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matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the short La Luna and the latest episodes of DC Nation, Futurama, Ultimate Spider-Man, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, and TRON: Uprising.
Disney / Pixar's Brave
This was a good movie. It was interesting to me that Pixar decided not to really break any new ground with this story and animation. It was just a really good movie told really well and it was definitely more traditional than Pixar is used to doing. It may SEEM like a new idea that Pixar finally centered a movie around a female character but it doesn't really play out that way.
That said, I really like the movie for what it says about gender roles. As I said, it was not a NEW message but I think considering how docile Disney Princesses usually are it seemed like a necessary one. This movie DOES contain a first however: this is the first Disney Princess movie where the Princess remains single and doesn't choose a suitor at the end. That was kind of neat and the neatest thing about it is that it was in the end not a huge deal. But I think this was a bigger deal for the Disney Princess brand itself than the first African American Princess in The Princess And The Frog turned out to be, just because that movie while certainly creative, didn't really do anything groundbreaking with that idea.
I really love those three little triplet boys / cubs. They pretty much stole the movie.
The climax was definitely not as rousing as some of Pixar's other offerings but frankly, I don't think that every single one of their movies NEEDS a super elaborate climax. That's something moviegoers have recently only demanded for a couple of decades or so and is not completely something movies (even kids ones) need to be dependent on, or at last they didn't in the past. That said, it's definitely an action sequence and even if it's more smaller and personal in scale, it's brutal enough to earn the film it's PG rating (but just barely).
My favorite character was King Fergus. Billy Connolly did a smashing job as him. Connolly has a great voice, doesn't he? He seems to have been getting more and better work lately and he is equally adept at drama as he is at stand-up comedy. For the record, Fergus is DEFINITELY a comic role.
A very successful traditional movie from Pixar that I enjoyed, even if it didn't really do anything huge for me. ****1/2.
La Luna:
This short is most like Partly Cloudy in tone but even MORE cutesy. However cutesy animation has been so successful for so long because it works. It got the reaction it wanted for me: a warm and fuzzy feeling. Don't ask me to explain the logic of the short or what exactly happened during it (I'm still a bit confused by the concept) but I think it did its job and was definitely better than Partly Cloudy even if the story was harder to follow. Adorable. ****.
DC Nation
DC Nation Demonstrations: The Tumbler
Cool car, no way it would work in real life. ***1/2.
Catwoman #1
This was interesting and completely unexpected. Great anime animation. Only problem is I'm not sure the concept will be able to do justice to the fact that it's serialized. For example, Sword of the Atom works as a serial because of the cliffhangers that were part of a story that could have come out of a 40's serial. The new Catwoman anime is totally different. We'll have to see if they will be able to keep up the momentum. But hey, look Bane! ****.
MAD Presents... "Batman Family Fued"
They left out the funniest gag from the original skit. When Steve Harvey asks for something a penguin does Batman immediately says "robs banks" without missing a beat. This is the first MAD cutdown that actually feels like it's missing TOO much material. **1/2.
Futurama "The Butterjunk Effect"
Very funny episode. It felt like something we've seen the show do multiple times before but despite the concept not being fresh the episode was crammed wall to wall with great lines and sight gags. This episode was funnier than it had any right to be due to the lousy premise. This should have been a loser of an episode but it turned out to be a winner. ****.
Marvel Universe
Ultimate Spider-Man "Awesome"
Technically this was a bad episode but it had enough laugh out loud moments for me to recommend it even with my reservations. You can't hate an episode with Awesome Andy and Coulson buh-nekkid. Best part? The Howard the Duck cameo. I can't give any episode with Howard less than three stars. ***.
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! "Secret Invasion"
Okay, my biggest question was left unanswered: what happened to the Hulk? He wasn't even mentioned this week and his captivity has been my biggest anxiety about this whole Skrull invasion.
And how did Thor get back to Earth? And where was Black Panther? I thought he rejoined the team.
Loved all of the different Skrull designs including a Spidey and a Wolverine one. Cool stuff.
Loved the episode but I was also frustrated by the end of it. ****.
Iron Man: Armored Adventures "The Makluan Invasion, Part 1: Annihilate!"
Sigh. I had REALLY high hopes for this two parter as it sounded like it was gonna be a slam-bang Avengers team-up but it was really just more Gene/Mandarin nonsense. How many times are Tony and the gang gonna have to team up with him before they are actually allowed to smack him down? Tiring.
Still, part 2 is coming next week and if it IS a good series finale maybe my opinion of this episode will have changed. As of now, it's only so-so. ***.
TRON: Uprising "Price Of Power"
Beck was acting super stupid this episode. Yeah, the weapon infected him but he should have double-checked to make REALLY sure it was destroyed. That is going to bite him later.
The fights were tight this episode. They fully used the half-CGI / half-hand-drawn medium to the fullest.
