Movie Review: Space Jam: A New Legacy

Movie Review: Space Jam: A New Legacy                                                                                7-16-21

Lebron James is a legendary basketball player, but his son Dominic wants to design video games. One day, while visiting the Warner Bros Studio to learn about the upcoming VR website WB 3000, Lebron thinks it’s a stupid idea, which infuriates super-intelligent AI Al G Rhythm. Al transports both Dom and Lebron into the Server-Verse, which is inspired by Ready Player One, and the only way Lebron can get Dom back is to beat him at a basketball game. When Lebron gets dumped into the Looney Tunes world (which is one of the many worlds in the Server-Verse), he has no choice but to team up with Bugs Bunny and reunite the Tune Squad for the basketball event of the century.

As I am typing this, Space Jam 2: A New Legacy has a shockingly low rating of 34% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, I think it’ a great film for the summer with a solid story, excellent visual effects and animation from ILM , enough Easter Eggs to fill up three Pixar films, and a threatening villain who’s years ahead of, say, Scarlett Overkill from Minions.

Lebron encountering Al for the first time, as homage to The Wizard of Oz.

Remember how Chuck Jones and Joe Dante felt that in the original Space Jam, a lot of the old Looney Tunes characters were used poorly? Well, in this movie, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and the rest of the gang each get their moment in the limelight. There’s even a seen where Porky engages in a rap battle with Al, and it’s actually kind of catchy!

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For those still uncomfortable with the over abundance of CG films from the likes of Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, and Sony, most of the scenes with the Looney Tunes characters are in 2D. While they don’t look as well as they did in Space Jam or Looney Tunes: Back in Action, it’s still a breath of fresh air in an ocean of CGI films.

LeBron in the cartoon world.

In conclusion, while it obviously doesn’t hold a candle to The Mitchells vs the Machines, Space Jam 2: A New Legacy is a worthy film from Warner Animation Group that is sure to get them out of a financial rut: In the past few years, films like The LEGO Movie 2 and Scoob weren’t able to recoup their budget. With Space Jam 2, however, it’s got to earn at least 300 million dollars at the box-office by the end of the summer. Besides, it's gotta be better than The Boss Baby 2: Family Business.

Rating: 3.6 stars out of 5.

Movie Review: Luca

Movie Review: Luca                                                                                                                    6-29-21

Luca is a young sea monster who lives in the ocean, but secretly wants to know what lies beyond the surface. He meets another monster named Alberto, who claims that he knows everything about the human world, and he encourages Luca to go beyond the surface. When Luca and Alberto go above the surface, they turn into humans! Now, in search of their own Vespa (a type of motorcycle), Luca and Alberto go to the seaside town of Portorosso and meet a girl named Giulia (pronounced Julia) and enter a local contest where they could win their own Vespa, while also keeping their monster identities a secret.

While Luca obviously doesn’t have the strongest story Pixar has to offer, it has beautiful animation, engaging characters, the best music in a Pixar film since Coco, and top-notch voice acting from little-known actors.

Giulia is an interesting character that easily joins the ranks of Colette Tatou, Jessie, Joy, and even Helen Parr. She has divorced parents, and is outcast for losing the contest every year. Giulia is also an outgoing and charming adventurer with a love of books and learning.

Giulia encountering Luca and Alberto for the first time.

In conclusion, Luca obviously doesn’t hold a candle to other Pixar films, but is a welcome break from hard-hitting animated films like Wolfwalkers, Soul, ‘Raya’, and ‘Mitchells’.

Rating: 3.7 stars out of 5.

Plus 4 Vespas 🛵🛵🛵🛵

Movie Review: A Goofy Movie

Movie Review: A Goofy Movie                                                                                      6-19-21

Max (Jason Marsden) is the son of the lovable clumsy canine Goofy (Bill Farmer), but all his classmates make fun of him for being related to Goofy. When the principal sends Max to detention for impersonating popular music star Powerline, he threatens Goofy to put Max in the electric chair if he doesn’t straighten Max out. With this in mind, Goofy brings Max on a cross-country road trip to Lake Destiny, Idaho, but Max wants to go to the Powerline concert in Los Angela’s, California to impress popular high school girl Roxanne (Kellie Martin).

