Review #1,475: 'The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part' (2019)

Before Phil Lord and Christopher Miller surprised everybody with one of the best films of 2014, the idea of a movie based on a toy line seemed like a rather hopeless idea. Yes, the building blocks and miniature figures of Lego have been adored by both children and adults alike for decades, but they are still produced by a company whose main focus is naturally on your wallets. It felt inevitable that The Lego Movie would be a soulless feature-length advertisement, but not only did it feature some of the most eye-popping CG animation in recent memory (which also felt hand-crafted), it also melted our hearts by taking the action into the real world, where we discover that events are being conjured by the imagination of a young boy. His father, an avid collector played by Will Ferrell, had forgotten the true meaning of playtime. Lego, after all, is about whatever you want it to be.

The Lego Movie wasn't just great, it was awesome. It was also unfairly snubbed by the Academy, but with a worldwide box-office gross of just shy of $500 million, Lord and Miller's film was a huge hit and seemingly the beginning of a lucrative new big-screen franchise. The Lego Batman Movie was next, successfully capitalising on the appeal of Will Arnett's supporting character and opening up Lego's own DC universe. The juggernaut started to creak and show signs of fatigue with The Lego Ninjago Movie however, which arrived the same year as Batman, so the brand was allowed a bit of time to breathe before its next instalment. The big question is does The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part steer this yellow-tinged universe back on course, or has it burnt itself out? The good news is that this sequel is far more the former than the latter, but despite the skills of Lord and Miller on the screenplay (Mike Mitchell has moved in to direct), it does suffer slightly from sequelitis.

The end of The Lego Movie saw the arrival of the real-world family's young girl on the playing field, and with her comes unicorns and Duplo, both unwelcome arrivals in the world built up by the young boy. As a result, Bricksburg has become Apocalypseburg, a Mad Max-esque wasteland turned to dust by the invading Duplo aliens. While Wyldstyle/Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) finds the wastelands a perfect place in which to brood and gaze seriously into the distance, Emmet (Chris Pratt) maintains an upbeat attitude, enthusiastically purchasing his morning coffees and listening to remixes of his favourite song, Everything Is Awesome. Despite being plagued by visions of Armageddon, Emmet builds Lucy their dream home, but their attempts to live a normal life are scuppered by the arrival of intergalactic traveller Sweet Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz), a mini-doll from the 'Systar System' who has come to take the strongest leader away to marry Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi (Tiffany Haddish). Naturally, that leader is Batman, and he along with Lucy, Benny (Charlie Day), MetalBeard (Nick Offerman) and Unikitty (Alison Brie), find themselves kidnapped and taken to another galaxy.

The premise sounds fun and that's precisely what it is. It maintains the madcap energy of the first film and brings back memorable characters, throwing in more meta-jokes and visual gags than you can shake a stick at. But The Lego Movie was fun and so much more, and Lord and Miller really set the bar high for any future sequels. The Second Part keeps the family thread going, this time with Mom (Maya Rudolph) trying to keep the peace between older son and younger daughter, but doesn't bring anything new to the table. One of the funnest aspects of the original was tying to keep up the amount of characters from both pop culture and real life showing their faces, but the supporting cast seems much thinner this time around. There's a joke about Marvel not returning the calls, and in fact no characters from the world of Disney show their faces. More focus could have been given to other DC figures who show up, particularly Channing Tatum's Superman and Jonah Hill's Green Lantern, who both seem to be having a great time behind the microphone. It's still a rollicking ride, and it only seems like a slight let-down because, somehow, we have come to expect something special from these Lego romps. The film boasts a new catchy song called, um, Catchy Song, which warns 'This song's gonna get stuck inside your head." And in your head it will certainly remain, but the rest of the movie sadly won't.


Directed by: Mike Mitchell
Voices: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Maya Rudolph
Country: Denmark/Norway/Australia/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,473: 'Monsters vs. Aliens' (2009)

When it comes to big-screen animation, it's pretty widely accepted that Pixar frequently mines critical and commercial gold whilst their biggest rival, Dreamworks Animation, provides the fluff. Pixar certainly possess the largest awards cabinet, but Dreamworks know how to attract an audience, with the likes of Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon all developing into successful franchises with memorable characters. With the market now aggressively over-saturated with animated efforts for the whole family, a few of their titles have flown under the radar, and sometimes unfairly. 2009's Monsters vs. Aliens is one such example: a fun, funny and heartfelt throwback to 50's B-movies that spawned some spin-off shorts, but wasn't successful enough to warrant a sequel.

In California, Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) is waiting to marry her vain TV weatherman fiance Derek (Paul Rudd), who has just announced the news of a job offer in another state. Before the wedding ceremony kicks off however, a huge asteroid crashes down on top of Susan. and although she appears unaffected at first, the mysterious energy given off by the rock causes her to grow to enormous size. With her head now peaking through the roof and the guests running for their lives, the military are quick on the scene, capturing Susan and taker her to a secret government facility ran by General W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland), who has been hoarding a collection of strange monsters for decades.

There she meets fellow captives B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), a boneless blob of blue goo; Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. (Hugh Laurie), a genius half-man, half-insect; The Missing Link (Will Arnett), a hybrid of sea creature and ape, and Insectosaurus, a gargantuan mutated bug. Their futures look increasingly bleak, but when alien Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) arrives on Earth in search of the crashed meteorite, US President Hathaway (Stephen Colbert), gives Monger the go-ahead to put his freaky prisoners to the test and straight into battle with the intergalactic invader.

