Once again I visit the cinema on little sleep due to a teething infant. This was a movie I’d been looking forward to since I had seen the trailers. It’s a nice change to see a prequel rather than a sequel as well.
First up, though, the attached “short” entitles The Blue Umbrella. A little more heart-warming than the earlier shorts which were nice and funny, and the visuals are stunning. It took me a few seconds to realise I was watching a cartoon rather than a film. It didn’t outstay its welcome, and the kids weren’t sitting there asking me where the monsters had got to, so that’s fine.
And the main feature. Well, it is as I said a prequel. It’s the story of Mike’s aspirations to be a “scarer” and Sully’s expectations that he would be able to wing it based on his family history. Of course, things don’t go to plan and they have to face a series of challenges to become accepted by the university and the Scaring course tutors.
It’s a well-written story, and leads very well into it’s precursor. A few of the characters you’ll be familiar with from Monsters Inc. make an appearance, but not so many as get silly. The way relationships change from this film to the next are quite interesting.
The best bit for me was the ending – it wasn’t what you would expect. As per the rules for my blog, though – no spoilers! I gather there is a post-credit sequence but we didn’t stay for it. I’ve looked it up and if you have the patience it could be worst parking your backside for five minutes. Not easy when you’re with kids though!
Overall, it wasn’t bad. The kids enjoyed it and it’s a good story. It wasn’t as good as the original, in my opinion, but I really appreciated the sideways step for the plot. Far better than just trying to make more of the same.
I managed to catch six films in three days this week. I had my reasons. Partly being away for a while meant that I missed a good few releases. Also, I’ve been paying £13.50 a month for a “all you can watch” card which isn’t valid in Vietnam so I had to play catch-up. OK, in the order I saw them:
G-Force (3D)
Nothing to do with Battle of the Planets (I believe that’s being given a separate movie makeover), this is a story about guinea pigs. And a mole. A fly, some cockroaches, a hamster/ferret and three mice also feature. Oh, and a few humans.
Yes, it’s a kid’s film, but a good one with more than decent CGI on the starring rodents. The vocal talent isn’t to be sniffed at, either, though Steve Buscemi completely steals the show with one of the secondary characters.
The plot is simple enough for the youngsters to follow with a wealth of film references for the adults to spot and smirk at. It’s simple, fun and enjoyable – and the 3D is very well done making it worth the extra that’s charged for it.
The Final Destination (3D)
First off, I like the title. The fact that it was obviously going to be the last in the series was one of the draws for me, along with the fact that it was in 3D. I think the first one was the only one I saw at the cinema, the second and third were DVDs. It’s worth seeing at the cinema for the 3D, definitely.
If you’ve seen the earlier films, you know what to expect. A horrible accident (this time at a speedway track) after which someone “wakes up”, freaks out and leaves before it actually happens. The film then follows the now-survivors as death stalks them and kills them in imaginative ways. This is no different to the earlier films. At all. It doesn’t even try. But why mess with what’s worked so well up till now?
The opening credits are fantastic – I loved the “x-ray” view of random accidental killings. Great to see some work going into the credits as they’re so often just a dull segment while you wait for the film to kick in.
Of course, the reason everyone watches these films is for the deaths. There are plenty, it’s fairly gory and a good half of them will make you laugh (or groan) due to the tasteless nature or the bad jokes surrounding them. Also, keep an eye out for some subtle in-jokes in the background. There’s a bus floating around with “108” painted on it – the flight number from the first film. I’m sure that’s not a coincidence.
Randomly, the best bit of 3D is a sticking plaster floating in the swimming pool about halfway through.
If you enjoyed the others in the series, this is a fitting end.
Aliens in the Attic
Yeah, another kids’ film and another that’s not too bad. Decent effects, some good dialogue and a handful of child actors you don’t want to throttle.
Plot-in-a-nutshell: a family goes on holiday to a remote house and the kids discover that a diminutive alien race have decided to use it as a starting point to conquer the earth. It’s up to them to save the planet.
The reason for adults not getting involved is simple and clever and puts the kids at the forefront of the film. There’s a ton of great slapstick including a wonderful kung-fu sequence with a granny. All very silly, but very amusing.
Amazingly, I think the best film I saw this week. Imagine School of Rock without Jack Black (not necessarily a bad thing). This is a very well written film with some incredibly good performances from the young cast. The “battle of the bands” central theme is simply a pole to hang a selection of coming-of-age stories from and, to a large extent, is forgotten about until the film’s climax.
