The LEGO Movie

Posted on February 6, 2014 at 6:00 pm

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Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for action and crude humor
Profanity:	Some schoolyard language ("butt")
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Cartoon-style peril and violence, no one hurt
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	February 7, 2014
Date Released to DVD:	June 18, 2014
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00HEQOC2A

Everything is awesome in this fast, fresh, funny, and utterly adorable movie set in the vast world of LEGOs.

Last year at Comic-Con the filmmakers said that there are two great things to do with LEGOs — you can follow the instructions and make something awesome. Or, you can ignore the instructions and make something awesome. Here, they pay tribute to both in the storyline and in their own meta-approach to the material, deconstructing classic movie narratives over here, re-constructing them over there, and adding in some delicious humor and sublime guest stars of both the LEGO and human variety. So when a Gandalf-y looking guy with the deep, familiar voice of Morgan Freeman intones a prophecy about a chosen one, we file it away as the underlying frame for the story — for a couple of seconds until he advises the confused crowd that it has to be true because it rhymes. Big-time Lugnuts and Brick-heads will find plenty of in-jokes and wonky charm and those who don’t know their minifigures from their master builders will enjoy the wit, the silliness, and the surprisingly touching conclusion.

The movie winsomely begins with LEGO logos, immediately welcoming us into a playful, tactile world. And then we meet our unassuming hero, the cheerful Emmet (a terrific Chris Pratt), who greets each day with joyful energy and loves everything about his life. At least, that’s what he tells us as he follows the instructions for getting ready for work on a construction site. The song “Everything is Awesome” (from Tegan and Sara) plays brightly everywhere. Instructions are clear and faces are painted in a smile. But Emmett is lonely. Everyone seems to have friends to hang out with but no one invites him to come along. He loves being part of a team but kind of misses having something special and different.

And then, the brave and glamorous Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), with her fetching streaked ponytail, shows up and he follows her down the LEGO equivalent of a rabbit hole to discover that everything he thought he understood about his world of following instructions and being part of a team is at risk. President Business (Will Ferrell) is about to unleash a terrible weapon, and apparently Emmet is the only one who can stop him. There are worlds beside and under worlds and within other worlds here — you could make an “Inception”-style map that takes you from the wild west and Middle Zealand to Cloud Cuckoo-land. The film makes clever use of the properties of LEGOs, their endless variety of characters and projects and their comforting sameness of structure and inflexibility. It avoids becoming an infomercial by keeping the focus on the story and the goal of creativity. Emmet and Wildfire are joined by Batman (Will Arnett’s dry baritone nails it), Vitruvious (Freeman), a pirate cyborg (Charlie Day), and a rainbow unicorn-kitty (Alison Brie). Their foes include President Business’ two-faced henchman whose head swivels to allow him to be both good and bad cop (a very funny Liam Neeson). It would be criminal to give away any of the movie’s many surprises and the mind-bendingly cool guest appearances, but I will mention that a couple of them arrive from a galaxy far, far away.

There are some unexpectedly heartwarming moments about family and the importance of imagination. The bad guy is not called President Business for the usual reasons. And there’s an unusually astute resolution to the final confrontation. I especially enjoyed some very clever satire about the kind of entertainment we too often settle for. If only they had known about Facebook’s 10th anniversary gift to each of its subscribers of “look back” mini-movies of their own lives — but not even “The LEGO Movie” could have come up with anything that solipsistically deranged. But this movie is itself the best possible antidote to the tendency to settle for lowest-common-denominator formula story-telling. It won’t just inspire you to see better movies; it will inspire you to make your own.

Parents should know that this film has cartoon-style peril and violence with many threatened injuries but no one hurt, a parent-child confrontation, some potty humor, and schoolyard language.

Family discussion: How do you decide whether you are special? Is it more fun to follow directions or make something up? What parts of the LEGO world do you recognize?

If you like this, try: the “Toy Story” movies and “Robots” — and build something with LEGOs!