B-movie fans will spot the homages immediately, and there's enough of a modern twist to the rag-tag gang of 'monsters' to delight any children watching. The references are obvious: there's Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Blob, The Fly, Creature from the Black Lagoon and Mothra, but the characters are so lovingly crafted and terrifically voiced by a talented cast that they feel more love letter than straight rip-off. Although there are a few laugh-out-loud moments, Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon's film, working from a script by no less than five writers, fails to be consistently funny, and the arrival of Gallaxhar is a one-note plot device designed to bring everybody together. But there are some exciting set-pieces, particularly whenever the weirdly adorable Insectosaurus is involved, and there is enough heart woven into its fabric to make Monsters vs. Aliens one of Dreamworks' most underappreciated animations.


Directed by: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon
Voices: Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Stephen Colbert, Paul Rudd
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,469: 'How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World' (2019)

Loosely based on the series of books by Cressida Cowell, the How to Train Your Dragon series has grown to become the jewel in the somewhat small and dusty crown of Dreamworks Animation. With Pixar killing it near enough year in, year out, the adventures of reluctant Viking leader Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his trusted Night Fury pal are the closest thing that Dreamworks have ever come to the quality and visual splendour of its most fearsome rivals. If you've kept up with the series since its debut in 2010, you'll have watched Hiccup grow out of his father's shadow into a battle-scarred warrior and forward-thinking frontiersman, who brought a close to his tribe's never-ending war with the dragons to discover the fire-breathing beasts actually make for useful and loving friends. The second instalment veered into incredibly dark territory, signalling a maturing tone that matched the protagonist's transformation from nervous kid to an innovator destined to change the lives of his people forever.

The third and presumably final entry into the series, The Hidden World, doesn't darken the tone further - it is still a kids' film after all - but you get the sense from very early on that we are heading inevitably towards an emotional parting of ways. Hiccup and his friends continue their quest to rescue captive dragons and bring them back to the village of Berk to live in harmony with humans. The problem is that they've become so good at their search-and-rescue missions that their home is now overcrowded with the lumbering beasts. Hiccup believes their only hope lies in 'the hidden world, a mysterious and possibly make-believe haven at the edge of the world spoken of by his late father Stoick (Gerard Butler). But cracks start to appear in the young chieftan's plans when his dragon and best friend Toothless happens across a Light Fury, the female of his species. Wild and distrusting of humans, the female bolts from Toothless' advances any time Hiccup shows his face to help, and it becomes clear that if he is ever to see his best bud happy, he must also let his dragon run free.

As ever, there's a dragon-hating antagonist to jeopardise Hiccup's plans in the form of renowned hunter Grimmel the Grisly (F. Murray Abraham), whose own mind-controlled dragons have the ability to vomit acid and melt pretty much anything in their wake. He certainly looks and sounds cool, but Grimmel shares much of the same motivation as the bad guys that come before him, and the character really symbolises the film's overall reluctance to dig that little bit deeper. For me, How to Train Your Dragon 2 really stepped up the game for this franchise, but it feels like returning director Dean DeBlois is happy to ease off the accelerator and ride this trilogy-closer out. If this were practically any other series, The Hidden World would be a delightful surprise, offering up great moments like the opening night-time raid and the sight of Toothless clumsily attempting win over his potential mate, the latter proving to be one of the most charming and heart-warming scenes of the entire trilogy. But with the knowledge of how great this could have been, The Hidden World is a disappointment, fizzling out with an ending that undoubtedly satisfies, but when compared to the emotional wallop of, say, Toy Story 3, plays it rather safe.


Directed by: Dean DeBlois
Voices: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, F. Murray Abraham, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,456: 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' (2018)

When Sony announced a year or so ago that they were planning an animated take on the Spider-Man character, the question was asked by even the most hardcore of fans of whether yet another incarnation of everybody's favourite web-crawler can really be justified. After all, in the last 17 years alone, there's been Sam Raimi's popular trilogy starring Tobey Maguire, Marc Webb's ill-fated reboot in 2012, and most recently Tom Holland has donned the mask for the hero's introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse doesn't only introduce a new Spidey in the form of Miles Morales, but also includes two versions of Peter Parker, as well as four other versions of the world's most popular superhero. The fact that the film isn't a cluster-fuck is a miracle in itself. The fact that this is the best Spider-Man movie ever made is something else entirely.

Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is an average teenager who, like the majority of kids his age, look up to and admire their friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man (Chris Pine). When he isn't in school, Miles divides his time between his over-protective police officer father (Brian Tyree Henry) and his cooler, scrappier Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali). The latter encourages his nephew's passion for graffiti art, and as Miles works on his new project in an abandoned subway station, he is bitten by a radioactive spider. He starts to stick to his classmates and hear a voice-over in his head (one of the film's many clever ways of bringing the comic-book page to life), but he is faced with his biggest dilemma when he accidentally stumbles upon Spider-Man battling the Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), who is working on a particle accelerator with the ability to access parallel dimensions. The fight ends in disaster, with the machine opening up wormholes long enough to bring a host of parallel Spider-People into their world.

With Kingpin threatening to reactivate the device and destroy the city, Miles carries the fate of his friends and family with him, but he is not alone. Helping the youngster master his new abilities are the overweight Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), Spider-Woman aka Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), the black-and-white Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), wise-cracking cartoon Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), and SP//dr, a spider-controlled robot who shares a telepathic link with a young Japanese girl (Kimiko Glenn). Such a large collection of characters who each share similar yet personal origins could have been an overload, but directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman - working from a script by Rothman and Phil Lord - wisely keep the focus on Miles, with the rest serving as the new Spider-Man's mentor in their own unique way. Rather than steal the attention away from Miles, the gang actually get to the root of what makes Spider-Man such a compelling hero. They may all be plagued by tragedy and loss, but they will prevail in their battle against evil with fearless determination and good humour. Spider-Verse understands the character better than Sam Raimi, Marc Webb and Jon Watts ever could, as good as some of the previous films have been.

