directed by Peter Sohn
written by Meg LeFauve, Peter Sohn, Erik Benson, Kelsey Mann and Bob Peterson
When Pixar started marketing its new film The Good Dinosaur a few months ago, the trailer called a lot of attention to the "what if" premise of the extinction of dinosaurs never actually taking place, paving the way for a world where humans and dinosaurs could co-exist. Unfortunately, apparently the only thing Pixar really wanted to do with that heady premise was turn dinosaurs into cowboys and humans into dogs. No, really.
As unlikely as this may sound, The Good Dinosaur while being a coming-of-age film about a young apatosaur, actually plays out, in terms of atmosphere, script and even music, like a Western.
It is the story of Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa), the smallest of three dinosaur siblings born to a loving couple of dinosaur farmers (Jeffrey Wright and Frances McDormand). As Arlo and his siblings Buck (Marcus Scribner) and Libby (Maleah Padilla) grow, the two of them prove very capable around the farm, while he struggles with his chore of feeding the chickens largely because he is afraid of them. Both Buck and Libby are able to "make their mark" on the family's grain silo or put their footprints in mud alongside the marks of their parents, but Arlo, at the beginning of the film, has apparently not yet earned the right to do so.
Wanting to help his son, the father dinosaur comes up with a task for him: kill the creature that has been stealing grain from the silo. The task goes awry, and tragedy ensues as a rainstorm and flash flood hit. Arlo finds himself separated from his family and far from home. What follows is a journey of discovery, peril, courage and unexpected friendship.
Following their finest original film in years, Inside Out, perhaps there was some inevitability that their next film would disappoint, but even careful management of expectations could not dispel the distinct impression that Pixar made The Good Dinosaur more as a way of sharpening their technical skills than as the celebration of the art of storytelling that their very best movies are.
On a technical level, this film is utterly beyond reproach and I could swear that, time and time again, I was sure I was looking at an actual, filmed environment rather than an animated one.
In terms of story and character development, though, the film comes conspicuously short of the kind of excellence viewers have come to expect from Pixar, especially after their last, pitch-perfect movie. It leans on one narrative cliche after another, and while it effectively turns the premise of anthropomorphism on its head, there's nothing else about it that's particularly remarkable.
It really is a technical marvel, even though I wasn't particularly fond of the cartoony design of the dinosaurs. I realize that a more realistic look for them could have alienated children, who were quite clearly the target audience here, but the hyper-realistic environments, which even included meticulously rendered storm clouds and flood waters, seemed distinctly incongruous with the stylized characters. Pixar has done this before, of course; its characters have inhabited meticulously-rendered worlds like the retro-futuristic environs of The Incredibles or even the fantastic, Monte Carlo-inspired, European coastal city depicted in the narrative disaster Cars 2. The thing about this movie, though is that it takes realistic animated environments to the next level, and yet is content to tell a very ordinary story using some truly extraordinary techniques. Another technical achievement worth mentioning is Mychael and Jeff Danna's striking music score which, while reminiscent of some pretty conventional "western" themes, still manages to be emotionally resonant.
The movie trots out so many story tropes in succession that it gets rather tedious after awhile, though I'll readily admit I got a good laugh out of the "drug trip" scene in which the two main characters hallucinate after eating rotten fruit.
The "cowboy dinosaur" element was pretty novel, though, especially the scene where three tyrannosaurus rexes, who are this world's cowboys to the apatosaurus' farmers, ran; they basically galloped and it was pretty amusing to watch. Sam Elliott is always a treat, even when he's just lending his vocals, and he was quite well cast here as the patriarch of a family of t-rex cowboys.
This film takes the visual aspect of animated storytelling to another level, but unfortunately, this time at least, the more important elements of storytelling were left by the wayside, which is odd, considering how much doctoring the script underwent.
For my part, I hope that in Pixar's future movies featuring their patented brilliant storytelling, the environs are given this much detail. The viewing experience is much richer for it.
Incidentally, the short film that opened for this film, Sanjay's Super Team, which featured Indian deities as superheroes, was a lot more interesting than the main feature, and considering its distinctly Asian storytelling flavor it makes me wonder if Pixar isn't ready to take a significant step in a new creative direction. It was also given a sublime music score by Mychael Danna (sans brother Jeff) which hearkened back to his Academy-Award winning work on Life of Pi.
