Archive for the ‘Walt Disney’ Category

Wreck-It Ralph Movie Review

Posted: November 4, 2012 in Disney, Movie Review, Pixar, Walt Disney, Wreck-It Ralph
Tags: ,
2

Release Date: November 2, 2012 (3D/2D theaters) 
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures 
Director: Rich Moore 
Screenwriter: Jennifer Lee, Phil Johnston 
Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Ed O’Neill, Mindy Kaling, Adam Carolla, Horatio Sanz, Dennis Haysbert, Edie McClurg, Roger Craig Smith, Gerald C Rivers, Rachael Harris, Stefanie Scott, Reuben Langdon, Kyle Hebert 
Genre: Animation, Comedy 
MPAA Rating: PG (for some rude humor and mild action/violence) 
Official Website: Disney.com/WreckItRalph

Disney owns so many companies that it’s becoming difficult to pin point the name brands they DON’T own.  The one staple that Disney’s yet to fully claim is the highly successful Pixar Animation studio, and handing over the bulk of the animation duties to the said company has given Disney more time to focus on other things, which may or may not be a good thing.

Now Walt Disney Animation has resurfaced, re-imagining the classic late 80′s/90′s motif into a digital, computer animated wonder.  First there was Bolt, not as successful as their second film, The Princess and the Frog, which was closely followed by their rendition of the Rapunzel story, Tangled.  While most animated films, regardless of how good or bad they are, will do well in at the box office, Disney’s attempts at reviving their animation trademark has left most fans in a state of wanting, unsure if they’ll ever bring back the type of quality they did with the Little Mermaid and so on.  Disney Execs had to make a decision.  They had to do something that would bring life back into their animation efforts and no longer resemble more of a Dreamworks story telling lackluster.

Thus was born Wreck-it Ralph, (John C. Reilly) a story with more substance and likability than Disney’s previous three animated films.   Wreck-it Ralph is a villain in a video game in which he never receives the appreciation that the hero does, Fix-It Felix. (Jack McBrayer)  Wanting to be a hero so badly, Ralph leaves his own game and visits other ones for a chance to receive what every hero craves…a medal.  But in crossing over into other games, he runs into people that delay his progress, making friends with an adorable little glitch name Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) in a race car game called Sugar Rush, as well as pissing off a duty-bound alien fighting soldier called Calhoun. (Jane Lynch)  Of course, there are other forces at bay which have placed Vanellope in danger, and Ralph has to make a decision – save his new found friend from being decoded and remain the villain, or go back to his own game where he’ll finally become a hero.

From childhood to now, I’ve been a joystick fanatic! Having grown up with the 8-bit era of video gaming; Mario, Mega Man, Pac-Man, etc etc, Wreck-It Ralph brings all of the video games I grew up with to the big screen for the Wii and Xbox 360 generations to enjoy.  This is a fan film at its core, no doubt, with more gaming references and shout-outs than I can count on two hands and two feet.  In a video game villain support group, we get glimpses of General Bison, Bowser, Clyde, Dr. Eggman and many other villains that the veteran gamers will instantly recognize.

Likewise, some of the heroes from popular games make cameos too – Sonic leads a model lifestyle, sending out service messages to the rest of the arcade, Frogger’s found hopping around from time to time, Space Invader Aliens do their best to take a break from the monotony of blasters, Pac-Man is found enjoying a party over in Fit-It Felix’s homestead, and good ol’ Mr. Ben Tapper gives advice to the protagonist in fine bar tending style.

The film pays very close attention to what makes the different video game eras so unique, playing up the pixelated 8 to 16 bit games quite humorously, as well as serving up a nice dish of the more recent first person shooter games in excellent quality.

In a Tron and Toy Story fashion, Wreck-It Ralph presents a story where the video game characters go about their normal lives when the kids have left the arcade to go home.  But this isn’t simply a movie where fans can laugh at the subtle hints and jokes that reference old video games, there’s much more substance than that.  The story comments on the ways the technological and gaming aspects of life have redefined the ways in which humans interact with one another.  Ralph himself feels very isolated, which can be a very significant byproduct of video gaming.  There’s also the idea that winners and losers are mutually exclusive, and the two can never have anything to do with one another.

Take Ralph’s game for example – Ralph is a big guy who’s defined by his wrecking skills, and Felix by his ability to fix things.  The working class style video game depicts two very different people who allow their self worth to be determined by how successful they are in their given situations.  In Ralph’s case, he always looses and is looked down upon despite the fact that he had no choice in his natural order within the game.  There’s a certain amount of truth to this in real life – people’s situations and cultural surroundings are often factors in how the “upper class” judges them.  “You’re a villain, and villains don’t get medals,” as if to assume that Ralph’s purpose in life is of no use to the rest of the world.

