I won’t pretend to think this
year in animated features has been a great one. I know many probably had issues
with the medium in 2011, but trust me, this year for animation is easily worse.
Not only is it the worst year for the medium since 2006, it’s one of the worst
years in animation I can remember. I’ve already gotten around to a few of these
films, but today, I decided to finish up some reviews of movies I saw earlier
in the year, but I’ve been holding back for a while. Some I saw by my own free
will, while others I was coerced into seeing. Enjoy!
Despicable Me 2:
Oh, Despicable Me. How I failed
to understand the broad appeal of the first movie, and the very hit-or-miss Looney
Tunes style humor that it employed. You could imagine how unenthusiastic I was
to learn that a sequel was in development. In this installment, we see Gru
swapping his life as a supervillain for a nice comfortable life as a father.
However, when an organization known as the Anti Villain League seeks his know-how
in the case of tracking down and capturing a criminal mastermind who stole a
super serum, he teams up with the all-too energetic agent Lucy Wilde for the
mission, while one of his daughters falls for a young boy, and his gibberish
speaking minions get tangled up in their own problems. To my surprise, I
actually enjoyed this movie more than the first.
Of course, that’s not saying a whole
lot. Much of the same vices of the first film are still present here. Hit or
miss slapstick that either help the film, or create an overly obnoxious vibe,
merely passable characters that are sometimes a waste of the talented comedians
behind them, and attempts at being “cute” that can border on annoying. It
sounds like average stuff, but one area where I think the film improved on is
in the humor factor. I’ll admit that I was laughing quite a lot during this
sequel, while rarely shaking my head. A lot of this humor comes from Gru’s
adopted daughters, his new mission partner and love interest Lucy (voiced by
Kristen Wiig), as well as Gru’s scene stealing yellow minions. They border on
being overused at times (specifically by teasing a future movie based solely
around them during the end credits), but they still had me tickled throughout most
of their screentime. So, while Despicable Me 2 may be an improvement on the
first, it still isn’t enough to convince me that their developers, Illumination
Entertainment, are in the big leagues yet.
*** / *****
Planes:
Remember those awful
direct-to-DVD sequels Disney used to make years ago? Well, they came back.
After the success of Pixar’s Cars, Disney decided to make a spin-off series
above the world of Cars called... Planes. Eventually, plans changed for the
film, and it was instead rescheduled to release theatrically. Contrary to what
many people believe, this shouldn’t have remained a DVD only release... it
shouldn’t have even existed in the first place.
A half-hearted throwback to old
underdog tales (and by “throwback”, I mean “butchery”), the film follows Dusty
Crophopper, a cropduster who dreams of competing in the big leagues with
professional racers in a world Grand Prix of sorts. Wouldn’t you know it, he
gets his wish. He gets training from an old war veteran, makes friends with
several of the racers, and makes enemies with the self-absorbed champion who is
self-absorbed for seemingly no reason whatsoever (complete with a Will
Arnett impersonation).
Through and through, this movie is thoroughly predictable.
I’ve said before that just because a movie is clichéd does not necessarily make
it bad, it just depends on how you execute them. Planes just happens to use
them badly. It’s not as if there’s anything insultingly bad about the film, but
the problem is that this film is so, so BORING. There is barely anything worth
recommending in this film. All of the jokes (Well, most, because there were
some legitimately funny lines in there) fall flat, the characters are all
pretty much ciphers (and this is a sad waste of the many talented voice over
actors), there is zero suspense or investment in the whole affair, and even the
animation is generic. This movie especially fails in the emotional department,
because none of the sentimentality or “feel-good” moments ever feel earned. One
thing we can all be thankful for is that this generic mess is at least over
quickly.
*1/2 / *****
Turbo:
TURBO-TASTIC! I’ll admit that upon hearing the premise of
Turbo, I thought this movie was going to be thoroughly stupid. However, to my
surprise, Turbo is actually pretty fun, despite whatever story issues it has.
The lead character of the film is Theo (aka Turbo), a garden snail that dreams
of competing alongside his favorite racers in the Indy 500 circuit. After a
freak accident one night, he becomes the fastest snail in the world, capable of
going top speeds of over 200 miles per hour. Through a series of events, he
eventually finds himself living out his dreams, competing against the fiercest
challengers in the racing world.
Like I said, just by this premise alone, I thought the film
was going to crash and burn. However, the film does remain very entertaining.
If I have complaints about anything, it’s that the story doesn’t live up to the
full potential the project had. A traditional underdog story to a fault, Turbo
doesn’t always do much to set itself apart from numerous better films, which
includes moments where it rips off Ratatouille as well. However, the
movie is still fresh and enjoyable, due chiefly to how funny and charming
the movie’s voice cast is. Not all of the jokes hit bullseyes, but the film
remains consistently humorous. The film is also a technical marvel, none more
attention-grabbing than Richard King’s creative sound design. Kudos also go to
those great racing sequences, thanks especially due to consultation from DP
Wally Pfister.
***1/2 / *****
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