6.5/10
9/10 for Sanjay's Super Team
Monday, November 30, 2015
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Turning Back the Clock: A Review of Spectre
directed by Sam Mendes
written by John Logan, Robert Wade, Neil Purvis and Jez Butterworth
After three movies in which Daniel Craig channeled Jason Bourne when playing cinematic superspy James Bond, in Spectre, the latest (reportedly Craig's last) outing, he trades in the brass-knuckle brutality of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and even Skyfall for a decidedly more traditional take on the character.
Following the events of Skyfall, Bond tracks down an Italian assassin to Mexico City, where he prevents a mass murder but causes an international incident in the process. This, however, is only the beginning, as the assassin, as Bond soon discovers after observing his funeral and meeting his widow (Monica Bellucci), is part of a much larger and more sinister organization than Bond could have ever imagined, one that has direct links to the villains he has faced since the very beginning of his career. As Bond investigates, he eavesdrops on a meeting presided over by Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), a man with direct ties to Bond's past. In the meantime, MI6, which was physically destroyed in Skyfall, now faces complete annihilation with the arrival of C (Andrew Scott), a bureaucrat determined to replace the 00 program with electronic surveillance and drones, much to the irritation of M (Ralph Fiennes). These threats converge quite swiftly, and Bond soon learns from an old adversary of his, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) the foe he faces is bigger than he could imagine, especially after they sic a larger-than-life henchman, Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista) on him. It will take all of Bond's skill, with a helping hand from M, Q (Ben Winshaw) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and even Mr. White's daughter, Dr.Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux), to defeat Spectre, but will it be enough?
There are a couple of things clear from this particular film, probably the foremost being director Sam Mendes' fondness for the franchise and in particular the kitsch that characterized the earliest films. I suppose one could say he's earned the right to take the franchise in whatever direction he sees fit; whether or not one loved or hated Skyfall (and I happened to like it quite a bit) it was, hands down, the most globally successful James Bond movie ever. Also, the gritty approach doesn't always work out for the best, as the creative misstep Quantum of Solace showed. The thing is, I'm not sure "retro" was the way to go, especially since this appears to be Craig's swansong to the franchise.
The old Bond touches abound, like the tricked out Omega watch, the Aston Martin with an ejector seat and the indestructible henchman, to name a few. I was a little disappointed with the much-hyped Aston Martin vs. Jaguar duel; it lacked the intensity that a really good car chase should have. The thing is, considering that there was quite a bit of humor involved in the sequence I get the impression that it wasn't really played so much for thrills as it was for laughs. Maybe they had a deal with Aston Martin to show Bond's car drifting in slow motion so that audiences (and potential AM buyers) could get a good look at the product, even though the DB10 depicted here will never be sold in stores.
The good news, though, is that there are still generous helpings of well-executed action elsewhere in the film, like the incredible opening action sequence in Mexico City which was ushered in by one of the most extraordinary single, uncut shots I've seen in recent years as well as some pretty intense fighting sequences in Austria and on-board a train trundling across Africa. While James Bond films, especially the more recent ones, are cultural events of a sort, Mendes remembers that this is still, first and foremost, an action film, and in that respect, Spectre delivers.
The thing that disappoints a bit, though is that Bond films have, since Craig came on board, tended to be smarter than this, and this film feels like a bit of a step back, though I did appreciate the elegant Monica Bellucci in her glorified cameo, and even Seydoux as the feisty, sexy Swann. Fiennes, Winshaw and Harris all play their supporting roles quite well, and get their own action sequence, something unheard of in the Connery days, but Scott disappoints as C, and even more shockingly, Waltz fails to bring Oberhauser to the level of Javier Bardem's batshit-crazy ex-spy Silva, due in no small part to some rather weak scripting.
For example, I loved Silva's opening soliloquy in the scene in which he was introduced in Skyfall, telling Bond an anecdote about rats eating coconut, and quite honestly, Oberhauser doesn't have anything like that; rather, he spouts some generic spiel about conquering the world through information technology, with parts of his shtick even lifted from Silva's technobabble from the last film. It was all right, but I honestly would have expected more from Waltz, whose work I have enjoyed, even when he was just lending his voice to a cartoon character in 2013's Epic.
This isn't the strongest of the Craig bonds, but if nothing else, at least it wasn't the hot narrative mess that Quantum of Solace fell into after that stellar pre-credits car chase. If this indeed proves to be Daniel Craig's last outing as James Bond, it isn't the worst way he could have gone, but in my opinion he could have gone out so much better.
6.5/10
written by John Logan, Robert Wade, Neil Purvis and Jez Butterworth
After three movies in which Daniel Craig channeled Jason Bourne when playing cinematic superspy James Bond, in Spectre, the latest (reportedly Craig's last) outing, he trades in the brass-knuckle brutality of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and even Skyfall for a decidedly more traditional take on the character.
Following the events of Skyfall, Bond tracks down an Italian assassin to Mexico City, where he prevents a mass murder but causes an international incident in the process. This, however, is only the beginning, as the assassin, as Bond soon discovers after observing his funeral and meeting his widow (Monica Bellucci), is part of a much larger and more sinister organization than Bond could have ever imagined, one that has direct links to the villains he has faced since the very beginning of his career. As Bond investigates, he eavesdrops on a meeting presided over by Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), a man with direct ties to Bond's past. In the meantime, MI6, which was physically destroyed in Skyfall, now faces complete annihilation with the arrival of C (Andrew Scott), a bureaucrat determined to replace the 00 program with electronic surveillance and drones, much to the irritation of M (Ralph Fiennes). These threats converge quite swiftly, and Bond soon learns from an old adversary of his, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) the foe he faces is bigger than he could imagine, especially after they sic a larger-than-life henchman, Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista) on him. It will take all of Bond's skill, with a helping hand from M, Q (Ben Winshaw) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and even Mr. White's daughter, Dr.Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux), to defeat Spectre, but will it be enough?
There are a couple of things clear from this particular film, probably the foremost being director Sam Mendes' fondness for the franchise and in particular the kitsch that characterized the earliest films. I suppose one could say he's earned the right to take the franchise in whatever direction he sees fit; whether or not one loved or hated Skyfall (and I happened to like it quite a bit) it was, hands down, the most globally successful James Bond movie ever. Also, the gritty approach doesn't always work out for the best, as the creative misstep Quantum of Solace showed. The thing is, I'm not sure "retro" was the way to go, especially since this appears to be Craig's swansong to the franchise.
The old Bond touches abound, like the tricked out Omega watch, the Aston Martin with an ejector seat and the indestructible henchman, to name a few. I was a little disappointed with the much-hyped Aston Martin vs. Jaguar duel; it lacked the intensity that a really good car chase should have. The thing is, considering that there was quite a bit of humor involved in the sequence I get the impression that it wasn't really played so much for thrills as it was for laughs. Maybe they had a deal with Aston Martin to show Bond's car drifting in slow motion so that audiences (and potential AM buyers) could get a good look at the product, even though the DB10 depicted here will never be sold in stores.
The good news, though, is that there are still generous helpings of well-executed action elsewhere in the film, like the incredible opening action sequence in Mexico City which was ushered in by one of the most extraordinary single, uncut shots I've seen in recent years as well as some pretty intense fighting sequences in Austria and on-board a train trundling across Africa. While James Bond films, especially the more recent ones, are cultural events of a sort, Mendes remembers that this is still, first and foremost, an action film, and in that respect, Spectre delivers.
The thing that disappoints a bit, though is that Bond films have, since Craig came on board, tended to be smarter than this, and this film feels like a bit of a step back, though I did appreciate the elegant Monica Bellucci in her glorified cameo, and even Seydoux as the feisty, sexy Swann. Fiennes, Winshaw and Harris all play their supporting roles quite well, and get their own action sequence, something unheard of in the Connery days, but Scott disappoints as C, and even more shockingly, Waltz fails to bring Oberhauser to the level of Javier Bardem's batshit-crazy ex-spy Silva, due in no small part to some rather weak scripting.
For example, I loved Silva's opening soliloquy in the scene in which he was introduced in Skyfall, telling Bond an anecdote about rats eating coconut, and quite honestly, Oberhauser doesn't have anything like that; rather, he spouts some generic spiel about conquering the world through information technology, with parts of his shtick even lifted from Silva's technobabble from the last film. It was all right, but I honestly would have expected more from Waltz, whose work I have enjoyed, even when he was just lending his voice to a cartoon character in 2013's Epic.
This isn't the strongest of the Craig bonds, but if nothing else, at least it wasn't the hot narrative mess that Quantum of Solace fell into after that stellar pre-credits car chase. If this indeed proves to be Daniel Craig's last outing as James Bond, it isn't the worst way he could have gone, but in my opinion he could have gone out so much better.