The Nut Job

Posted on January 16, 2014 at 6:00 pm

I miss the days when the economics of animation were so daunting that we were assured a certain level of quality. Yes, there were some low points that don’t even qualify for a Disney re-issue (I could find some affection for “Chicken Little” and “Treasure Planet,” but even I can’t find much to like in “The Black Cauldron” or “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”). Unfortunately, now that computer modeling makes animation more affordable, movies are getting made that don’t meet the minimum standards for a feature film.

“The Nut Job” is not an awful movie, nowhere near as bad as last year’s “Free Birds” or “Escape from Planet Earth.” It is just not very good, with sluggish pacing and a weak script that is both over- and under-written. One telling detail is the movie’s reliance on the 2012 Psy hit song “Gangnam Style.” When a two-year-old song is a movie’s high point, it’s in trouble. The thanks to the tourism bureau of South Korea in the credits is also an indication that entertainment and story-telling were not the sole purpose of the film.

The voice talent is fine, especially Maya Rudolph as a bulldog, but the visuals are not especially imaginative. As we see so often in sub-par animation, the focus (literally) seems to be on making every hair distinct rather than in finding a visual way to move the story. Very simple, basic fundamentals like a sense of place and the relationships of the various locations to each other are poorly handled and the 3D is entirely unnecessary.

If you want to see an entertaining and funny movie about backyard creatures trying to steal nuts, take a look at an old Disney “Chip ‘n’ Dale” cartoon. This has essentially the same idea, but weighed down with complications that, like the hyper-realism of each hair in the animals’ fur, overtakes the big picture.

A squirrel named Surly (Will Arnett) is a cynical loner with just one friend, a rat. They live in a city park. Surly has no interest in cooperating with the rest of the animals, who work together to gather food. Their leader is Raccoon (Liam Neeson), and when he warns that they do not have enough food, the responsible, loyal, and dedicated Andie (Katherine Heigl) and dim, overconfident Grayson (Brendan Fraser), regarded by all the animals as their hero, go off in search of food and find the same target already identified by Surly, a nut cart. When their competition over the cart results in disaster that destroys the animals’ entire store of food, Surly is banished. He is lost at first as he explores the city for the first time, but then he finds the nut shop behind the cart, which turns out to be a front for a group of bank robbers.

So there’s conflict between Surly and Andie, the animals and the humans, the squirrels and some scary-looking rats, the squirrels and the bulldog, the squirrels and various perilous spots, the robbers and each other, the robbers and the bank, and the only thing the kids enjoyed at the screening I attended was the bodily function humor and some slapstick. Then there’s the issue of looking out for oneself only versus being part of a group, which feels like it was thrown in at the last minute. Most of the movie is about two elaborate robberies but the one I minded was the loss of the time I spent watching it.

Parents should know that there is a good deal of cartoon-style peril and violence, including guns and scary rats, but no one gets badly hurt (stay through the credits to be reassured). There is some mild language and some crude potty humor. Human and animal characters spend most of the movie plotting thefts with little recognition that this could be wrong or hurting anyone.

Family discussion: Why did Surly and Andie have different ideas about being part of the community? Which characters trusted the wrong people or animals?

If you like this, try: “Over the Hedge”

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3D Animation Scene After the Credits

The Legend of Hercules

Posted on January 9, 2014 at 11:20 pm

Director Renny Harlin has made a Hercules epic with drab, washed-out cinematography, poorly staged action scenes, incompetent acting, bad hair, terrible computer effects, and dialogue that lands more heavily than the title character’s punch. Even at just over 90 minutes it feels much too long. Harlin is way too fond of halting the acting with a slo-mo pause or freeze frame. By the last half hour it was worse than repetitive; it was an infuriating tactic for prolonging the end of the film. Talk about adding insult to injury.

In the first of two 3D Hercules movies scheduled for 2014, “Twilight” hottie Kellan Lutz plays the legendary strong man. Instead of sticking with the perfectly good Labors of Hercules storyline that has captivated audiences for thousands of years, this movie goes straight for the generic sword and sandal epic — there’s the Tessarakonteres with galley slaves whipped to row harder, the battle scenes with soldiers wielding swords and shields, the combat to the death in an arena with thousands of the least persuasive computer-generated audience members ever. There’s some argle bargle about whether our hero will accept his destiny and there’s a love story. There’s even, heaven help us, a going into battle pep talk so beyond Lutz’s capacity that he sounds less like a demigod than like he’s ordering a round of beers for the fellows.