A Goofy Movie is a forgotten gem that deserves to be part of the Disney Animated Canon with a story that fits Goofy perfectly, smooth animation, engaging characters, songs that easily surpass the weakest of Alan Menken films, and a strong message about trust and bonding that parents and children alike will understand. I can especially relate to Max sometimes, as both my parents love movies/specials that I think are either overrated or have been outclassed.

Goofy taking Max to Lester's Possum Park, which is a bit like Chuck E Cheese but with possums.

Another thing to appreciate about A Goofy Movie is the amount of care taken in not just the story, but the animation. You can tell that the filmmakers didn’t want this to be an extended episode of Goof Troop, and the fact that this movie used digital ink and paint instead of celluloid shows.

Is that the Duke of Soul from The Little Mermaid biting on Goofy's leg?

If I were to complain about one thing, I feel we didn’t get enough of PJ, Max’s best friend who’s also the son of brutish neighbor Pete, Mickey’s feline rival who dates back to the mouse’s black-and-white days. On Goof Troop, PJ was a bit like Clyde McBride from The Loud House, except with no creepy crush.

PJ, or Pete Junior, as shown on Goof Troop.

In conclusion, A Goofy Movie is a perfect film to share with the whole family, especially on Father’s Day. I also personally prefer this film to WDAS’s actual film that year, Pocahontas.

Rating: 3.8 stars out of 5.

PS. As promised, I will say which film was better: Raya and the Last Dragon or The Mitchells vs the Machines. I picked ‘Mitchells’ because, while ‘Raya’ has amazing world building and animation, it suffers from underdeveloped characters, dragon designs that could’ve looked less fluffy and cuddly, and a rushed ending. While ‘Mitchells’ may not look as beautiful as Kumandra, the film has more likable and relatable characters, a better story, and funnier jokes you’d expect from DreamWorks.

Looney Tunes Double Feature review

Looney Tunes Double Feature Review                                                                                        5-14-21

To prepare myself for Space Jam 2: A New Legacy later this summer, I decided to review the two previous Looney Tunes movies: Space Jam and Looney Tunes: Back in Action.

Alien theme park Moron Mountain is going through rough times, and the boss Swackhammer (Danny DeVito) demands new attractions. Swackhammer’s flunkies are sent to Earth to kidnap the Looney Tunes gang so they will perform for the park against their will. Bugs Bunny (Billy West) tells the aliens that if they win a basketball game against the toons, they will be their slaves, so the flunkies harness the power of NBA superstars and turn into hulking Mon-Stars! Now, to win back their rights, the Looney Tunes gang have to contact Michael Jordan, along with female basketball player Lola Bunny (Kath Soucie, no relation to Bugs) if they want to win this game.

I know some people complained about this movie for having a ridiculous story, some dated CG effects, and some small plot holes, but please keep in mind that the original Looney Tunes cartoons were downright daffy, silly, and off-the-rails bonkers. Yes, I agree that the plot can be nonsensical a lot of the time, but there’s also top-notch voice acting, impressive character animation that almost rivals Disney, some good cinematography, and some memorable funny jokes. My favorite line in the movie is when Bugs and Daffy were retrieving Jordan’s lucky shoes, and they were discussing what to name their basketball team. Daffy suggests they call their team ‘the Ducks’, but Bugs disagrees and replies “What kind of Mickey Mouse organization would name their team ‘The Ducks’?”

My one major gripe with Space Jam is that Marvin the Martian, an alien who would serve as a foil for Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, is used rather poorly, even though he could’ve easily defeated the Nerdlucks (Swackahmmer’s flunkies). Remember how he basically evaporated Daffy in the original Duck Dodgers?

I’m sorry to say this, Marvin fans, but in Space Jam, he’s reduced to a referee.

In conclusion, while not as bad as other people say it is, Space Jam could’ve been better, but you have to agree on one thing: It’s better than last year’s Scoob.