6.5/10
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Jack Black in Glasses: A Review of Goosebumps
directed by Rob Letterman
written by Darren Lemke, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
I was never an avid follower of R.L. Stine's popular Goosebumps series of young adult horror books, so I had very little invested in this movie going in, apart from rather expensive ticket which promised unlimited popcorn (and, to be fair, delivered). The movie actually doesn't adapt any of his books but follows the unusual (but not unheard of) narrative strategy of being set in a world in which people have read the books, with the author himself (played by Black) being a character in the story.
Black's Stine, though, is more of a supporting character in the story of Zach (Dylan Minette) a high school age youth who moves to a new town with his mother (Amy Ryan) following the death of his father. His only friends are Champ (Ryan Lee) and his mysterious neighbor Hannah (Odeya Rush), who turns out to be the daughter of the reclusive Stine. After seeing Stine shout at his daughter through their window on a number of occasions, Zach suspects domestic abuse is going on and calls the police. When Stine convinces the small town police that nothing is amiss, Zach takes matters into his own hands, tricks Stine into leaving, breaks into his house with Champ's help, and finds something he doesn't quite expect, and, without knowing it, unleashes something terrifying on the town from the very pages of Stine's books. He'll need the help of Hannah, Champ and Stine himself to stop the monstrous rampage that follows.
This film really doesn't have a whole lot going for it, from its Logan-Lerman-clone of a lead to its treasure trove of cliche characters to its bargain-basement, barely-better-than-TV-movie computer-generated imagery, but it does have something that I really got into: Jack Black acting completely against type. With a few tweaks and outright exceptions (like his family friendly turns in Dreamworks cartoons, and his Mexican wrestler in Nacho Libre), Jack Black has basically played the same guy since the year 2000, namely Barry from High Fidelity, so to see him change gears like this is a real treat. He doesn't play Stine with condescension or caricature but, surprisingly, gives him some genuine emotional resonance, even amidst the comedy that drives the film. It's nice to see Black star in a comedy without delivering the loudest performance. That distinction goes to Lee, though barring any star-making turns after this I don't really see him breaking out.
Also, the movie has a few worthwhile things to say about the importance of human relationships, though ironically enough it betrays it premise slightly as far as the obligatory love story is concerned.
I would not recommend for anyone to go out of their way to see this movie, but it is a decent enough time-killer.
6/10
written by Darren Lemke, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
I was never an avid follower of R.L. Stine's popular Goosebumps series of young adult horror books, so I had very little invested in this movie going in, apart from rather expensive ticket which promised unlimited popcorn (and, to be fair, delivered). The movie actually doesn't adapt any of his books but follows the unusual (but not unheard of) narrative strategy of being set in a world in which people have read the books, with the author himself (played by Black) being a character in the story.
Black's Stine, though, is more of a supporting character in the story of Zach (Dylan Minette) a high school age youth who moves to a new town with his mother (Amy Ryan) following the death of his father. His only friends are Champ (Ryan Lee) and his mysterious neighbor Hannah (Odeya Rush), who turns out to be the daughter of the reclusive Stine. After seeing Stine shout at his daughter through their window on a number of occasions, Zach suspects domestic abuse is going on and calls the police. When Stine convinces the small town police that nothing is amiss, Zach takes matters into his own hands, tricks Stine into leaving, breaks into his house with Champ's help, and finds something he doesn't quite expect, and, without knowing it, unleashes something terrifying on the town from the very pages of Stine's books. He'll need the help of Hannah, Champ and Stine himself to stop the monstrous rampage that follows.
This film really doesn't have a whole lot going for it, from its Logan-Lerman-clone of a lead to its treasure trove of cliche characters to its bargain-basement, barely-better-than-TV-movie computer-generated imagery, but it does have something that I really got into: Jack Black acting completely against type. With a few tweaks and outright exceptions (like his family friendly turns in Dreamworks cartoons, and his Mexican wrestler in Nacho Libre), Jack Black has basically played the same guy since the year 2000, namely Barry from High Fidelity, so to see him change gears like this is a real treat. He doesn't play Stine with condescension or caricature but, surprisingly, gives him some genuine emotional resonance, even amidst the comedy that drives the film. It's nice to see Black star in a comedy without delivering the loudest performance. That distinction goes to Lee, though barring any star-making turns after this I don't really see him breaking out.
Also, the movie has a few worthwhile things to say about the importance of human relationships, though ironically enough it betrays it premise slightly as far as the obligatory love story is concerned.
I would not recommend for anyone to go out of their way to see this movie, but it is a decent enough time-killer.
6/10
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