The film focuses around three different gaming styles, all playing up their particular eras and cultural subtexts.  The first is Ralph’s own game, which as mentioned above, is more of a working class style game, very pixelated, but old and unsure of it’s place in the world. It’s rather funny how the game’s supporting cast moves in the way we would expect from a game resembling Donkey Kong.  The second actually jumps forward in time to the present where first person shooter games are kings of the gaming world.  Jane Lynch plays up her signature role as a complete and utter bad ass and leads the charge against an alien bug infestation, and assists Ralph and Felix in keeping the bugs from infecting the rest of the arcade.  This hard-bodied game called Hero’s Duty, a combination of Halo and Call to Duty, brings out the most focused set of characters who could care less about medals and more about achieving the end goal, which is to keep the gamer on task and without dying.  And the third travels back in time to the age where race car games, anime, and cutsey style characters for girls reigned supreme.  Sarah Silverman gives the voice performance of her life and milks her character Vanellope for all she’s worth.  All three gaming aspects have their own visual style and very specific cultural influences that signify why they became the games they are.

Nothing about this film was poorly done – so much attention to detail, different gaming styles, substantial plot lines …it makes me wonder if this film was, in fact, a Disney film.  Sure, the famous castle logo that Disney’s been so proud of for so long starts this film off in  glamorous style, but this is so different from anything Disney’s done in the past.  And with John Lasseter helming as Executive producer, (Toy Story…and much more) and Rich Moore in the director’s chair (Simpsons, Futurama, you get the picture) I have a funny feeling that this is a Disney animated movie that should have been a Pixar film.

I’m not knocking Disney’s attempt at bringing new material to the screen, but the substance carried along in this film is so much greater and likeable than anything Disney’s done in the last ten years.  Me thinks that Lasseter and Pixar have made a much bigger impact on the animation world in both the visual and the writing aspect than Disney cared to acknowledge.  Now we’re seeing the fruits of Pixar’s labor.  No more princesses, kings, swash buckling, ect etc to drive a good story.  Simply put a good writer and director behind everything, and an animated film can be just as morally influential and substantial as anything else on the big screen.

9 out of 10 stars

Iron Man 3 Trailer

Posted: October 24, 2012 in Iron Man, Marvel Comics, Marvel Studios, Movie Trailers, Walt Disney
Tags: , ,
0

I wasn’t a HUGE fan of the first two Iron Man films, so one would assume I wouldn’t be too excited to see this Iron man installment.  However, this trailer shows a lot of promise.  At least the funny catchy one-liners from Stark will stay intact.  I just hope this one will be more exciting and fun than #2 was.

Disney Songs You’ve Never Heard

Posted: August 20, 2012 in Walt Disney
0

It’s an unknown fact that most movies have scenes that don’t make it into the final edit.  Disney is the same way.  Thanks to youtube, 10 Disney songs that never made it to the big screen are now available for our viewing pleasure.  Here’s one from Aladdin featuring Jafar…

Tron: Legacy Film Review

Posted: April 6, 2011 in Beau Garrett, Bruce Boxleitner, Garrett Hedlund, James Frain, Jeff Bridges, Joseph Kosinski, Michael Sheen, Olivia Wilde, Tron, Tron: Legacy, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Pictures
0
The following Movie Review comes from the days when my blog was over at blogspot.  if you wish to view this review there, just click away.  But I decided to post it here since I had a few requests to do so.  Anyways, enjoy!

Release Date: December 17, 2010 (3D/2D theaters and IMAX 3D)
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Screenwriter: Eddy Kitsis, Adam Horowitz
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, James Frain, Beau Garrett, Michael Sheen
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
MPAA Rating: PG (for sequences of sci-fi action violence and brief mild language)
Official Website: Disney.com/Tron