Hercules is the son of Queen Alcmene and Zeus, the leader of the gods. Alcmene has already had a son with her husband, the cruel despot King Amphitryon (Scott Adkins). She prays to Hera for help, and the goddess gives her permission for her husband, Zeus, to give Alcmene another son, who will be half-god and will bring peace back to the kingdom. Amphitryon knows the boy is not his.

We skip ahead 20 years to see Hercules (Lutz) frolicking with the beautiful blonde Princess Hebe (Gaia Weiss). They are in love, but she is pledged to his angry and jealous half-brother, the heir to the throne. Soon, Hercules is sent away on a mission that will turn out to be a trap. He is taken prisoner, sold into slavery, and forced into gladiator-style combat to the death.

The actors were cast for their muscles and fighting skills rather than their acting. That would not be so bad except that they are called upon to spout clunky dialogue in fake — and highly variable — English theater-style accents. But what really takes all the air out of this balloon is its very premise. If Hercules has super-powers and the protection of his Olympian father, it dissipates any dramatic tension or sense of genuine peril. And when the crowd goes wild and starts yelling “Hercules! Hercules!” it is impossible not to think of Eddie Murphy, and wish he would show up to pick up the pace.

Parents should know that this movie includes sword and sandal-style epic action with a extensive fighting and battles, characters injured and killed, also murder and attempted suicide, sexual situation and some sexual references.

Family discussion: Why did Hercules resist his destiny? Why did he give up his special powers for the final battle?

If you like this, try: the original “Clash of the Titans” and Russell Crowe’s “Gladiator”

Walking with Dinosaurs 3D

Posted on December 19, 2013 at 6:42 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for creature action and peril, and mild rude humor
Profanity:	Some schoolyard language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Dinosaur predator violence and peril, sad death of parents
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	December 20, 2013
Date Released to DVD:	March 24, 2014
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00HDKJESO

Dinosaur movies pretty much all have the same plot. Unless it is a fantasy like “Jurassic Park,” the story is pretty simple: the dinos have to migrate and there are a lot of encounters and adventures along the way. What separates Walking With Dinosaurs 3D from earlier entries like “The Land Before Time” and Disney’s then-state-of-the-art “Dinosaur” is the beauty and majesty of the great creatures, marred a bit by a jokey script with too much focus on poop and barf jokes, silly winks at the audience about the animals’ “future as an oil field,” and distracting anthropomorphism.

A brief prologue set in modern day has a brother and sister visiting their paleontologist uncle (“Star Wars’” Karl Urban) in Alaska. The girl is excited by the broken tooth found by her uncle and happy to accompany him to the dig to see if they can find more bones. But her older brother is bored. “I’m not really into digging for dead things.” He’d rather text his friends about how lame everything is.

But then a bird (voice of John Leguizamo) appears to explain that “Every fossil tells a story.” He transforms into his prehistoric ancestor, garishly colored with trailing trail feathers and toothy-looking protuberances from his beak, to narrate the story of his friend Patchi (voice of Justin Long), from just after hatching as the runt of the nest to adulthood and becoming a father with his own eggs to guard.

Our hero is Patchi, a Pachyrhinosaurus (thick-nosed lizard), whose early run-in with a predator leaves a hole in his frill that helps us identify him as he goes from hatchling to adolescent to adult. He is a cheerful, curious, friendly vegetarian, a bit in the shadow of his alpha male older brother, Scowler (voice of Skylar Stone). Their father is the pack leader who shows the rest of the tribe the way when it is time to migrate. But along the way there is danger, especially from predatory meat-eaters who find the plant-eaters delicious. Patchi’s parents are killed (off-screen) protecting their young. Scowler takes over via head-butt battle, and it looks like he may take over the pretty female Patchi likes as well (Tiya Sircar as Juniper). Will brains triumph over brawn?