In another world where humans and toons (aka cartoon characters) live side by side, Daffy Duck (Joe Alasky) has been fired in favor of the more popular Bugs Bunny (also Joe Alasky). After getting Warner Bros security guard Damian Drake Jr. (Brendan Fraser) fired because of Daffy’s antics, he gets a message from his father, who’s also a secret spy, that he’s been kidnapped by the ACME corporation! Now Damian, Bugs, Daffy, and WB Vice President Kate Houghton (Jenna Elfman) have to go on a trip around the world to find the fabled ‘Blue Monkey’ Diamond before ACME does for their own diabolical schemes!

Many people, myself included, view Looney Tunes: Back in Action as an improvement over Space Jam with a witty script and animation/live-action interactions that are almost on par with Roger Rabbit.

While most of the toons that appeared in Space Jam were basically eye candy, many of the toons that appear in Back in Action actually push the plot forward, including Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Wile E Coyote, Marvin the Martian, and even the Tasmanian Devil!

Damian gambling with Yosemite with Foghorn Leghorn as the host.

Unfortunately, due to licensing issues, no non-Warner toons appear in Looney Tunes: Back in Action, so nobody from Disney, Don Bluth, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks (who had six animated movies by this point), or even Cartoon Network appears in the movie. The only non-Warner toons that do appear in the movie are Scooby-Doo and Shaggy Rogers.

If I were to complain about one thing, I'd say that both Damian and Kate are painfully bland one-dimensional characters. Not to mention that Joan Cussack is a little young to play Damian's mother.

In conclusion, while it has its issues, Looney Tunes: Back in Action is a movie that would make Looney Tunes legends Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, and maybe even Chuck Jones smile. I just hope Space Jam 2 lives up to its hype. It’s also important to note that this movie was the last time hand-drawn animation would be mixed with live-action until 2018 with Mary Poppins Returns.

Space Jam rating: 3.25 stars out of 5.

Back in Action rating: 3.40 stars out of 5.

Movie Review: The Mitchells vs the Machines

Movie Review: The Mitchells vs the Machines                                                                           5-3-21

Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson) is a teenage girl who loves to make home movies. However, her father Rick (Danny McBride) starts thinking that she is becoming too reliant on cellphones and computers. When Katie gets accepted into the college of her dreams, Rick cancels her plane tickets and plans a cross-country road trip to spend quality time with her, along with his wife Linda (Maya Rudolph) and Katie’s younger brother Aaron. When machines start rebelling against humanity, however, the Mitchell family has to put their differences aside to save the world.

The Mitchells vs the Machines follows in the same footsteps as The LEGO Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse with stylized animation that rivals Disney, Pixar, and DreamWorks, engaging three-dimensional characters that families can relate to, and a story with a disturbing message on how over-reliance on technology may result in catastrophic consequences.

Another interesting aspect about ‘Mitchells’ is the usage of 2D animation throughout the film, even though movies like Moana and Captain Underpants did it before.

Most of the characters in the movie are also rather complex, albeit familiar: Rick is essentially a more likable Grug Crood (the Nicholas Cage father from The Croods), and PAL Labs, a company that took over the technology world a few years back, is similar to BnL from WALL-E.

Rick playing with an infant Katie.

Speaking of PAL, the original PAL cellphone, voiced by Olivia Colman, has both a tragic and simple backstory at the same time. PAL co-founder Mark Bowman simply threw her in the trash in favor of humanoid robots that can do things phones or computers can't, namely human labor. Now, she has a vengeance and wants to shoot every human into space and repopulate Earth with machines and electronics.

If I were to complain about one thing, I think that the title is too long. I personally wish they kept it as ‘Connected’, like how they did in the original trailer. Not to mention that most of Sony's animated films have long titles, like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Hotel Transylvania, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

In conclusion, The Mitchells vs the Machines is another great animated film for 2021, though I do have a warning for the parents reading this review: Mitchells vs the Machines is about a robot Apocalypse, so the movie may not be appropriate for single-digit kids. However, Gravity Falls fans will love this movie, as directors Jeff Rowe and Mike Rianda also worked on that show.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

PS. For all those thinking if I liked this more or less than Raya and the Last Dragon, you'll have to wait until June, when I rewatch Raya on Disney+.