So Here’s What The Film Is About…
20 years later, Encom has taken the world by storm; providing people with state of the art technology that would have Steve Jobs shaking in his boots.  But where’s Kevin Flynn?  Didn’t he take over the company once Dillinger was exposed as a thief?  Apparently Flynn has been missing for 20 years, leaving the more money hungry administrators in charge of the powerful corporation.
Enter Sam Flynn, son of the missing owner, who seems to have it in him to ruin the present image of Encom and maintain his father’s vision of providing cheap technology to the people of the world.  As the introduction pumps through, and we learn of Sam’s deep longing to find his father, Sam accidentally finds his way into the game grid where he runs into a program with the spitting image of a twenty year old Kevin Flynn.  Of course we, the die-hard Tron fans of old, know this Flynn doppelganger as the program called Clu, who has a dream of ruling the game grid…and the world of the Users.
Limited time allows Sam and his real father the chance to escape and go back home.  The monkey wrench?  Clu will stop at nothing to enter into the real world.  Can Sam and Kevin stop Clu from world domination, or will Clu succeed and cause mass chaos in both worlds?
And Here’s What I Thought About It…
In this day and age, it’s really is hard to please the average film goer when it comes to CGI integration in realistic movies.  If it looks obviously animated, it becomes a distraction which, in turn means the majority of audience members will hate on that aspect of the film’s animation endeavors.  But of course, while these critics are making fun of the animated head of Clu (made to resemble Jeff Bridges) and how unrealistic it is, they also fail to recognize that Kevin Flynn, who is a real human being living in a digital world, has somehow lived for twenty years in a world where human food doesn’t exist.  How did he exist for so long without sustenance?  This will always remain uncertain.
The point?  If you want realism in your movies, don’t watch Science Fiction.
Now this isn’t to say Legacy doesn’t have its flaws, they merely lay in the areas of the film that most people don’t seem to care about to begin with.  But I guess when it comes to a winter action film, the quality of the story doesn’t matter as much to people when it comes to digital effects.
It’s nothing to run home about; the plot isn’t as profound as Disney makes it out to be, but the story’s execution is the best it could be given the circumstances.  The question is, however, did we know what was coming because of the painfully revealing trailers released by Disney, or is the plot just that obvious?  I would vote the latter, but I can’t say that with absolute certainty.
The retro, David Bowe motif that ran through a good chunk of the film was a bit much.  The 1982 film presented the game grid as a world filled with very stoic, wooden characters with no more life in them than an idle Jellyfish.  But almost 30 years later, Legacy shows a world much more vibrant, exciting and rebellious.  Even if you’re one of those people who can’t get over Clu’s cartoony style head, it’s hard to deny the beautifully digitalized world of the game grid.  The simulated ground flowed with gorgeous light cycles which trail semi-transparent ribbons of color, shimmering and twisting all throughout the racing sequence.  It’s obvious that Disney went above and beyond in upping the anti with better animation combined with its darker, more gothic tone.  Even the suits worn by the characters were spectacles in and of themselves.
Favoritism on my part lies with a film’s script and always has, so I was quite disappointed with the Legacy’s very mediocre story, but it was MORE than tolerable to sit through thanks to the tremendous performances given by the cast.  Jeff Bridges, like always, gives audiences everything and more, technically playing three different characters; The younger and more colorful personality of Kevin Flynn, the older Zen-like religious wiseman of the older (and hairier) Flynn, and the defiant and dictatorous computer program known as Clu, all three coming off very believable and fun.  Garrett Hedlund, who’s always brought terrific performances to the big screen, was perfect in portraying a very confident man whose feeling of loss is never overshadowed by his vibrant personality.  But the best addition to the film’s “minor character” list is Bruce Boxleitner return as Alan, also known as Tron, who has a voice made for the big screen.
Speaking of which, did any of the other Tron geeks get a major nerdgasm in how well Tron was used in that subtle, non-revealing way?  Truly, Legacy was made for the cult of fans that have loved the first Tron film ever since 1982, or whenever a fan first discovered the landmark Disney Sci-Fi film.
Much like most films these days, Legacy is in 3D, but it doesn’t lend much…if anything.  All the 3D technology does for the film is to help pop the characters out a bit, but the action sequences are hardly utilized with the 3D at all.  The film is even prefaced with a note, letting us know that only certain parts of the movie were filmed in 3D.  This, in turn, compelled me to take off my enormous glasses only to realize just how much brighter the overall look of the film is.  As advanced as 3D technology is today, no one has found a way to get rid of the annoying dimness provided by the glasses.  And to be honest, I think I would have enjoyed the film just as much, if not more, had I seen in it 2D.
Legacy hits the ground running almost from the start, which is always the more intelligent thing to do in Science Fiction.  Its downfall, as stated above, is its inconclusive plotline.  It’s a roller coaster ride of a film and may very well be one of the more visually exciting and fun films of the year, hopefully worthy of an Oscar nomination.  But Quorra’s statement of “All your questions will be answered” doesn’t really extend its favor to the audience very well.  Through all the twists and turns we go through in the film, in the end, nothing changes.  Sure, Sam decides to take back his fathers company, but he was already keeping it in check with his late night invasions and technological thievery.
The film hopes to explain the plot through a series of expositional dialog that’s forced into our ears, giving the illusion that the plot is effectively being executed when in reality, it’s just causing more confusion.  This has a lot to do with the fact that so much was packed into the story that it was hard to keep the plot simple enough not to rack the brain to and fro.  It throws one to many plot devices at us; such as three versions of one character, a society of intelligently advanced programs called “Isos” which were obliterated before we had a chance to really know what they were, A beautiful and fun woman whose purpose in the story wasn’t entirely clear, and a highly developed world that’s too complex too explain in just under two hours.  The end result of all this and more is bringing the audience to a state of mind no different from when they sat down in the seats of the auditorium two hours before.
Don’t expect too much with this film.  It isn’t mind blowing nor is it a milestone in the history of cinematic excursions.  But it is a spectacle that should be seen and will keep your eyes open and your body pumping ready for the next scene.  And while it doesn’t even touch the animation achievements made by James Cameron’s Avatar, it certainly brings a much more enjoyable and exciting ride when it comes to Science Fiction films in general.

Rating 7.5 out of 10