Movie Review - Megamind

By Alex Popp

Will Ferrell voices a wannabe super-villain in "Megamind."



After Megamind kills his good-guy nemesis, Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt), he becomes bored since there is no one left to fight. He creates a new foe, Titan (voiced by Jonah Hill), who, instead of using his powers for good, sets out to destroy the world, positioning Megamind to save the day for the first time in his life.

One problem with the movie is that all of the funniest scenes and lines were shown in trailers; the ones you see 70 million times and then when you see the movie, you're like "Yeah, yeah, let's get to the stuff we haven't seen, please", but then there's no better humor. But there are still some other laughs. But the thing I liked the most about "Megamind" was the redeeming qualities. We all have learned that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but those words take new and unexpected meaning in this film. Some of the superhero abilities and specifications may seem like they were taken from "The Incredibles," but it still has some excitement leading to satisfaction at the end.

Rated PG for sequences of animated sci-fi action.

"Megamind" may not be mega-ingenius, but it is good enough for two and a half stars (out of 4).

Written by Alex Popp for the Animation Empire blog.

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Emperor's take...

I enjoyed it more than Despicable Me, which seemed to be a sappy display of minions and adoption emotions (although Despicable Me was marketed better to mommies and kids as a result).

Megamind had a fresh story with a slight twist or two in it, and the comedic cast nailed it. Though I agree that most of the funny is in the trailer, it's still enjoyable throughout.

You also actually get to like the villain/hero and feel sorry for him and understand him, so the turn is completed successfully. In contrast, the Despicable Me character doesn't seem to change much at all, other than starting to like kids more and wanting to be nicer.

Interestingly, the scriptwriters originally wrote this wanting to cast Will Ferrell in it as a live-action comedy. It went around forever, and it became more of a portfolio piece to get them more gigs. It was finally picked up by DreamWorks Animation, much to their surprise. Ben Stiller picked it up and talked to DreamWorks. Of course, the writers were then happy to see Will Ferrell cast as the main character (as they intended, but they were thinking live action).

- The Emperor

Movie Review - Monsters VS Aliens

by Alex Popp



Oooze gonna save us?

Susan Murphy, voiced by Reese Witherspoon, is interrupted on her wedding day, getting hit by an enormous meteor from space in the animated comedy, "Monsters Vs. Aliens."

She mysteriously grows to nearly 50 feet high and is instantly captured by the government and labeled a "monster" named Ginormica. She gets locked in a secret compound filled with other monsters, including a a blue blob named B.O.B., voiced by Seth Rogen, a missing link, voiced by Will Arnett, and Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D., a man who made himself indestrucatable by turning himself into a cockroach.

Susan is told that there would be no communication with the outside world and no getting out. But shortly later, an alien robot lands, and the monsters are released to go fight the treacherous aliens. Probably a pretty close battle.

This was one that wasn't at all appealing once I saw the trailers, but it was better than I thought. It's definitely not one that you'd watch for the plot; nothing really new. But there is a lot of good humor that will make even the most sophisticated people laugh. Make it a rental, though.

Rated PG for sequences of sci-fi action, some crude humor and mild language.

Two and a half stars (out of four) for the feeble but funny, "Monsters Vs. Aliens."

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.
=======================================

So I think I disagree with the lower rating on this one.

Essentially this is DreamWorks attempt at making monsters, much how Pixar did with Monsters Inc.

I have to agree that my expectations weren't high from the trailer, but they were raised as I saw the movie do well in the box office.

After watching it, I was pleasantly surpsrised that they focused on the female character and her emotions, which is the way to go for a film like this. Moms would be turned away by the boy-focused themes of monsters, aliens, and a whole lotta action. And that's why I think the film did so well... the main character was a woman dealing with strong emotions.

And then I also thought the film was very enjoyable in humor, action, and story. So I'd give the film four stars out of four. One hesitation is that you'll want to watch this with smaller children. I'm not entirely sure why they put raunchy comedians (and some of their humor) in children films like this, but it seems to help them attract the parents.

- The Emperor

Movie Review - How to Train Your Dragon

by Alex Popp



In "How to Train your Dragon," a teenager from an island in viking times is dying to be a dragon killer like the other island residents. But he shoots down an attacking dragon known as the Night Fury that everyone hardly knows anything about. But as he sets out to kill the dragon he shot and impress his father, he gets a change in heart, but is still forced to be trained to kill dragons. In his spare time he tames the black dragon and learns to ride it.

This animated film really doesn't deserve the ratings its been getting on the internet. Although there are parts that are cute and funny, it's still a bit hard to enjoy as it's painfully predictable. Although there isn't anything particularly wrong with it, the plot is basically where "The Little Mermaid" meets "Ratatouille" in the viking world.

Rated PG for sequences of intense action that may scare young kids.

Two stars (out of four) for "How to Train your Dragon."

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

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I have to watch the film in order to counter this review. But from what I've heard, a lot of people like it (and it did very well in theaters, having "legs" where it kept going where other films would lose steam). I think the reason is because it's simply fun and enjoyable, although I should see for myself.