Movie Review: Over the Hedge

Movie Review: Over the Hedge                                                                                                  4-7-21

Over the Hedge is about a lone raccoon named RJ (Bruce Willis), who accidentally spilt all the food for a brutish Bear named Vincent (Nick Nolte). Vincent tells him that if RJ recovers all the food within a week, he’ll let him live. RJ meets a group of misfit animals, including Verne the down-to-Earth turtle (Garry Shandling), a nutty squirrel named Hammy (Steve Carral), a sassy skunk named Stella (Wanda Sykes), and a thespian possum named Ozzy (William Shatner), and their forest has been destroyed to make room for a Cul-De-Sac. RJ uses his new friends to get more food to pay off his debt, but in the process, he discovers something that he never had: A family.

Over the Hedge is yet another forgotten gem with smooth animation, a colorful cast of characters, and a story with a message on how suburban sprawl impacts wild animals’ lives and how they have to adjust to survive in this new environment. As producer Bonnie Arnold puts it 'We (human beings) are the ones in the animals' backyard, and they are not in ours'.

As with other DreamWorks films, the film is full of jokes that people will either like or hate. I personally think it’s funny that RJ points out that people exercise just so they can eat more.

If I were to complain about one thing, I’d have to say that some of the human characters in the movie look kind of ugly. However, this is forgiving because DreamWorks wasn’t ready to make a CG movie starring humans yet, as they wanted to avoid the Uncanny Valley*.

Stella popping out of a cake.

In conclusion, during a year that saw many CG animated films, Over the Hedge is a fun film to watch around April. It’s also much much better than either Nut Job films, which the first one having a very similar premise to Over the Hedge.

Rating: 3.38 stars out of 5.

*Uncanny Valley is a term used in computer graphics: The more realistic you make a CG character, the creepier it gets. When DreamWorks switched to CG in 2003, they shy away from putting humans in their films other than sequels to Shrek. However, Conrad Vernon, director of Shrek 2 and Monsters vs Aliens, points out that if you make a human more cartoony, the creepiness subsides. With stylization from the likes of David James, Kathy Alteiri, and Christophe Lautrette, DreamWorks was able to give visually-appealing human-starring films like Monsters vs Aliens, The Croods, and the critically-acclaimed How To Train Your Dragon.

Movie Review: Raya and the Last Dragon

Movie Review: Raya and the Last Dragon                                                                       3-6-21

Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it's up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the legendary last dragon to restore the fractured land and its divided people.

So, what did I think of the movie? Well, I liked it better than Ralph Breaks the Internet and Frozen 2, but less than Zootopia and Moana. Raya and the Last Dragon has top-notch animation, lots of action-packed scenes, and well-developed characters, though not as engaging as Tangled or Moana.

Raya's pet armadillo/pillbug-like creature Tuk-Tuk getting distracted by a lizard.

The story is also a strong parable on how other countries dislike each other. When the dragons (except Sisu) sacrificed each other to save humanity from the cloud-like Druun, Kumandra was split into five kingdoms: Talon, Heart, Tail, Fang, and Spine. The Druun turn whoever they touch into stone, and it caused the people of Kumandra to become corrupted with mistrust and greed.

Raya trying to retrieve her stolen crystals from the infant Noi and the Ongis, a species of monkey.

Sisu, the blue horse-like dragon voiced by Awkwafina, can also be funny at times. She's a bit like a larger Mushu, though she can't breathe fire. Instead, Sisu is an experienced swimmer, and even has a canonical human form!

Sisu also believes that the world can be a better place if people were more trustworthy and selfless.

In conclusion, Raya and the Last Dragon is a great way to start the year off, though I have a warning for the parents reading this: 'Raya' is a bit more mature than previous Disney films, treading similar waters to Atlantis and Treasure Planet. There's lots of intense action and even some character deaths.

Rating: 3.7 stars out of 5.