Plot-in-a-nutshell: A young guy and his mother move to a new town where he struggles to make friends at school. He falls in with an ex-cheerleader and a goth, starts to manage a band and they enter a huge local competition opposite the utter favourites. Don’t expect an obvious ending…
I seriously can’t recommend this film highly enough. Kids will love the simpler side of the plot with the character conflict, a bit of slapstick not much) and the utterly kick-ass soundtrack. Adults will appreciate how well-filmed it is, the depth of the characters, the fact that Lisa Kudrow is genuinely excellent as the single mother… and the utterly kick-ass soundtrack.
This film hasn’t done well at the box office and one reason may be that it’s just not been hyped enough. Had it been “Disney’s Bandslam” then it would likely have been a launching pad for a fortune in merchandising with an advertising campaign to match. It would also have been bland, boring, banal and not worth your money. More likely High School Musical: Bandslam instead of a deep, incisive, clever, witty, hugely entertaining piece of cinema.
Oh, and a delightful cameo right at the end.
See it. Please, just go and see it. Give it the recognition it deserves.
The Time Traveller’s Wife
OK, I know this screams “chick flick” with a hint of sci-fi just to trick the guys into seeing it, but it’s a really good film.
Plot-in-a-nutshell: a man with a genetic disorder hops around in time against his will. He meets a young girl in his travels and – eventually – meets her in “real life” and they marry. You could guess that from the title…
Time travel films are always going to be a bit weird and open to paradoxical issues. However, the scripting (and I assume original novel) on this one are very tight indeed. The science part of the story is minimal – he travels. He doesn’t know why and nobody can ever explain it. It just happens, it’s a mystery. Perfect. No technobabble.
What’s important is the character development. On the whole, the film follows the central character but sometimes leaves us with those he befriends as he vanishes for undetermined periods. We get to see the effect his “leaping” has on himself and those around him.
This is a lovely film. A great story, beautifully told and very well acted by all involved. Although a little lengthy, it never drags. Yes, it’s really a chick flick but I still enjoyed it a hell of a lot. Pack tissues though – you’ll need them. Girls, that is!
Funny People
The last film of the blitz and I think the longest. It certainly seemed it. Thing is, it’s not very funny and I don’t recognise most of the people in it – even though a lot appear as themselves. I guess it helps if you know a lot of American stand-ups and sitcom actors.
Plot-in-a-nutshell: a famous comedian discovers he’s got some form of leukaemia and takes on another fledgling comedian to keep him company, write his jokes and the like while he undergoes therapy.
The stand-up sections are painful. They’re simply just not funny. Even the ones fronted by Adam Sandler playing his “famous” character are just lame. I’d be cringing and asking for my money back if I’d paid to get in to those clubs.
None of the characters are really likeable. The acting’s stilted and drags the film down in places. The two child actors are painful to watch. It’s too long. The story goes nowhere and just… ends.
Sandler can act, there’s no doubt about it. This flm proves it, but one way it does that is to show him doing his “silly” act as part of the central character. And it’s awful. You have Sandler, the talented actor, playing Sandler the annoying git with the stupid voices around which his earlier career was founded.
I’d heard great things about this film, but they’re wrong. Just don’t bother. Go and see Bandslam a second time instead.
I’m a sucker for a cartoon, so I picked Igor next on the in-flight list. I’d heard a little about it and it seemed a nice premise. The voice cast has some superb actors listed including Steve Buscemi, Eddie Izzard and John Cleese (all too briefly).
Plot in a nutshell: in a mountainous country the king has saved the economy – destroyed by continuous storm clouds – by promoting evil geniuses. Their job is to built devilish world-ending devices. Each year, these devices compete and the winner’s is used to blackmail the rest of the planet for enough money to keep the country ticking over for another 12 months.
Every mad professor has an “Igor”. They’re all called Igor and they all look much the same – small and hunchbacked, speak with a list. Or film follows one Igor with ideas above his station. Of course, he has a couple of comic sidekicks (a brain in a bucket and a squirrel that can’t die, no matter how much he tries) and there’s a bed guy in the plot.
The story is a little predictable, but it is a kid’s film. The action sequences are amusing, the animation superb and – as is often the case – one of the sidekicks has all the best lines. Donkey’s dialogue always outdoes Shrek‘s, for instance.
There’s comedy, romance, action and big monsters. It’s also slightly gross, so it’s bound to appeal to the younger set. Not a classic, but a good way to tide the last 90 minutes or so between Heathrow and Abu Dhabi.
Argh, a few days after I went with the kids but I eventually have time to rattle off a few words…
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