This film is also notable because the director Chris Sanders, is a Disney animation veteran in the 90s, and he wrote and directed Lilo & Stitch (playing the voice of Stitch). He followed it up with American Dog (renamed to Bolt), but Lassetter cut up the movie so much (Lassetter called it too quirky for its own good) that Chris bolted from Disney.

Chris Sanders then went to DreamWorks, and this was his first film (I think he actually started working on a caveman film, Crood, but he switched over to this one as soon as they got the rights to the book and were probably looking internally for the right director. The other film, Crood, will probably be out next year. I think Chris just pressed pause on that one and is finishing it up now.

In a year of Shrek 4, Toy Story 3, How to Train Your Dragon, Megamind, Despicable Me, Legend of the Guardians (Owls), and Tangled, I think it's anyone's game for the Academy Award. The Academy doesn't really like sequels, and I see Megamind as too much of a sellout and not endearing enough (and it didn't fair nearly as well as the similar but better Despicable Me), which means it's down to How to Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me, Legend of the Guardians, and Tangled. Guardians has the fact that Happy Feet (from the same studio) won the award previously, but it wasn't nearly as successful as Happy Feet. Likewise, Tangled was a step in the right direction for Disney, but the lack of character development (other than Rapunzel) and the lack of Disney magic and spectacular songs/numbers, means it might not win. So my money is on either How to Train Your Dragon or Despicable Me. I can't decide right now. We'll see.

- The Emperor

Kirk De Micco goes from Space Chimps to Crood

Kirk De Micco has made a fantastic career jump from Space Chimps to Crood.

Kirk started out as a writer...

Quest for Camelot (1998) (screenplay)
Racing Stripes (2005) (story)
Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie (2005) (V) (screenplay) (story)
Casper's Scare School (2006) (TV) (story)
Space Chimps (2008) (screenplay) (story)
The Croods (2012) (post-production) (writer)


The Croods will be his second directorial effort (after Space Chimps). So somehow with Space Chimps, Kirk managed to pitch the story and script and get attached as the director. Then he nailed that film, which is what got him into DreamWorks.

Jumping from Vanguard to DreamWorks is huge, because it's like bypassing WB, Universal, Sony, Fox, and Disney. The only animation studio more successful than DW right now is Pixar.

The Croods is also directed by Chris Sanders, who directed Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon. Chris also left Disney when Lassetter demanded a reset of Bolt (which Chris was then directing).

And Kirk's not done with The Croods. He's got quite the lineup that he's writing and maybe directing after that...

Pig Scrolls
The Twits
Gil's All Fright Diner
Hong Kong Phooey

So Hong Kong Phooey is the only one that's obvious. That's a return to Warner Bros (who owns the Hannah Barbara stuff), seeing how Quest for Camelot was at WB.

Enjoy!

Shrek Forever After Theatrical Trailer [2010] HD 1080p

Shrek 4 in all it's trailer goodness. It's amazing that a horrible idea can still be done well. =^)
- TAE

New DreamWorks Animated Film Announced - Guardians of Childhood

Guardians of Childhood

Directed by Jeffrey Lynch (Simpsons, Futurama, Iron Giant, and co-director on Spider-man 1-3)

Starring:

Leonardo DiCaprio
Miranda Cosgrove
Seth Green
Andy Samberg

From DreamWorks Animation

The Guardians of Childhood is an upcoming animated comedy film based on the forthcoming books by William Joyce, produced by DreamWorks Animation and due for release on November 2, 2012. The film is being described as "a contemporary fairytale based on existing fairytale characters". It will be written by Joyce, the creator of Rolie Polie Olie and Meet the Robinsons as well as a contributor to the underlying ideas behind the film Robots.

The film features a group of our greatest heroes from various childhood stories - Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Genie, the Sandman and Jack Frost — who join together in an adventure to stop Pitch the Boogeyman from sending the world into "eternal darkness".

From:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardians_of_Childhood

This would be Andy's third animation! Is this Leonardo's first?

Enjoy!

How to Train Your Dragon - has legs!!!

Yes, it has dragon legs!



Despite an average and not great opening weekend, How to Train Your Dragon has been slowing down in box office sales...

SLOWLY.

How slowly? Well, slower than Kung-Fu Panda and both Madagascar movies. In fact, it's been slowing down so slowly that it's beating both the Madagascar movies and Monsters VS Aliens. It might beat Kung-Fu Panda.

What does that mean? What it means, is that there is newfound hope that we might get a sequel!

When a movie "has legs," that typically means that the trailer didn't excite people, but once they go see it, they love it and tell their friends. So it looks like How to Train Your Dragon is fitting in this category. Go DreamWorks go!

How to Train Your Dragon's weekend 4 box office take was $19,633,320. Kung-Fu Panda was $11,692,061 (and Kung Fu Panda is the highest-grossing non-Shrek DreamWorks animated film).

- TAE

How to Train Your Dragon - Update

They released the trailers for "How To Train Your Dragon" ... a new DreamWorks cartoon coming in 2010.

It's just a short teaser with no voices or characters other than the dragon. But it's enough to get you excited!



Enjoy!