This new host of Spider-People also provide some of the film's funniest moments, whether it be overly-serious brooding of Cage's Noir or the madcap anime weirdness of SP//dr. It's ever funnier than Homecoming, a film which embraced the comedic side of the hero, and isn't afraid to take hilarious digs at the failures of its predecessors (we all remember the Spider-Man 3 emo-dance and face-jiggle). Most impressive of all is Spider-Verse's groundbreaking animation, which combines various styles and techniques to create a truly stimulating experience that could be paused at any moment and admired as a stunning piece of art. The sight of Spider-Man gliding through the city skyline back in 2002 will forever remain iconic, but Miles' first leap from the edge of a building will inspire a whole new generation of fans with its vertigo-inducing imagery and dazzling neon colours. Of course, this would all be decoration if the characters and story didn't captivate, but Spider-Verse achieves this in abundance. Miles is a great hero to root for: confidant enough to justify his new power set, yet bumbling enough to be relatable to any teenagers watching. Fantastic all-round, and fully deserving of its recent Oscar win for Best Animated Feature.


Directed by: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
Voices: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, John Mulaney
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,453: 'Ralph Breaks the Internet' (2018)

While 2012's Wreck-It Ralph is far from Pixar's most accomplished achievement, it was a fun tale of friendship and nostalgia as our two lovable heroes romped their way through a variety of games, both modern and retro. Despite the appeal of its characters, the ending hardly cried out for a sequel, but the world created by Rich Moore and his team of animators offered endless possibilities with which the story could be taken. With demand for 80's and 90's nostalgia at an all-time high, you have to wonder why a sequel took a whole six years to arrive. While one of the main appeals of Wreck-It Ralph was seeing a bunch of familiar characters from your childhood weaved into the story and placed into everyday situations, this follow-up takes Ralph and best pal Vanellope out of their pixelated comfort-zone and into a brave new world of pop-up ads and nightmarish comment sections.

Six years have also passed for arcade-game villain Ralph (John C. Reilly) and glitchy Sugar Rush racer Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), who both enjoy a routine-based life of doing their video game duty by day and knocking back root beers together at night. But while Ralph finds comfort in familiarity, Vanellope longs for something different. In an attempt to cheer up his best friend, Ralph creates a special new track in Sugar Rush, but the stunt backfires when the steering-wheel breaks in the real world and Vanellope is left without a game. However, the shiny new arrival at Litwak's Family Fun Centre and Arcade - the internet - may offer a glimmer of hope in the form of eBay, where one user has a replacement steering-wheel up for auction. So, the two friends venture into this digital metropolis of corporate logos and dead-eyed avatars to buy the part, only they don't have any money to back up their winning bid.

Of course, there's always money to be made on the internet if you know how, and with the help of Yesss (Taraji P. Henson), the algorithm at video site BuzzzTube, Ralph racks up the likes and hearts by becoming a viral sensation. Vanellope's friendship with Ralph is tested when she discovers dangerous open-world racing game Slaughter Race and finds a like-minded friend in bad-ass racer Shank (Gal Gadot). There's a message about the dangers of toxic friendships in there somewhere, but the sweet relationship developed more carefully the first time around is often drowned out by the sheer noise of this online world. There are many great ideas here, such as Alan Tudyk's KnowsMore, an search engine who is always over-eager to predict what you're going to say, and Bill Hader's J.P. Spamley, a click-bait pop-up ad who acts like a desperate, down-on-his-luck salesman. A detour into a Disney fan-site initially reeks of self-promotion, but the company sends itself up rather well, conjuring up an inspired moment involving the entire roster of Disney princesses. Ralph Breaks the Internet is fun and packed with creativity, but struggles to find its heart amidst all the eye-catching chaos.


Directed by: Phil Johnston, Rich Moore
Voices: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson, Bill Hader, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Alfred Molina
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,439: 'Alice in Wonderland' (1951)

Long before animation pioneer Walt Disney wowed the cinema-going world with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - one of the first feature-length animated films ever made - in 1937, the innovator was long dreaming of adapting Lewis Carroll's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its follow-up Through the Looking Glass. He made a short adaptation called Alice's Wonderland, which mixed live-action and animation, for the Laugh-O-Gram Studio in 1923, but never let go of the idea after the studio went bankrupt and he left for Hollywood. Disney's dream wouldn't be fully realised until 14 years after Snow White, when Alice in Wonderland was finally unveiled in 1951. The film flopped upon release, with audiences failing to be seduced by the many colourful yet incredibly weird characters on show, but through television screenings and subsequent revivals, Alice is now an established classic amongst Disney's animated classics.

As her sister reads under a tree, the young Alice (Kathryn Beaumont) dreams of adventure, choosing to explore her own imagination rather than the tales told in books. As she sings by a riverbank, she spots a white rabbit (Bill Thompson) carrying a huge pocket watch. The White Rabbit is late for an important meeting and dashes off into a large rabbit hole. Ever curious, Alice follows him, eventually entering a world in which logic has no place, everything is backward, and everybody is ever so slightly mad. Her adventure into this strange new world leads her to the rather frightening identical twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee (both voiced by J. Pat O'Malley), a garden of singing flowers who soon reveal their weirdly fascist outlook, a hookah-smoking caterpillar (Richard Haydn), the mischievous Cheshire Cat (Sterling Holloway), and, of course, a truly mad tea party hosted by the Mad Hatter (Ed Wynn) and March Hare (Jerry Colonna). This bizarre world known as Wonderland seems to offer no way out, so Alice seeks help from the tyrannical and homicidal Queen of Hearts (Verna Felton), who has a fondness for removing heads.

There is really no meaning or hidden depths to be found in Carroll's books, and Disney's adaptation is no different. It seems to exist simply as a celebration of the wonders of childish imagination and an opportunity for creative abandon. The result is a nonsensical story with little time for structure or purpose, but one that has stood the test of time through the wonderful characters it imagines. It's an often frustrating experience that offers little sense of direction, and I wouldn't be surprised if some younger viewers were put off by the narrative's excessive randomness or utterly terrified by some of the more sinister characters on show. Yet Disney knew exactly how he wanted to portray these characters, and backed by some stellar talent behind the microphone, Alice in Wonderland prevails as a series of memorable vignettes. The Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat are now embedded into the fabric of pop culture, and that is mainly thanks to Disney and his team of animators. These are truly insane, even malevolent, characters, but Disney knows how to make them lovable, even when they are toying with our protagonist or leading her further into the madness. It's more a nightmare you can't wake up from than a children's adventure story, and while it won't top many people's lists of favourite Disney movies, there is a unique sense of wonder here that could not be found in Tim Burton's over-stylised 2010 remake.


Directed by: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
Voices: Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway, Jerry Colonna, Verna Felton, J. Pat O'Malley
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,436: 'Loving Vincent' (2017)

There have been many attempts over the years to comprehend the genius of Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, from 1956's Lust for Life, to 1990's ambitious Vincent & Theo. While some of these movies are unquestionably good - perhaps none more masterful than Maurice Pialat's Van Gogh - the man himself remains an enigma, so filmmakers have now been forced to take more experimental measures when attempting to understand the painter who, while now regarded as one of art's most influential figures, only managed to sell one painting out of a rumoured 900 during his lifetime. Much focus is placed on the infamous ear-slicing incident, and this is where we began in Loving Vincent, a joint Polish and UK film that employed 125 painters to painstakingly recreate van Gogh's style over footage shot with actors in front of a green screen.

A year after van Gogh's suicide, postmaster and close friend of the troubled artist Joseph Roulin (Chris O'Dowd) tasks his street-fighting son Armand (Douglas Booth) with delivering van Gogh's final letter to his brother Theo. With questions surrounding the suicide still up in the air, Joseph finds van Gogh's sudden demise as suspicious, especially since the painter was in high spirits in the days leading up to the tragedy. It's a feeling that will eventually be shared by Joseph as he embarks on his journey, meeting faces familiar to us from van Gogh's portraits, including the likes of art dealer Pere Tanguy (John Sessions), cafe owner Adeline Ravoux (Eleanor Tomlinson) and close friend Doctor Gachet (Jerome Flynn). As Joseph learns of van Gogh's day-to-day life and his rocky relationship with Gachet and his daughter Marguerite (Saoirse Ronan), this may not be a cut-and-dry suicide carried out by an ear-chopping madman as previously thought.

By turning the subject of van Gogh into a dime-store detective story, Loving Vincent frequently runs the risk of tipping over into TV movie territory. What ultimately prevents this from happening is the time, care and love etched into every frame by directors Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman and the tireless artists, who took approximately 6 years to recreate the likes of Starry Night, At Eternity's Gate and Bank of the Oise at Auvers, and weave these scenes into a convincing narrative. There's also great work by the ensemble cast, each bringing to life the portraits they're based on without feeling staged, and each character offering a unique viewpoint of van Gogh himself, and how he was treated by those around him. It's a fresh take on van Gogh's life, mixing traditional narrative with flashbacks and interpretations in the hope of understanding this mysterious figure or seeing him from a different angle. The man himself is here also, played by Robert Gulaczyk, but his actions and behaviours still remain a mystery. While the true crime slant is somewhat pulpy, Loving Vincent is a treat for fans of van Gogh's work, and undeniably crafted with tenderness and a genuine love of its subject.


Directed by: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman
Starring: Douglas Booth, Jerome Flynn, Saoirse Ronan, Helen McCrory, Chris O'Dowd, John Sessions, Eleanor Tomlinson, Aidan Turner
Country: Poland/UK/USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,421: 'Mulan' (1998)

Based on the Chinese folktale of a woman who disguised herself as a man in order to battle against the Hun and help protect her homeland, Disney's Mulan came at a strange time for the juggernaut studio. While still riding the wave of its own 90's renaissance in the wake of smash-hits Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, it was also watching another studio, Pixar, emerge as its greatest competition, and Pixar's use of computer animation was in danger of rendering Disney's traditional hand-drawn pictures obsolete. Of course, Disney would go on to gobble up its rival and take the studio under its sizeable wing, but back in 1998, Mulan, although a box-office hit, didn't leave the same mark as Pixar's effort that year, A Bug's Life. As a result, Mulan was remembered as one of Disney's lesser 90's efforts, but time has aged the film incredibly well. It doesn't feel like one of the last of a dying breed to be pushed out before computer animation took over completely, but a joyous reminder of how timeless and splendid hand-drawn animation can be.

The Huns, led by the fearsome Shan Yu (Miguel Ferrer) have breached the Great Wall and invaded China, causing the Emperor to hand out conscription notices that demand one man from every household. The elderly Fa Zhou (Soon-Tek Oh) has fought his country's wars before, but he nevertheless tosses aside his cane and dusts off his old sword and amour. His daughter, Fa Mulan (Ming-Na Wen), doesn't want to see her withered father march off to his death and so steals the armour and heads off to the join the army in his place. Her country doesn't allow for women to fight, so Mulan ties up her hair, deepens her voice, and puts on her most manly stance for her new commander, the handsome and formidable Li Shang (BD Wong). The spirits of her ancestors summon a tiny dragon named Mushu (Eddie Murphy) who they hope will convince her to return, but the gong-ringer decides instead to help Mulan battle against the Huns. With Li Shang's training and guidance, Mulan and her unit are transformed into warriors, but are they ready to face off against the mighty Shan Yu?

Mulan distinguishes itself from the rest of the Disney back catalogue with its wartime setting and location in a foreign, ancient land. While it may still carry familiar themes of finding your inner strength and being true to yourself, there's no doubting that a darker and more serious tone runs through the story's centre. The violence is kept to a minimum so it's all still family-friendly, but the stakes feel higher, and there's a real sense of dread when Mulan and Li Shang first lay their eyes on the charging Hun. This weightier atmosphere is also helped by Mulan herself, who is less a traditional princess longing to meet her true love than a fully-formed, believable character who is learning to adapt at all costs in a world that will do everything it can to try and stop her. Disney still couldn't resist a tacked-on ending that seems to go against everything that was said and suggested before, which is a shame, as Mulan is evidence that Disney was tackling issues of diversity and gender equality long before it became a social media revolution. This doesn't have the catchy tunes of Beauty and the Beast or the adorable characters of The Lion King, but Mulan has its fair share of moments, packed with elegant animation and compelling action.


Directed by: Tony Bancroft, Barry Cook
Voices: Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, Miguel Ferrer, Harvey Fierstein, Gedde Watanabe
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,420: 'Incredibles 2' (2018)

The superhero genre has changed massively in the 14 years since Pixar and Brad Bird's spectacular The Incredibles. We now live in a world where a talking raccoon and sentient tree can make their way into the general audience's hearts and an African king can rake in over $1 billion at the box-office. The genre arguably reached its peak in terms of ambition, scope and pure spectacle earlier this year with Avengers: Infinity War, so a sequel to Bird's excellent and heartfelt 2004 romp was becoming increasingly unlikely - and unnecessary - as the years rolled by. Whether the creatives had a change of heart or Disney simply insisted, Incredibles 2 has finally arrived to try and prove that it's still relevant in a time when it feels like we get another superhero movie every month. With a heavy dose of visual pizzazz and a ton of heart, Incredibles 2 certainly hits the mark while naturally paling in comparison to its relatively flawless predecessor.

Completely ignoring the 14 years that have gone by in real time, this sequel picks up immediately after the climax of the first film, with the suited-up Parr family - Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Huck Milner) and baby Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile) - facing off with the newest villain in town, The Underminer (John Ratzenberger). Their scuffle with the burrowing thief causes collateral damage throughout the city, and in response the government shuts down the Superhero Relocation Program, leaving the Parrs homeless and without financial support. They are offered a glimmer of hope when CEO and superhero fan Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) reveals his desire to put the crime-fighters back in the public eye and remind the world of their importance. Helped by his tech genius sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener), Winston favours the clinical elegance of Elastigirl's powers over Mr. Incredible's destructive brute strength, so while she is out battling a mysterious new criminal called Screenslaver, he is tasked with tending to the kids.

Splitting up the central characters is a popular approach for many sequels, and here it seems like a natural way to further explore the themes of family bonds and individuality of the first film. Elastigirl savours her chance to shine, demonstrating a range of formidable powers which allow for some spectacular and beautifully-rendered action sequences. Most of the biggest laughs come from Mr. Incredible's struggle to handle his new responsibilities, as his face becomes increasingly haggard and grey with stubble. Dash needs help with his maths homework and Violet has boy troubles, but his biggest obstacle is ensuring Jack-Jack doesn't cause accidental mass destruction with his combination of laser vision, dimension-hopping and morphing into a literal flaming devil. Jack-Jack is usually the kind of animated character that has adults rolling their eyes, but his combination of wide-eyed innocence and clumsy displays of limitless power is utterly charming, in particular his encounter with a hungry (and soon to be sorry) raccoon. Incredibles 2 doesn't offer anything new to the genre or anything in the way of surprise, but it does its thing with style and care, allowing every character - including the returning Samuel L. Jackson as Frozone - their moment in the spotlight. 14 years after thrilling one generation, this sequel is sure to bring the next one on board.


Directed by: Brad Bird
Voices: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, Eli Fucile, Catherine Keener, Bob Odenkirk, Samuel L. Jackson
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,414: 'The Incredibles' (2004)

Earlier this year, when Disney finally completed their takeover of 21st Century Fox, Marvel fans rejoiced at the idea of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four finally being brought into the fold and into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After the silly, family-friendly Fantastic Four we got back in 2005 and its only-slightly-better sequel in 2006, Josh Trank's much-anticipated 2015 reboot failed spectacularly, causing Fox to shelve the tainted franchise indefinitely. Since Kevin Feige and the MCU can seemingly do no wrong, we will finally be getting an interpretation worthy of Marvel's first family. What most fans didn't realise however, is that we already had a great Fantastic Four movie, only it wasn't made by Marvel and didn't feature the likes of Mr. Fantastic and the Human Torch. No, I'm not referring to Roger Corman's 1994 disaster, but the one made by Pixar Studios called The Incredibles, which is still to this day one of the greatest superhero movies of all time.

The world has been blessed with the arrival of superheroes: super-powered beings who dress up in masks and tights, battling crime in their spare time to the adoration of a grateful public. But with the rise of superheroes comes the rise of supervillains, all with equally outlandish costumes, nicknames and powers. Public opinion suddenly shifts when famous hero Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) saves a man from suicide, and the lawsuits start to hit the caped crusaders. In response, the government starts the Superhero Relocation Program, designed to hide the supers in society and keep their crime-fighting antics at bay. Years later, Mr. Incredible is living a dull suburban existence with his wife Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) and their three children Violent (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Spencer Fox), and baby Jack-Jack. His work at an insurance company brings him no joy, so he helps the vulnerable to find loopholes in the company's policies to ensure they pay out, and spends some nights with old buddy Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) listening to a police radio. But life seems to have meaning once again when he is contacted by a mysterious woman named Mirage (Elizabeth Pena), who offers the overweight lug a top-secret mission on a secret island base.

Pixar is famous not only for the quality of their movies, but for how their products can be loved by anybody in any age group. Children will enjoy the bright colours and spectacular action, adults will appreciate the sly wit, and just about everybody will fall for the heart. Yet despite its somewhat glossy appearance, The Incredibles is Pixar at its most mature. While the film does gift its characters super-strength, super-speed and invisibility, The Incredibles is really about dysfunction and the trappings of family life and a 9 to 5 job. Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl have reached crisis point, with the latter left to dealt with children only just discovering their powers while the former is off daydreaming about the glory days. It's what drives the drama, and is ultimately what makes you hold your breath when they are in danger or want to punch the air when they suit up to face their foe. Such an honest depiction of marital life doesn't make for depressing viewing however, with writer/director Brad Bird mixing in some fine slapstick humour and the mic-dropping costume designer Edna Mode (voiced by Bird himself). 14 years after its release, it still remains one of Pixar's finest, and Bird finds the perfect balance of comedy, drama and action as he did with his other animated classic, The Iron Giant.


Directed by: Brad Bird
Voices: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Jason Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Peña
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,365: 'Isle of Dogs' (2018)

Fans of American writer and director Wes Anderson are in for a treat with his latest picture. Returning to stop-motion animation for the first time since 2009's Fantastic Mr. Fox, Isle of Dogs is the auteur's most Wes Anderson-y film to date. Set in Japan 20 years into the future, it tells the story of a pack of dogs left to fend for themselves on 'Trash Island', an expansive dumping ground that looks like the type of place WALL-E would feel right at home in. You don't have to be a fan of canines or Japanese culture to enjoy this tale, although it may help. Anderson peppers the film with his trademark deadpan, straight-to-camera sense of humour, and frames every shot with even more attention to detail than his 2014 masterpiece The Grand Budapest Hotel. Children may be put off by the film's idiosyncratic approach, but Anderson followers will indeed be appeased and then some.

The planet is under threat from dog flu and snout fever, both timely reminders of the recent swine flu 'epidemic' and the dangers of fake news. The mayor of Megasaki City (voiced by co-writer Kunichi Nomura), who is part of a dynasty of long-time cat lovers, puts forward a decree to banish all dogs from the mainland and transport them to Trash Island, despite claims of a breakthrough to cure the animals' illness. His ward, a young boy named Atari (Koyu Rankin), is having none of his caregiver's authoritarian attitudes, and travels to the human-less island in order to find his beloved dog Spots (Liev Schreiber), the very first mutt to be dismissed. Atari steals a plane and crashes it into the wasteland, and comes across a pack of mostly former domesticated canines led by the incredibly democratic Rex (Edward Norton). The rest of the gang consists of Boss (Bill Murray), King (Bob Balaban), Duke (Jeff Goldblum), and the only stray in the group, Chief (Bryan Cranston).

Chief is the beating heart of the film, and the character through which Anderson explores most of the film's themes. The black, scruffy dog is proud to be from the streets, and is quick to admit that he's a biter. He's the only one to refuse to sit for Atari, but nevertheless agrees to go with the majority vote and assist Atari in helping his track down his lost friend. From here on in, it's very much an A-to-B adventure, but Anderson and his co-writers (Nomura, Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman) ensure that the journey is anything but formulaic. Along the way, we meet the likes of Oracle (Tilda Swinton), Nutmeg (Scarlett Johnansson), Jupiter (F. Murray Abraham) and Gondo (Harvey Keitel), with even Yoko Ono thrown into the mix. Things aren't made easy by the fact that the Japanese actors speak in their native tongue without the assistance of subtitles (although Frances McDormand occasionally pops up as an enthusiastic translator), but this highlights the communication barrier between owner and pet, as well as falling in line with the film's themes of migration and social integration.

Anderson packs in more shots than is usually expected from animation, particularly in the painfully slow process of stop-motion. Rather than accepting this as a limitation, he uses animation as a tool to bring his vision vividly to life with more freedom allowed by live action. The visuals are even more luscious that in Grand Budapest, with the animation retaining a rustic, old-fashioned quality that makes it feel as if you could reach out and actually touch the dog's hairs as they ripple in the wind. As soon as the Taiko drums start to thud on the film's glorious soundtrack, Anderson's love of Japanese cinema can be sensed immediately. The influence of Akira Kurosawa can be felt throughout (a status of Toshiro Mifune appears at one point), but the precision of the framing is pure Ozu, and Tristan Oliver's cinematography relishes exploring what was perhaps Japan's greatest period for cinema. The mediocrity of 2004's The Life Aquatic must have been a wake-up for the filmmaker, urging him away from his comfort zone and towards more unexplored territory. Anderson continues to amaze, amuse and baffle, and has emerged as one of the most important, original voices in American cinema. I fail to see how anyone could not be utterly enchanted by Isle of Dogs.


Directed by: Wes Anderson
Voices: Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Kunichi Nomura, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson
Country: Germany/USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,355: 'The Iron Giant' (1999)

The roaring success of Disney's The Lion King (no pun intended) in 1994 inspired something of an animation boom, during which various production studios attempted to cash in on the trend to varying degrees of success. Warner Bros. Feature Animation had a moderate hit with Space Jam, but underperformed with the likes of Cats Don't Dance and Quest for Camelot. They had one bona fide hit with The Iron Giant, a truly wonderful little feature adapted from Ted Hughes' 1968 novel The Iron Man. It didn't leave much of a dent at the box-office, but found a loyal audience on home video. In the 19 years since its release, The Iron Giant is fondly remembered as one of best animated features of the 1990s, and saw director Brad Bird poached by a little up-and-coming studio called Pixar.

In the fictional town of Rockwell, Maine in 1957, the residents are busy gazing up at the sky in fear of the Soviet Union's satellite Sputnik spying on them, and school children are shown Duck and Cover style educational films to prepare for a nuclear attack. In the surrounding forest, a huge object crashes down to Earth, alarming local fisherman Earl (M. Emmet Walsh). 9 year-old Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marienthal) spends his nights watching cheesy sci-fi movies and dreaming of owning his own pet. His mother Annie (Jennifer Aniston) thinks they cause too much mess, a point that seems to be proven when young Hogarth accidentally releases a squirrel into the local diner. With his mother working late one night, Hogarth wanders into the woods and comes across the object Earl insists he saw: a giant alien robot (voiced by Vin Diesel) that enjoys munching everything from train tracks to the local power station.

This kind of allegorical coming-of-age tale has been done before (think E.T. but with an adorable weapon of mass destruction), but rarely with such charm and genuine emotion. It's influence can be felt in everything from the recent Pete's Dragon remake and A Monster Calls, and it's no surprise that the film continues to attract new fans. The Iron Giant questions what would happen if a gun could feel. The titular giant occasionally turns aggressive in the face of possible danger, as the alien's true purpose becomes increasingly and unnervingly clear. But with no memory of his mission, it's down to Hogarth to teach metal hulk kindness, and the youngster does so in a way that only an innocent could. A moment in the woods sees the unlikely friends come across the corpse of a deer. At first, the giant cannot comprehend death as he can regenerate, but Hogarth manages to teach him about the finality of death. It's incredibly powerful, and it's message is even more relevant today than it was almost 20 years ago. We all have choices in life, and sometimes simple human kindness and empathy can be infinitely more powerful than brute force.


Directed by: Brad Bird
Voices: Eli Marienthal, Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Christopher McDonald, Vin Diesel, M. Emmet Walsh, John Mahoney
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,316: 'Paddington 2' (2017)

Paul King's Paddington was one of the great surprises of 2014: a re-imagining of a world-famous character beloved not only to children, but to the adults who grew up reading Michael Bond's stories or watching the various television incarnations since the 1970s. Aesthetically, it shared very little in common with the charmingly old-fashioned and quaint little adventures penned by Bond and illustrated by Peggy Fortnum, but shared much of its heart. Most who saw Paddington fell quickly under its spell, which was a wonderful amalgamation of Wes Anderson and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's proudly artificial visual splendour and the stiff upper lipped playfulness of Ealing Studios. This sequel's arrival is more than welcome, if not only to make us forget what's happening out there in the real world, but to allow us to spend more time in the company of Ben Whishaw's endearingly clumsy yet optimistic bear.

In almost every way, Paddington 2 is an improvement on its predecessor. The return of King and his co-writer Simon Farnaby is a no-brainer, and they have not only grown in confidence and in their willingness to push their kooky boundaries even further, but they have fixed what was arguably a weak link first time around - the villain. Nicole Kidman had a ball as evil taxidermist Millicent Clyde, but here they have tried something less terrifying for kids in Phoenix Buchanan, a washed-up thespian who dreams of bringing his one-man show to the West End, but finds himself in humiliating dog-food television adverts instead. Casting Hugh Grant was a stroke of genius, and it's no stretch to say that this is the finest he has ever been. He's pompous and full of himself, but takes pride in his ability to disappear into his characters. His desire to spark his festering career back to life leads to the theft of a valuable pop-up book from the store of Mr. Gruber (Jim Broadbent), which holds clues to the location of a treasure chest hidden somewhere in London.

Phoenix Buchanan may steal the film, but the attention rarely strays too far from the titular hero, who is once again voiced pitch-perfectly by Whishaw. He was Colin Firth's last-minute replacement first time around when the Kingsman actor's efforts didn't quite feel right, and it's difficult to imagine any other actor behind Paddington's soft features and wide-eyed curiosity. When we first meet him, it's clear that the charming little bear's community wouldn't quite function without him. The Brown family, again played by Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters et al, are happily getting on with their lives, although dad Henry is experiencing a midlife crisis at work and with his ageing appearance. With Aunt Lucy's 100th birthday coming up, Paddington finds the perfect present in the pop-up book of London in Mr. Gruber's store, which he hopes will compensate for the elderly bear never being able to see the big city for herself. He starts to work odd jobs to save up for the pricey gift, but all suspicion falls on Paddington when Buchanan steals the book for himself.

He is sentenced to ten years in prison for the crime, and if that seems unnecessarily harsh, you'll understand why when you see the film. This may seem like a somewhat grim direction for a family film to take, but thanks to a mishap involving a stray red sock in the laundry room, the scenes within the jail are some the film's funniest. This is also thanks to the character of Knuckles McGinty, the fearsome chef played brilliantly by Brendan Gleeson who Paddington naturally befriends over some marmalade sandwiches. Paddington 2 is unashamedly fanciful stuff, presenting a fantasy vision of London where the sun always shines and people on the street always greet you with a smile. It's an image many foreigners will no doubt have of the capital, but there's nothing wrong with playing up to this, especially when the film's fantasy sequences are quite as wonderful as they are. Production designer Gary Williamson and animation director Pablo Grillo are a crucial part of this, and King, who always displayed a flair for the fantastical in his early TV work, surely also had a hand in Paddington 2's overall magical feel.


Directed by: Paul King
Starring: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Hugh Grant, Brendan Gleeson, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Tom Conti, Peter Capaldi
Country: UK/France/USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,315: 'Coco' (2017)

With Coco, Pixar reminds us once again why they are the creme-de-la-creme when it comes to American animation, with another emotionally resonant and visually breathtaking picture that will have both adults and children sobbing into their sleeves. This is their finest work since game-changer Inside Out in 2015, again tackling complex themes most studios would shy away from exposing their young audience to, and doing so with a technical flourish and completely free from the white-washing so common in American films dealing with a culture and folklore from overseas. I'm not ashamed to admit that I wept like a baby at Coco, the first time I had done so since, again, Inside Out.

Despite the title, our protagonist is Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), a 12 year-old wannabe musician who seems destined to follow his elders into the family shoe-making business. 96 years earlier, Miguel's great-great-grandmother forbid the sound of music in their house when her song-writing husband left town in search of his dreams. As a result, Miguel is forced to teach himself guitar and worship his idol Ernest de la Cruz, a famous crooner who was killed in an unfortunate on-set accident, in secret. His grandmother Abuelita (Renee Victor) is keen to enforce the rule, literally shoeing away a mariachi who asks Miguel to play for him. His refusal to follow his family's ban leads to an argument and a supernatural encounter, after which Miguel can only communicate with those from the other side who have crossed over to take part in the Day of the Dead celebrations.

Miguel's only hope of returning to his family before he fades away himself is with a magical marigold petal willingly handed to him by an ancestor. It doesn't take long to locate great-great-grandmother Mama Imelda (Alanna Ubach) and some other faces familiar from photographs, but the matriarch will only allow him to return if he promises to give up music forever. With the help of lovable scoundrel Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal) and a large-tongued stray dog, Miguel journeys across the Land of the Dead in search of the musician ancestor his family have been banished from mentioning. with only an old photograph with the face torn away for help. But could it be that Miguel was always destined to follow his muse, and that Ernest de la Cruz himself, who came from the very same town, may hold all the answers?

Pixar take every opportunity to illuminate the screen once we cross over with Miguel into the bright, almost psychedelic land of his ancestors, which is protected by dazzling alebrijes and connects itself to our world by a glowing marigold petal bridge. Yet beneath the surface there is a richly textured script by Adrian Molina and Matthew Aldrich, complete with fully realised characters, fluid storytelling and heavily-researched attention to detail. Ana Ofelia Murguia as the titular Mama Coco does some stellar voice work, easing us into those lip-quivering final scenes assisted by Pixar's wonderful animation, as does Benjamin Bratt as the self-admiring de la Cruz, a man who does well for himself in a world in which you can only exist whilst you are remembered on the other side. And this being Disney, it wouldn't be complete without a signature song, and Remember Me, written by married team Kirsty Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez of Let It Go fame, is another winner. The song might be stuck in your head for days, but the emotional impact of this tale of family, music and death will last much, much longer.


Directed by: Lee Unkrich
Voices: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renee Victor
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,308: 'Peter Pan' (1953)

For their fourteenth entry into the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the kid-friendly studio adapted the hugely popular 1904 play and 1911 novel by J.M. Barrie Peter Pan; or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. Barrie's story was a huge success, and continues to delight children and adults alike even today. There have been many adaptations both on film and television (the first was a 1924 silent movie), but none quite as popular as this 1953 version, which is now considered the definitive imagining of Neverland, Tinker Bell and the titular hero himself. Despite some glaring problems that will no doubt make many modern viewers watching it for the first time rather uncomfortable, Disney's Peter Pan still looks absolutely gorgeous and delivers a pretty fun ride.

You already know the story, but I'll regurgitate it anyway. Wendy Darling (Kathryn Beaumont) is on the eve of 'growing up', but enjoys discussing and acting out the adventures of Peter Pan so much with her younger brothers John (Paul Collins) and Michael (Tommy Luske) that she wishes she could stay a child just a little bit longer. That night, as the children's parents head out for the night, they are visited by the flying Peter Pan (Bobby Driscoll), who appears to have lost his shadow, and his fairy friend Tinker Bell. With a sprinkling of fairy dust, the Darlings fly off with Pan back to Neverland where they meet The Lost Boys, a feral group of boys dressed as animals who obey Pan's every command. But anchored just off the coast is evil pirate Captain Hook (Hans Conried), who wants to finally put an end to Pan's hijinks. Along with his confidant Mr. Smee (Bill Thompson), he plans to use Tinker Bell's jealousy of Wendy to manipulate her into luring the gang into a trap.

I must admit that I didn't love Peter Pan as I was expecting, but I certainly enjoyed it. Fans who have grow up watching the film hold it in incredibly high regard, and I can understand why, but I feel I would be more on their wavelength had I seen it as a child. This is, after all, a story about staying young forever, and all the selfishness and carelessness that comes with it. Disney's famed Nine Old Men don't disappoint, carefully and magically bringing this world to life with some incredible backdrops. Say what you will about modern-day advancements, but the characters in Peter Pan feel just as alive as any computer-animated film today. Hook is also a highlight, sneering with relish at the bumbling Smee when he isn't curling up like a baby at the sight of the crocodile that took his hand. My main issue is that Pan is rather grating. He is certainly a true reflection of the care-free cockiness of many children, but deep down I was hoping that Hook would at least land a slap of two. And the less said about the portrayal of Native Americans (who sing a song called "What Made the Red Man Red?") the better.


Directed by: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
Voices: Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, Hans Conried, Bill Thompson, Heather Angel
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie