Hello everybody. Welcome to the new post and it should be a good one. It’s a cartoon fest this week, even in the live action movie I watched this week. And funnily enough, the live action cartoon is the worst movie of the week by a long measure. So sit back and relax, and let the animation get hold of ya.
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (February 1st, 2015)
Director: Ethan Spaulding
Starring: Matt Lanter, Sam Witwer, Sumalee Montano, and Jason O'Mara
DC Animated has started off the new year with the first new animated movie and it is another home run. In adapting the storyline from Geoff Johns’ run on Aquaman recently in this animated universes continuity, they have made a good showcase for Aquaman. Down in Atlantis, Prince Orm is trying to provoke his people into attacking the land dwellers by framing the land dwellers. But this brings the attention of the Justice League. And when the Queen realizes that Orm is planning this, she sets into motion the events that leads her true eldest son, Arthur Curry, to reclaim his rightful place in Atlantis. As per usual with DC Animated, the movie is gorgeous to look at. It’s like a mixture of Jim Lee drawings and anime style. It fits like a glove and leads to some amazing visuals and big action pieces. The action is yet again great with the movie, giving little beats for every hero, but giving more to Aquaman. And while Justice League is in the title, this is Arthurs movie. His growth from shiftless harbor bum to King of The Sea works and broadens the world of DC animated quite a bit. And with a post credits stinger that suggest we may be getting a more Superman centric story, things are looking up. The only thing I wish was that it was a bit longer. Maybe get a bit more into the characters, emotionally. Stretch out the narrative to let it breathe. But that’s a minor issue. So if you like comics and/or animation, give this a look. It’s well worth it. DC’s best since Flashpoint.
Rating: 9.5/10
The Great Mouse Detective (February 2nd, 2015)
Director: Burny Mattinson and Ron Clements
Starring: Barrie Ingham, Val Bettin, Susanne Pollatschek, and Vincent Price
Disney is the premiere Animation studio, still to this day. Despite a dark streak in the 2000’s, the studio has done so much great stuff that it will always be the watermark. And the 2000’s wasn’t the only time they hit a rough patch. In the late 70s/early 80s, they hit a bad patch too when Walt wasn’t around anymore. But then they managed to get the right people in and kicked started a new renaissance for the studio. And it started right here. This is a damn good movie, one that flew under my radar. But when it was describe as “mouse Sherlock Holmes”, I was sold already. And that’s exactly what the movie is. The mouse versions of these characters. And it is kid versions, but still true to the characters and darker than you’d think. Drunks are murdered, there’s rat prostitutes, a bar brawl, and a tense fight on top of Big Ben. Not as kiddie as one would think. For a plot, it’s basically a kid version of The Reichenbach Falls. It’s a great little animated film and one with a nice spot in history.
Dumbo (February 4th, 2015)
Director: Sam Armstrong and Jack Kinney
This managed to be a nice surprise while not being a surprise at all. I knew of the movie and that it was a classic, an important movie in the animation field. I knew that Dumbo flies (thank you Who Framed Roger Rabbit) and there were some hilarious black stereotype crows. But I didn’t know how very experimental it was. This is a movie that even today would be an odd duck. It’s barely an hour long and has almost no dialogue from most of the main characters. Only the mouse talks. Dumbo himself says nothing and you don’t mind that he doesn’t. You get all the info and emotions you need through the great animation. It is a truly beautiful, astounding work. There’s not much I can say that hasn’t been said already. Just that I love how it becomes an acid trip for a few minutes. It’s a great and should be seen by all and shown to all little kids.
White House Down (February 7th, 2015)
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Jason Clarke, and James Woods
This is the complete and total opposite of Olympus Has Fallen, the other White House attacked movie of 2013. Where Olympus Has Fallen was brutal and dirty and fun, White House Down is soft and clean and boring. This is a very bland movie. Not a surprise, with Emmerich directing. He is an absolute garbage filmmaker and we don’t mention this enough. It’s crazy that he’s still being given movies to make, and that the garbage movies that failed that he made are used as a marketing tool for his newer movies. Why anyone would think “From The Director of 2012” is a good sell is beyond me. An absolute chore to sit through, this is a big waste of talent. Tatum does his damnedest here, selling the physicality of the role. But he is in comedy mode for the most part for some reason, and it is grating. He wants to be John McClane, but tries too hard. Jamie Foxx is wasted, coming off Django Unchained, in a terrible written role of President who is a pacifist but is great with machine guns and RPGs. He has some moments trying to be funny, but can’t save the egregious lines he’s given, one involving Jordans because haha he’s black this is humor laugh now. The only two people in the movie who do good work is Clarke and Woods. Woods can’t help but be good, always a magnetic presence. He brings some actual pain and desperation to the role while making the character a tough man, an old school soldier. Clarke though is a surprise, giving the main henchman role a lot of menace. He sells the way this guy moves and talks and acts, the pure hatred he has in him. When he threatens Tatums daughter, he doesn’t pull back. He’s really going for it. But aside from two performances, this is a waste. Shot with a big budget, it’s too shiny and clean to land. Emmerich hasn’t done a movie with this kind of action before, and you can tell. It’s boringly shot and staged, with no real impact to any of it. The story is ridiculous enough and similar to Olympus Has Fallen, it could have been trashy fun like that. But Emmerich just brings nothing to it. Throw in an amazingly obnoxious kid, something Olympus got rid of immediately, this is a grating flick. A true waste. Unless you like Woods and Clarke, stay away.
Top Movies
1. Justice League: Throne Of Atlantis
2. The Great Mouse Detective
3. Dumbo
4. White House Down
Top 5 Performances
1. Barrie Ingham - The Great Mouse Detective
2. Matt Lanter - Justice League: Throne of Atlantis
3. James Woods - White House Down
4. Jason Clarke - White House Down
5. Vincent Price - The Great Mouse Detective
Top 5 Moments
1. The Reichenbach Falls - The Great Mouse Detective
2. Atlantis Attacks - Justice League: Throne of Atlantis
3. Pink Elephants - Dumbo
4. First Flight - Dumbo
5. Tatum and Clarke Duke It Out - White House Down
- Tom Lorenzo
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