Interesting episode. ****.
Disney / Pixar's Brave
This was a good movie. It was interesting to me that Pixar decided not to really break any new ground with this story and animation. It was just a really good movie told really well and it was definitely more traditional than Pixar is used to doing. It may SEEM like a new idea that Pixar finally centered a movie around a female character but it doesn't really play out that way.
That said, I really like the movie for what it says about gender roles. As I said, it was not a NEW message but I think considering how docile Disney Princesses usually are it seemed like a necessary one. This movie DOES contain a first however: this is the first Disney Princess movie where the Princess remains single and doesn't choose a suitor at the end. That was kind of neat and the neatest thing about it is that it was in the end not a huge deal. But I think this was a bigger deal for the Disney Princess brand itself than the first African American Princess in The Princess And The Frog turned out to be, just because that movie while certainly creative, didn't really do anything groundbreaking with that idea.
I really love those three little triplet boys / cubs. They pretty much stole the movie.
The climax was definitely not as rousing as some of Pixar's other offerings but frankly, I don't think that every single one of their movies NEEDS a super elaborate climax. That's something moviegoers have recently only demanded for a couple of decades or so and is not completely something movies (even kids ones) need to be dependent on, or at last they didn't in the past. That said, it's definitely an action sequence and even if it's more smaller and personal in scale, it's brutal enough to earn the film it's PG rating (but just barely).
My favorite character was King Fergus. Billy Connolly did a smashing job as him. Connolly has a great voice, doesn't he? He seems to have been getting more and better work lately and he is equally adept at drama as he is at stand-up comedy. For the record, Fergus is DEFINITELY a comic role.
A very successful traditional movie from Pixar that I enjoyed, even if it didn't really do anything huge for me. ****1/2.
La Luna:
This short is most like Partly Cloudy in tone but even MORE cutesy. However cutesy animation has been so successful for so long because it works. It got the reaction it wanted for me: a warm and fuzzy feeling. Don't ask me to explain the logic of the short or what exactly happened during it (I'm still a bit confused by the concept) but I think it did its job and was definitely better than Partly Cloudy even if the story was harder to follow. Adorable. ****.
DC Nation
DC Nation Demonstrations: The Tumbler
Cool car, no way it would work in real life. ***1/2.
Catwoman #1
This was interesting and completely unexpected. Great anime animation. Only problem is I'm not sure the concept will be able to do justice to the fact that it's serialized. For example, Sword of the Atom works as a serial because of the cliffhangers that were part of a story that could have come out of a 40's serial. The new Catwoman anime is totally different. We'll have to see if they will be able to keep up the momentum. But hey, look Bane! ****.
MAD Presents... "Batman Family Fued"
They left out the funniest gag from the original skit. When Steve Harvey asks for something a penguin does Batman immediately says "robs banks" without missing a beat. This is the first MAD cutdown that actually feels like it's missing TOO much material. **1/2.
Futurama "The Butterjunk Effect"
Very funny episode. It felt like something we've seen the show do multiple times before but despite the concept not being fresh the episode was crammed wall to wall with great lines and sight gags. This episode was funnier than it had any right to be due to the lousy premise. This should have been a loser of an episode but it turned out to be a winner. ****.
Marvel Universe
Ultimate Spider-Man "Awesome"
Technically this was a bad episode but it had enough laugh out loud moments for me to recommend it even with my reservations. You can't hate an episode with Awesome Andy and Coulson buh-nekkid. Best part? The Howard the Duck cameo. I can't give any episode with Howard less than three stars. ***.
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! "Secret Invasion"
Okay, my biggest question was left unanswered: what happened to the Hulk? He wasn't even mentioned this week and his captivity has been my biggest anxiety about this whole Skrull invasion.
And how did Thor get back to Earth? And where was Black Panther? I thought he rejoined the team.
Loved all of the different Skrull designs including a Spidey and a Wolverine one. Cool stuff.
Loved the episode but I was also frustrated by the end of it. ****.
Iron Man: Armored Adventures "The Makluan Invasion, Part 1: Annihilate!"
Sigh. I had REALLY high hopes for this two parter as it sounded like it was gonna be a slam-bang Avengers team-up but it was really just more Gene/Mandarin nonsense. How many times are Tony and the gang gonna have to team up with him before they are actually allowed to smack him down? Tiring.
Still, part 2 is coming next week and if it IS a good series finale maybe my opinion of this episode will have changed. As of now, it's only so-so. ***.
TRON: Uprising "Price Of Power"
Beck was acting super stupid this episode. Yeah, the weapon infected him but he should have double-checked to make REALLY sure it was destroyed. That is going to bite him later.
The fights were tight this episode. They fully used the half-CGI / half-hand-drawn medium to the fullest.
Interesting episode. ****.
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