Kids in the audience seemed to enjoy the slapstick and potty humor and it is possible that it tempered the scarier themes. It will certainly make fans of the television series happy, and, I hope, inspire curiosity about the real stories that fossils tell. Viewers with more serious interest in dinosaurs will want to take advantage of the Blu-Ray’s “Cretaceous” option and skip the human voices.

Parents should know that this film has dinosaur-era violence, characters in peril, injured and killed, sad deaths of parents, and potty humor.

Family discussion: Why did Patchi and Scowler make different choices? Which was your favorite kind of pre-historic creature and why?

If you like this, try: the television series and visit your local natural history museum to learn more about dinosaurs

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

Posted on December 12, 2013 at 6:00 pm

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 For extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extensive and intense fantasy-style violence with characters in peril, monsters, weapons, and fights, characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters, some
Date Released to Theaters:	December 13, 2013
Date Released to DVD:	April 7, 2014
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00BEJL75I

Everybody ups his game in this second of the three-part Peter Jackson version of J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit; or, There and Back Again. The first one courageously tried out the new hyper-clear technology with twice as many frames per second that felt disorienting, chilly, and a little thin. More seriously, it got bogged down in the storytelling. A book about a journey became a movie that spends 40 minutes at home before anyone goes anywhere (with two different songs). This second chapter starts right in the middle of the action and never stops.

Here’s a summary of the first film to get you up to date in case you skipped it or don’t remember: Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), the title character, is accompanying a brave group of dwarves on a quest that will take them to the mountain lair of an angry dragon named Smaug who sleeps on an endless pile of stolen gold and jewels. In part one, they made it part of the way there. Part two begins in the midst of the action. They are still far from their destination but every step is treacherous and every stage in the journey brings more trouble. Middle Earth is deeply troubled by its divisions. Dwarves and Elves do not trust one another.

Martin Freeman returns as Bilbo, whose epic travels inspire an inner journey toward meaning and purpose. We see his struggle when he cannot bring himself to tell Gandalf (Ian McKellen) the truth about what he found. He wants to tell the wizard about the magical golden ring he discovered. But when the moment comes, and he can only say that what he found in the cave is his courage. That is an intriguing statement, partly true, partly self-evidently false as he does not have the courage to tell Gandalf about the ring. But as we know from the Ring trilogy, part of the power of that plain gold band is the way it works on those who — at least temporarily — possess it. Perhaps it is the ring that tells Bilbo to keep the secret.

But Bilbo, reluctant to join the dwarves in part one, is fully committed now, so in that sense he has found his courage, and finding it, now sees himself differently. And it is that inner journey that holds the story together amidst the arrows and giant spiders and swashbuckling and guy with bird poop on his head and portentous statements like, “The fortunes of the world will rise and fall but here in this kingdom we will endure” (when we know they will) and “This forest feels as though a dread lies upon it” (when we know it does), and “It’s not our fight” (when we know it is).

Purists may object to the insertion of a brand-new character, but Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel, a warrior elf, is such a welcome addition that even Tolkein should be glad to add her to the cast. And then, finally, there is Smaug, a scary monster who can see where humans, hobbits, dwarves, and elves cannot. Benedict Cumberbatch, in his fifth major film appearance this year, provides the voice of ultimate predatory evil, and a cliffhanger that leaves us eager for the final chapter.

The intricacy of the detail everywhere you look is more than gorgeous. It lends a timelessness to the story. It tells us that there is a history here, that the people who created these structures intended them to be permanent and beautiful. The fight scenes, staged as well or better than any other this year, are more than graceful violence. They, too, communicate a seriousness of purpose and meaning that these characters bring to their lives — and inspire in ours.

Parents should know that like the other “Lord of the Rings” films, this one includes intense and sometimes graphic fantasy violence with monsters (dragon, giant spiders), weapons, fights, and constant peril, and characters are injured and killed.

Family discussion: What title would you pick for yourself? Why does Bilbo agree to get the Arkenstone? Why doesn’t he tell the truth about the ring?

If you like this, try: the book by J.R.R. Tolkien and the “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy