets you waking up to the fact that there are some people who are literally dying to be heard.

By the way, if you search this title on the Internet Movie Database, you'll see all the data under "Fun Stuff," such as trivia, goofs, movie connections and quotes, which are, believe it or not, all posted by me.

Rated PG-13 for mature themes involving suicide, drugs, sex, partying and other bad teen habits, but should be seen by all teenagers. The rating is necessary, though it never gets anywhere near as bad as R-rated comedies. Focus on the Family even made a remark in their review that suicide, alcohol, sex, teen pregnancy, divorce, drugs, cutting, and hypocrisy aren't usually things they would list under positive elements. In this extraordinary flick, all this sin is dealt with in a Christian way.

Four stars (out of four) for the extraordinary and influential "To Save a Life," bound to be the best of 2010. I doubt even "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is going to beat it.

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

Movie Review - How to Train Your Dragon

by Alex Popp



In "How to Train your Dragon," a teenager from an island in viking times is dying to be a dragon killer like the other island residents. But he shoots down an attacking dragon known as the Night Fury that everyone hardly knows anything about. But as he sets out to kill the dragon he shot and impress his father, he gets a change in heart, but is still forced to be trained to kill dragons. In his spare time he tames the black dragon and learns to ride it.

This animated film really doesn't deserve the ratings its been getting on the internet. Although there are parts that are cute and funny, it's still a bit hard to enjoy as it's painfully predictable. Although there isn't anything particularly wrong with it, the plot is basically where "The Little Mermaid" meets "Ratatouille" in the viking world.

Rated PG for sequences of intense action that may scare young kids.

Two stars (out of four) for "How to Train your Dragon."

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

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I have to watch the film in order to counter this review. But from what I've heard, a lot of people like it (and it did very well in theaters, having "legs" where it kept going where other films would lose steam). I think the reason is because it's simply fun and enjoyable, although I should see for myself.

This film is also notable because the director Chris Sanders, is a Disney animation veteran in the 90s, and he wrote and directed Lilo & Stitch (playing the voice of Stitch). He followed it up with American Dog (renamed to Bolt), but Lassetter cut up the movie so much (Lassetter called it too quirky for its own good) that Chris bolted from Disney.

Chris Sanders then went to DreamWorks, and this was his first film (I think he actually started working on a caveman film, Crood, but he switched over to this one as soon as they got the rights to the book and were probably looking internally for the right director. The other film, Crood, will probably be out next year. I think Chris just pressed pause on that one and is finishing it up now.

In a year of Shrek 4, Toy Story 3, How to Train Your Dragon, Megamind, Despicable Me, Legend of the Guardians (Owls), and Tangled, I think it's anyone's game for the Academy Award. The Academy doesn't really like sequels, and I see Megamind as too much of a sellout and not endearing enough (and it didn't fair nearly as well as the similar but better Despicable Me), which means it's down to How to Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me, Legend of the Guardians, and Tangled. Guardians has the fact that Happy Feet (from the same studio) won the award previously, but it wasn't nearly as successful as Happy Feet. Likewise, Tangled was a step in the right direction for Disney, but the lack of character development (other than Rapunzel) and the lack of Disney magic and spectacular songs/numbers, means it might not win. So my money is on either How to Train Your Dragon or Despicable Me. I can't decide right now. We'll see.

- The Emperor

Movie Review - Inception

by Alex Popp



Your mind is the scene of the crime in "Inception," directed by Christopher Nolan, who previously directed the mega-hit, "The Dark Knight."

In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief, played by Leonardo DiCaprio from "Titanic," is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job till date, Inception.

I saw the film with my dad and brother, and from what I've read on the Internet Movie Database, it turns out that my dad was the only one who didn't like it. Through the first half of the movie, you may be wondering why things are happening, but the second half explains it all, so pay attention to speech. The visual effects and sound are excellent and you can't help but enjoy from all the points about dreams that it makes. It's, in my opinion, the greatest flick of the summer.

Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence through about three quarters of the movie.

Four stars out of four for the original and intriguing film, "Inception," which will without a doubt become a classic.

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

Movie Review - The Last Song

by Alex Popp



Do you ever really forget your first heartbreak?

Miley Cyrus plays a seventeen-year-old girl who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father, whom she hasn't really forgiven for divorcing her mom in "The Last Song" from Nicholas Sparks, the author of "The Notebook."

There she meets a handsome young man and they fall in love with each other. And being in a good mood, she is helped to reconnect with her father.

First of all, this movie is incredibly touching. I have never cried in the theater before since "Eight Below" from four years ago. I will say for the record, you can't exactly class this as a chick flick.

Also, you may be hearing rumors going around that Miley Cyrus can't act. That is incorrect. She made an excellent performance. As a matter of fact, her whole personality in the film reminded me of my sister. And that's what I like to see, as you may have guessed. I'm sorry to break it to you, Matthew, but Miley Cyrus can act. I mean it, she made like third or fourth best performance I've seen by an actress in a lead role (I haven't seen any Meryl Streep movies). And there were other great performances by Greg Kinnear as the girl's dad and particularly Bobby Coleman as her younger brother. If anyone in the movie is deserving of an Oscar nominee, it's him. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the movie half as much if it didn't have the girl's brother. He was played brilliantly.

I am a guy and I liked this film a lot. However, the thing that made me not love it was that there was a lot of kissing going on between the girl and her boyfriend when they had just started dating. I remember my mom leaning over to me in the theater and she whispered "I probably won't like this movie." But later it just turns around and she agreed.

Rated PG for this sensuality, mild language and some violence. I'd say it's okay for audiences over the age of 10. What surprised me was that they aimed the movie toward teenagers, male and female. Usually doing that, they would brought the negative content to more extreme measures, but not in this case.

Three and a half stars for the incredibly moving tear jerker, "The Last Song." It's one of the best films of the year.

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

Movie Review - The Polar Express

by Alex Popp



Don't miss the holiday film of the season, "The Polar Express," directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Tom Hanks voices five characters in this brilliantly animated movie, based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg. I always loved trains when I was a little kid and I got the book when I was 6. You can bet I was really excited to see the movie in theaters.

An pre-teenager who is losing belief in Santa Claus gets a ticket to ride on the magical steam train, The Polar Express. The boy steps on to the train on its way to the North Pole and meets up with several other non-believers. On the way, the boy goes through a lot of intense action, riding up and down roller coaster-like mountains, sliding over the ice cap and getting off the top of the train before it hits a low-clearance tunnel.

I saw it when I was 10 and I am still very impressed with this piece of art. They stuck very well with the book (beside the things they added in to make it a movie). The animation is incredible, even better than the animation of other movies like the Pixar films. The sound is so well designed and the action is so supenseful, it is impossible not to enjoy the movie, even if you aren't still a believer in fantasy. Though the movie isn't in theaters anymore, the 3D effects are almost overwhelming, too. I loved the movie so much, I saw it two more times in theaters.

Rated G, but probably should be PG for sequences of intense action.

Four stars (out of four) for the dazzling Holiday flick, "The Polar Express."

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

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Whenever I read "Don't miss the holiday film of the season" I can't help but think "the 2004 holiday season," because just "season" isn't accurate enough for me. It sounds recent. =^)

- The Emperor

Movie Review - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

by Alex Popp



Return to magic.  Return to hope.  Return to Narnia.

Your wait has ended.  Based on the novel by C.S. Lewis finally comes "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," the third installment of the Chronicles of Narnia, which are now being directed by Michael Apted, who previously directed "The World is not Enough" and "Amazing Grace."

Lucy and Edmund return to Narnia with their snobby cousin Eustace (brilliantly played by Will Poulter) and climb aboard the Dawn Treader where they are reunited with King Caspian to find seven lost Narnian lords.  They sail quickly over the Eastern Ocean toward the end of the world.  Along the way, they are given the task of breaking the spell of the green mist and the Dark Island, the island where dreams come true.

If you loved the first two movies, as I did, this one will blow you away, particularly if you see it in 3D.

This is without a doubt the funniest of the three, and like the first two, the special effects are so well done.  In addition, it has majestic 3D aspects, that seem to give your more than your money's worth, and the art direction of the ship are deserving of an Oscar nomination.  There aren't as many fight scenes as its predecessor, "Prince Caspian," but still with some very entertaining action sequences, especially the battle with the Sea Serpent. 

It is a bit different from the book, but it's difficult to mind, though my family are fans the novels.  There is a new subplot involving the Narnian lords' swords, but no movie is ever the exact same as the book.  You must understand, I am very visual and I love great cinematic experiences.  Normally, I would say that a movie is better than its book, though most seem to diagree.  With the Narnia series, I don't bother comparing.  The books and the movies are both great in different ways and I love them both.

So are there still the Biblical messages that were in the book?  Even more.  Lucy, Edmund and Eustace all learn morals about self-worth, loyalty and living by faith and not by sight.  None of these were in the book.  The final scene when Aslan appears is even tear-jerking and you really feel for the characters.  In my opinion, the movie stirs more emotion than the novel.  I was glad that my dad wasn't too disappointed; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is his favorite book of the series.  He was pleasantly surprised that they did include the most important line in the series: Aslan's words, "In your world, I have another name."  If the movie was a bit more like the book, I bet even C.S. Lewis would have loved it.

Rated PG for sequences of fantasy violence and some fairly scary images, but didn't scare my ten-year-old sister too much.

Four stars (out of four) for the entertaining and deeply touching "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader."  It makes the first two movies look like "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

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I'm confused by that last sentence. I thought Return of the King was the best of the LOTR films. =^)

- TAE

Movie Review - Hubble 3D

by Alex Popp



The Imax sparkles in the new documentary, "Hubble 3D."

This astounding 45-minute film, narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, tells the true story the effort of seven astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis to repair the Hubble Space Telescope and to take pictures of the outside universe. Meanwhile, we see examples of other galaxies and stars billions of miles from earth.

And of course, the narrator asked, "How could all this have possibly gotten here?" We Christians have the answer: it's just more evidence that there must be a Creator. The 3D effects are neat, but never overwhelming.

Three and a half stars for the dazzling Imax movie, "Hubble 3D," playing now at the Pacific Science Center.

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

Movie Review - The Nativity Story

by Alex Popp

Here's a Christmas movie that we should review!



Her child would change the world.

"The Nativity Story" is the lousy version of the story of Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem to give birth to Jesus Christ, directed by Catherine Hardwicke.

Why do I call it lousy?  Some may find this just a reminder of what Jesus did for us, but there is a lot of inaccuracy that draws your mind away from the story.  For example, the Bible says that a multitude of the Heavenly Hosts filled the sky, praising God.  How does a multitude translate as one?  I also wish they had put it in Hebrew and the other languages that were used at the time and location of this historical event, like "The Passion of the Christ."

I'll leave the inaccuracy for a minute to another thing that offended me.  You may think I'm dumb for cringing at this, but Jesus was shown naked.  Sure he was only a baby, but still he's our Savior and I find it disrespectful.

But the thing that disappointed me the most about the movie was that there was trouble getting to Bethlehem because Joseph and Mary didn't want to marry each other.  Does anyone remember this incident in the Bible?  Didn't think so.  God's Word says specifically that they were, in fact, engaged.

They really could have done a great deal better if they had stayed with the Bible.

Rated PG for some brief scenes of violence.

Two stars out of four for "The Nativity Story."

Review by Alex Popp.

Movie Review - Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

by Alex Popp



Defy the future.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a rogue prince who has a problem to settle with his uncle in the mystical lands of Persia in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," based on the very popular video game.

He and a mysterious princess race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time -- a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world. The two of them embark on a perilous quest to stop an evil mastermind's plot for ultimate power with the mystical weapon.

This was one I did not expect my mom to love. There is a ton of action including parquor and a storyline partially based on belief in multiple gods. If you're easily offended by that kind of thing, than maybe you should pick a different movie. But I kinda liked "Prince of Persia." The action scenes are fun and the sub plot of the prince and the princess was original, although the main plot may remind you of "The Lion King." The art direction, visual effects and costume design are neat though, making up for any unoriginality.

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence throughout.

Three stars (out of four) for "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time."

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

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Click here to see why it wasn't as big of a hit as it should have been:

http://cartoondisneypics.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-prince-of-persia-wasnt-as-big-of.html

Movie Review - The Blind Side

by Alex Popp



Based on the extraordinary true story of Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, who take in a homeless teenage African-American in "The Blind Side."

The teenager has no idea who his father is, and his mother is a crack head. Michael has had little formal education and few skills to help him learn. Leigh Anne, played by Sandra Bullock, soon takes charge, however, as is her nature, ensuring that the young man has every opportunity to succeed. When he expresses an interest in football, she goes all out to help him, including giving the coach a few ideas on how best to use Michael's skills. They not only provide him with a loving home, but they hire a tutor to help him improve his grades to the point where he would qualify for an NCAA Division I athletic scholarship. Michael Oher was the first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 NFL draft.

At first, this looked like just another sports movie, but it was far more than that. In fact, the sports are focused on little enough that you can't exactly class this as a sports movie. Rather it's a movie about family and unconditional love, just as touching and sigh-worthy as "The Last Song."

I was not surprised at all that Sandra Bullock won the Academy Award for Best Actress this year. She made a phenomenal performance. When my dad and I saw this in the theater, we both agreed that she deserved to win Best Actress. He and I also agreed that it was one of the best films of 2009. I think the only one he liked better from that year was "Knowing." I was mostly glad that I picked to see a movie that he enjoyed; it rarely ever happens.

Rated PG-13 for some racial issues and a crude reference to the male anatomy that was necessary, but it could have been rephrased.

Three and a half stars (out of four) for "The Blind Side," and the only way you couldn't like it is if you were blind.

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

Why Prince of Persia wasn't as big of a hit as it could have been

The Prince of Persia film had a lot going for it...

Jerry Bruckheimer produced it. Jerry has produced 18 films to gross over 100 million dollars in the US, including Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, and The Rock.

Mike Newell directed it. Mike directed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which brought in $290 million in the US.

The actress, Gemma Arteron, was amazing as the Princess. She is one to watch out for. She was also Io in Clash of the Titans (2010), and she was in RocknRolla.

Prince of Persia only brought in $90 million in the US, even though it cost $200 million to make it. Fortunately, it also made $244 million outside the US, so whatever it had, it was good enough for foreigners.

Essentially, Prince of Persia had the Orlando Bloom character from Pirates, but it was lacking the Jack Sparrow character. And that explains why it was piopular in places that cared more about the action and effects than the characters.

However, one redeeming character was brought to life by Alfred Molina, in what I think was his second-best performance. His best was in The Man Who Knew to Little with Bill Murray.

I give the film three out of four stars.

The Emperor

Movie Review - Avatar

by Alex Popp



Enter the World.

Sam Worthington plays a former marine in the incredible flick "Avatar," directed by James Cameron, who previously directed "Titanic." And it took over "Titanic"'s place as the most popular motion picture of all time.

A lame man, "a member of the Jarhead clan," goes on an expedition to the sacred planet of Pandora in a program designed to help him get his legs back. He steps into the body that resembles that of an inhabitant of the planet, with blue skin and standing eleven feet high. As he explores the new world, he gets acquainted with Neytiri, a member of the Na'vi, and he eventually learns to call the planet home.

It was no wonder everyone was talking about it. This film is 60% dazzling CGI, unlike anything I have ever seen on screen before. The moviemakers spent 15 years and $280 million putting this movie together, not just the visuals, but also the art direction, sound, and the beautiful score composed by James Horner. I also don't think anyone liked the plot more than me. Everyone's been saying that the plot is nothing new. We've seen it in "Dances with Wolves," "Pocahontas," etc., but, although I don't think many others would agree, I considered the plot this time to be used in a different way. Of course someone might transfer to a different part of the world, but another world altogether? That's scary stuff to me. And I saw a lot of spiritual content, including the Na'vis philosphy that every member of the Na'vi are born twice, and the second time they're part of the people. Does that sound familiar?

This was one I wanted to give four stars to, however it does have an environmental theme. In fact, Ey'wa, the deity of the Na'vi people, is meant to be a mixed-up pronounciation of Yahweh. But although some might say that this movie is just flat out against Christianity, some of the spirituality that doesn't involve their goddess was interesting to me.

Rated PG-13 for intense battle sequences, sensuality, and unneccesary language.

Three and a half stars (out of four) for the stunning cinematic experience, "Avatar."

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

Toy Story 3 Review: Toy Story 2 was better

WARNING: Spoilers

I think my opinion differs from my friend Sibry (and others), but nonetheless I think Toy Story 2 was better.



Sure, the animation was up a notch, they spanned more sets, upped the effects, and cut to humans more. And the Spanish Buzz Lightyear gag was so funny that you get dissappointed when normal Tim Allen takes back over... something I think they recognized, so they put the gag at the end where Buzz danced to the Spanish music.

And sure, the movie's going to make more money. Actually, it's currently the #2 Pixar movie and will easily become the #1 Pixar movie and #2 animated film of all time, and it might even give Shrek 2 a run for it's money as the #1 animated film of all time.

But really, was Toy Story 3 better?

I say no. Perhaps it was better than the first one, and it definitely deserves the box office it's getting, and it's entertaining and hilarious, but I don't think it's better than the second Toy Story movie. This one:



First, I liked the Toy Story 2 villains better. I liked the Wayne Knight human villain, Al (even Toy Story 1 had Sid as a villain), and the villain just doesn't seem as difficult to beat when it's another toy (which I think Toy Story 3 recognized, so they made the villain into a gang of toys). Even Toy Story 1 has Sid as the villain (and no real toy villains).

So the villains in Toy Story 2 were Kelsey Grammer's Stinky Pete, Wayne Knight's Al, and Emperor Zurg was sort of a comical villain that really brought Buzz's character to life (not as funny as Spanish Buzz, but it tied in better to Buzz's character).

So when Lotso shows up in Toy Story 3, I can't help but feel that it's obvious he's the villain and he's doing exactly what Stinky Pete did (stabbing the other toys in the back to create his toy utopia). Stinky Pete was slightly more interesting because he wasn't a stuffed animal, and he had more of a turn because you thought he was stuck in plastic wrapping.

The "demise" was even similar for both Lotso and Pete. Pete got what he deserved by being picked up by the artistic girl in the airport, and Lotso got what he deserved when the trucker attached him to the grill. It's sort of a sentence to an eternity of torture (verses the more common deaths that Disney and DreamWorks villains get).

So that's all the first reason.

The second reason is how personal and direct the theme was to the key characters. In the sense of how they related to Andy, the third movie actually did that better than the first two. However, in the sense to how the story related to Woody, the primary character and Buzz, the secondary character, Toy Story 3 did that the least. And the best one was Toy Story 2.

In Toy Story 2, Woody explored this whole new world of how he was from a puppet-based TV show called Woody's Roundup. It was personal, it was fun, and the new characters were instantly tied in to him (verses the new Toy Story 3 characters; the most interesting one was Michael Keaton's Ken, because he was connected to Barbie). Likewise, Buzz's littler interactions in Toy Story 2 with Zurg were also much more personal and interesting.

So there you have it. Those are the two reasons why I liked Toy Story 2 better.

Was Toy Story 3 a great movie? Yes. Go watch it if you haven't. And if you haven't watched it, I kind of just spoiled it for you (but I warned you first). So sorry about that.

Is Toy Story 3 worth watching in 3D? No. I see no signs that the makers tried to optimize it for 3D. Maybe a tiny bit of thought, especially on things like the title letters, but nothing super impressive.

Overall, it was a worthy successor a great film.

- The Emperor

Movie Review - Letters to God

by Alex Popp



Hope is contagious...

A young boy fighting cancer writes letters to God, touching lives in his neighborhood and community and inspiring hope among everyone he comes in contact with in "Letters to God," from the church that brought you "Fireproof."

An unsuspecting substitute postman, with a troubled life of his own, becomes entangled in the boy's journey and his family by reading the letters. They inspire him to seek a better life for himself and his own son he's lost through his alcohol addiction.

I would say that this film is about as good as "Fireproof" and is more suitable for younger audiences. The parts with the kids are cute, even touching at times. Like most low-budget movies, there are parts that are badly played with mostly unknown actors, except for Maree Cheatham from "Total Recall." But this touching little film will without a doubt move Christian families.

Rated PG, despite the Family Approved seal that it got, for references to cancer and alcohol, but it should be suitable for kids over the age of 6.

Three stars (out of four) for "Letters to God."

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

Movie Review - Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

by Alex Popp



The chipmunks, voiced by Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jesse McCartney, are back in "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel."

When Alvin, Simon, and Theodore go back to school, they are given the task of saving their school's music program that is in jeopardy when Ian, the boys' evil ex-manager, introduces "The Chipettes," a gain of female chipmunks who Alvin, Simon and Theodore fall for. Now the battle of the bands is on.

I have a short review here, but I encourage you to choose a different movie. Like in the first "Alvin," the chipmunks are cute with their sped-up voices, but the plot is just a bit dumb and flat.

Rated PG for some mildly suggestive humor.

Two stars (out of four) for "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel."

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

Tangled - cartoondisneypics movie review

I think this review will be a work in progress because of the magnitude of what the film represents (as far as Disney's latest attempt at a fairy tale)...

So we saw Tangled, and it brings up a multitude of emotions. Here are our basic thoughts...

1. It's a step in the right direction from A Princess and a Frog. Honestly, I had to fast-forward about 40% of Princess and a Frog for my 5 and unders (demons? and voo-doo? really?). (Plus the P&F characters were interesting, but they were all thrown together randomly as they wandered around, and it was really a frog movie - about 80% of it was them as frogs, and if you're going to do a frog movie, you should do it in 3D and really get us in the world of frogs better.) So Tangled is a step in the right direction. I think Tarzan was Disney's last great fairy tale (although Princess and a Frog was "good") and the last one to be so successful. Tangled isn't as good as Tarzan, but it probably fairs better than Hercules, Hunchback, and Pocahontas for me, which means Disney finally got back to making fairy tales the right way again.

2. It's doing well in the box office. More on that later, but the film is probably doing better than any Disney animated film since Tarzan (which isn't saying a ton, but still, it's something).

3. There's only one good number in it. By "number" I mean the combination of music, how memorable it is, and then the fun of what's happening during the song. And that's the tavern song (The Ugly Duckling song about dreams). Compare that to Little Mermaid (3 songs), Beauty and the Beast (4 songs), Aladdin (4 songs), and Lion King (4 songs). You do have to give them points for "Mother Knows Best" in Tangled, but it was hardly as memorable or likable as the Snugly Duckling song or the greats of those other Disney films (such as the Beauty and the Beast tavern song about Gaston or even Scar's song in Lion King; "Mother Knows Best" felt a little too like "let's do this classic song idea bit" rather than anything innovative).

4. Why is this an animation? You've got to ask yourself this. Why isn't this a live-action film? Every animation needs to answer this question. My wife said, "Because kids like those films better." Well that's not a reason to spend 3 times the money on it (and many more years) in order to animate it. But basically that's a rhetorical question that you need to ask during animation development. And I got the hint that they never asked it. That's the premise behind every Pixar film. They say, "What can we do with 3D animation that's hard or impossible in real life? Toys. Bugs. Monsters. Talking fish. Super heroes. Robots. Rats. Talking cars." Take a look at Cinderella (talking mice, Fairy Godmother, Lucifer, and various animals), Little Mermaid (mermaid, sebastian, flounder, Skuttle, etc.), Aladdin (Genie, Abu, Iago, carpet ride, magic lamp), Lion King (everything), Beauty and the Beast (Beast and when working on the film, they/Ashman asked that question, and that's how they came up with the enchanted household items/servants), Hunchback (castle top scenes and the gargoyles that come alive), and Tarzan (talking apes and elephant and some tree surfing effects). And then you have Tangled (magic and long hair effects, and a chameleon and horse with personalities). So in that sense, Tangled doesn't really have much of a reason to be an animation. This was also a problem in Pocahontas (talking tree, and a raccoon, a pug dog, and a hummingbird with personalities).

5. What actually happens? I can't help but leave the film thinking... yes, they filled the time with an interesting ongoing chase and interesting characters. But with what actually happened? She was in a tower, left, fell in love, and went back. Hmmm. I really didn't seem to enjoy or get immersed in any one place or any one experience (except briefly in the Snugly Duckling tavern). It was just one ongoing sequence of chasing and backstabbery. That kept me interested, but it doesn't make me want to watch it again or tell my friends.

6. Great characters, but maybe they weren't used as well as they could have been. Despite my misgivings of the film, I loved the characters in Tangled. Rapunzel was darling and charming (even Mandy Moore's light lisp gave her personality), Lady Gothel was a wonderfully wicked villain who used the power of her scheming mind, Flynn was a fantastic hero, Pascal the Chameleon was hilarious and fun, and Maximus the horse was also a fantastic and fun character that made a nice twist. However, I couldn't help but want to see Flynn more before he met Rapunzel, Maximus before he met Flynn, what Lady Gothel does for fun and when she's away from Rapunzel, and even what the almost nonexistent King and Queen do and what they're like. The only character that I felt acquainted with enough was Rapunzel herself. Everybody else made me want to see them more outside this sequence of chases and backstabbery. It seems that if the main purpose of changing the title of the film from "Rapunzel" to "Tangled" was to focus on Flynn and their relationship more, then, well, they kind of failed (except for the title change, of course), because this movie only told Rapunzel's story well enough. Which leads to...

7. Why change the name? Why call Rapunzel Tangled? It was clearly about Rapunzel. I felt like I barely knew Flynn, and it just made me want to see more of his past. Essentially they didn't show us a ton of Jasmine before she met Aladdin. But they showed us a few scenes to get us to like her and understand that she wants to run away. We didn't even get that with Flynn. All we got was the scene where he stole the crown. Sure, it was cool, but it wasn't enough. It certainly wasn't a reason to rename the fairy tale! So why did they? Answer: Because the lack of success from Princess and the Frog scared them. So they figured if you name the film after the princess then the film doesn't do well. WHAAAAT??? That's hogwash. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Cinderella. Sleeping Beauty. Little Mermaid. Pocahontas. Mulan. It's especially laughable because they purposefully butchered the Princess and the Frog name to begin with. It's The Frog Prince. That's the fairy tale. So just don't go out of your way to change the name and the underlying story (and don't make a frog movie that heavily features demons). That's what they should have learned from Princess and a Frog. Anyway...

8. Narrations aren't all that fun. Unfortunately, the movie begins with the narration. Sure, it works okay, but with cuts to the past like that, they could have lengthened out the King and Queen's scene a little for us to get to know them (you know, have them talk and stuff). And it would have been good to get to know Lady Gothel a bit as well. (But I did think it was clever how Flynn said he was d*********** at the beginning and how that played out later in the story.) In other words, the movie should begin with character and personality and emotion, not a narration.

9. Tangled looks fantastic. This could be my first compliment that isn't back-handed. =^)    - No negatives here. They nailed the 3D style of Disney's 2D animated fairy tale humans better than anyone (Shrek, Tinker Bell movies, Pixar, anyone). Hair is notoriously hard in 3D animation, and they pretty much flaunt it through most of the film. So much so that I eventually forgot that I was even looking at 3D hair and was immersed in the film. And I couldn't help but look at things like the singing rats in the tavern and all the people in the kingdom and think, "Wow, they really just made and animated whatever they wanted, even if it was only briefly on the screen." I mean, Pixar made a whole movie about rats, and then Tangled makes a few great ones and just throws them away on a few quick jokes. It's impressive. Okay, so here's a backhanded compliment: I loved the lighting and environments, but the lighting didn't impress me the way seeing the light on the fish above water at the pier in Finding Nemo did. (But no other lighting has impressed me like that did, to be fair.)

Here's how I'd rank it with the other Disney Fairy Tales for me (1989 and later)...

1. Aladdin
2. Beauty and the Beast
3. Lion King
4. Tarzan
5. Little Mermaid
6. Mulan
7. Tangled
8. Pocohontas
9. Hercules
10. Princess and the Frog
11. Hunchback of Notre Dame
12. Brother Bear

Besting Pocahontas is still a phenomenal feat, but Pocahontas also suffered from a poor answer to "why is this an animation?" Their answer was similar to Tangled... a magical tree and animals that play around. Using animation to give animals personality works, but it doesn't bring characters to life the way the talking mice in Cinderella do, Flounder and Sebastian, Mushu in Mulan, Lumiere and Cogsworth, Chip and Mrs. Potts, Iago and the Genie, Timon and Pumbaa, and others.

And because I'm a Disney nut, here is the list with Disney's older fairy tales. It's hard to decide what a fairy tale is, but I'm basically adding in Snow White, Pinocchio, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Sword in the Stone, and Black Cauldron. Let me know if you think other films qualify as fairy tales.

So here's the list of my favorite Disney fairy tales (all time):

1. Aladdin
2. Beauty and the Beast
3. Cinderella
4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
5. Lion King
6. Tarzan
7. Little Mermaid
8. Peter Pan
9. Pinocchio
10. Mulan
11. Tangled
12. Sleeping Beauty
13. Pocohontas
14. Sword in the Stone
15. Black Cauldron
16. Hercules
17. Princess and the Frog
18. Hunchback of Notre Dame
19. Brother Bear

I know, comparing some of these films is like comparing apples to oranges, especially classics without as strong romantic angles, like Pinocchio and Peter Pan. Plus, if you were going to eliminate the ones that were written as "novels" more recently, you'd eliminate Tarzan, Peter Pan (play), Pinocchio, Sword in the Stone, Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Black Cauldron. And then, on those grounds, you'd have to eliminate Lion King because it's basically an original tale based on Hamlet, Pocahontas because it's a true story, and Princess and the Frog because it was inspired by the 2002 novel The Frog Princess. So it gets a little fuzzy. =^)

I hope you watch Tangled if you haven't, and then tell us what you think of it! (And how our review stacks up.)

- The Emperor

Movie Review - Toy Story 3

by Alex Popp



In "Toy Story 3," the toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it's up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home.

I was expecting a bit more from this film. It isn't as the tagline says "The Breakout Comedy of the Summer." There were only a few parts that were really funny. And I think Pixar wasn't trying very hard to put together a middle-of-the-movie plot. I kinda saw the villain in the movie, Lot-so Huggin' Bear, as the same character as The Prosvector in "Toy Story 2," which I would have to say is the best of the three. But the first fifteen minutes and the last half-hour of the movie are very poignant and it seems that the adults were more moved than the kids. It is vaguely worth it.

Rated G, but it might get a bit too scary for very young movie goers.

Three (out of four) stars for "Toy Story 3."

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

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To see The Emperor's review of Toy Story 3 (why Toy Story 2 was better), click here:

http://cartoondisneypics.blogspot.com/2011/04/toy-story-3-review-toy-story-2-was.html

Enjoy!

Movie Review - Extraordinary Measures

by Alex Popp



Don't hope for a miracle. Make one.

"Extraordinary Measures" tells the true story of John Crowley, portrayed by Brendan Fraser, who went against all odds to find a cure for Pompe Disease that his children had. John contacts Dr. Robert Stonehill, played by Harrison Ford from the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" sagas, on an enzyme treatment. He has little money to pursue his research and a thorny personality that drives away colleagues and funders. John and his wife Aileen, played by Keri Russell from "Bedtime Stories," raise money to get Stonehill going, and then John takes on the task full time, working with venture capitalists and then a rival team of researchers.

The trailers and tagline made it look like a moving flick, but to tell you the truth, I turned off the TV dry-eyed. It was a lot more foul than it needed to be, and I almost would have made it PG-13 rather than PG. It was more interesting than moving. (SPOILER WARNING!) These were actual events about how two men together found a cure for a deadly disease.

Rated PG for the fairly mature theme, plenty of language, a crude reference to the male anatomy, and a mild sex moment.

Two and a half stars (out of four) for "Extraordinary Measures," which goes to the average measure of movie quality.

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

Movie Review - Despicable Me

by Alex Popp



Superbad. Superdad.

Steve Carell voices a criminal mastermind in the ridiculous animated comedy "Despicable Me." Just the sound of the title made me giggle.

The wanna be supervillain isn't good enough for his boss, so he and his stupid minions put together an outrageous plot to steal the moon. In order to get a weapon known as the Shrink Ray from his arch nemesis, he adopts three adorable girls to sell him cookies while he takes what he needs. But he finds out he's put a lot more work on his hands with the three girls at his place.

I haven't laughed so hard since "Horton Hears a Who!," and it wasn't much of a surprise because it had the same co-financer, Blue Sky Studios. The minions are impossible not to laugh at, and at the same time I had to nod my head at the last fifteen minutes of the movie. It meant a lot to me and my family, because I have an adopted sister.

Rated PG for rude bodily-functioning humor, but should be suitable for kids over the age of 4.

Three and a half stars (out of four) for "Despicable Me," which isn't very despciable.

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.