The Boy and the Heron (2023) Film Review.

Mahito, a young 12-year-old boy, struggles to settle in a new town after his mother’s death. However, when a talking heron informs Mahito that his mother is still alive, he enters an abandoned tower in search of her, which takes him to another world.

The Boy and the Heron is directed by Hayao Miyazaki a director who absolutely does not need any sort of introduction, he’s a fantastic director with so many films that went on to be a huge impact on the animation genre such as Spirited Away (2001), Princess Mononoke (1997), My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and many many others. With each new film he introduces new ideas or takes ideas from one of his previous films and makes it fresh. The Boy and the Heron is a prime example of just how creative, powerful and emotional Miyazaki’s storytelling really is.

For starters the cast absolutely knocks it out of the park, everyone here does such an incredible job and matches the imaginative and emotional tone the film is going for. But the couple that really standout are Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh and Dave Bautista. Bautista plays the Parakeet King who doesn’t show up until the later half of the film, but when he does show up he truly captures the wackiness of the character. It’s a performance that should not work at all, but Bautista’s performance is genuinely hilarious it’s probably due to the Parakeet species in this film’s world being genuinely funny while a very emotional and serious plot is going on. It works strangely well and even if Bautista doesn’t stay for very long he remains as a very memorable part of the film.

Florence Pugh plays Kiriko both the young and old version, her performance is truly incredible and actually unbelievable when it comes to her voicing the old Kiriko. Her character is a huge highlight of the film, a character that we are introduced to at the very beginning who might seem like a comedic relief character at first but later becomes important. The young version of Kiriko helps Mahito Maki and points him into the right direction of his journey to rescue Natsuko, she’s a classic mentor type character that you can’t help but love. Pugh’s performance really sells the character well and almost immediately makes the character quite lovable.

Robert Pattinson as The Grey Heron is my absolute favorite performance from an animated film this year and I don’t think it’s even close, when the trailer for this film dropped I instantly thought the Heron was Willem Dafoe which while yes Dafoe is in this film he’s not in it for very long but still gives a haunting performance. I don’t know how Pattinson did it but this performance is truly unbelievable and truly effective right from the Heron’s first appearance, Pattinson completely matches the tone the film is going for and mixes it with a bit of humor and the Heron himself as a character has fantastic character development. It’s a classic case of not getting along with someone at first in this case not getting along with Mahito, but slowly but surely their bond builds and it’s truly delightful to see. The Grey Heron is such a fun character that balances humor and the more serious moments and Pattinson’s performance only adds on to that.

The writing much like other Miyazaki films is truly incredible, there’s a large theme here of grief and mourning the loss of someone very close to you. In this case Mahito losing his mother. There’s a lot of moments in this film that really tie it together, the world building of the world we are introduced to can be a bit confusing at first. But as the film goes on it starts to piece itself together and tell the viewer the full story about this world, it’s visually some of the absolute best Miyazaki has ever done, that’s something that consistently gets better and better with each film and this felt like a natural build up all of these films later.

Something that really stands out with this film is the masterful balance between humor, wackiness and the dramatic moments of the film. A film that’s about loss and dealing with grief has scenes where funny looking Parakeets want to eat people and their leader the Parakeet King is a presented as a serious but goofy boss voiced by Dave Bautista…yet it all strangely works. It comes down to just how beautiful the storytelling really is, it combines so many anime elements and genres we have seen throughout the years and presents it so well. From the classic adventure genre to the goofy villains who actually have a quite serious side to them it’s all here and delivered in such a fascinating, emotional and hilarious way that puts a smile on your face.

Overall The Boy and the Heron is yet another homerun for Hayao Miyazaki and one of the absolute best films of the year. It’s such a creative film with so much to say that it will surely go on to be a classic.

The Boy and the Heron is in theaters.

10/10 A+

Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget (2023) Film Review

Having escaped from the farm, Ginger and Rocky welcome a new little adventurer into their lives. Back on the mainland, the whole of chicken-kind faces a terrible new threat.

Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget is a sequel to Chicken Run (2000) and is directed by Sam Fell who’s directed Flushed Away (2006), The Tale Of Despereaux (2008) and ParaNorman (2012).

A sequel to Chicken Run has always been talked about much like Enchanted 2 or Hocus Pocus 2 it always got a ton of fake movie posters on Facebook pages claiming it’s official when it’s really not and you get people sharing it taking it as fact. I grew up with Chicken Run and I still think it’s a really fantastic film so I was pretty happy to see that a sequel was coming after 13 years.

There’s definitely a lot of fun to be had with this sequel, I do think out of the cast Bella Ramsey who plays Molly the daughter of Ginger and Rocky does quite a great job. Plus Romesh Ranganathan and Daniel Mays as the rats give some decent laughs. The two work together well and have solid comedic timing the accents are also quite charming.

The stop motion animation is of course wonderful, you honestly can never go wrong with Aardman Animation when it comes to stop motion and that remains true here. Even if I didn’t like all of the voice cast the characters still have this special look to them that you can’t help but appreciate, there’s so much detail and passion put into the designs that are quite memorable. The same goes for the overall charm of the movie, although the movie is most definitely not as good as the first movie I do think it still has a lot of the charm from the first movie and it mostly works here.

Dawn Of The Nugget does unfortunately suffer from mediocre voice acting. Thandiwe Newton is fine enough but her voice performance is just not as fitting as Julia Sawalha’s, what’s sad is Sawalha was told she “sounded too old” for the performance. It’s such a weird decision from Aardman that I still have no idea why was made. Zachary Levi is flat out bad and really feels out of place, Levi being here really seems like they just wanted to stick a familiar face and that was about it. Mel Gibson isn’t here for obvious reasons but there’s absolutely no denying that you can really feel the difference of quality in the performance of Rocky’s character. The rest of the voice acting isn’t anything to write home about.

The film itself does feel like a natural continuation from the first movie and while that’s great, it does end up being a bit more of the same thing. Instead of the chickens we are familiar with being trapped it’s their turn to rescue other chickens. Which definitely makes sense from a story perspective but a bit weaker when you compare it to the first movie.

Despite the issues I have with it Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget is a fun movie especially for families looking for a quick and easy watch. There’s a lot to like about it and I said the charm from the first movie is still very much there. It’s definitely disappointing in some aspects but it is still a decent watch.

Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget is available on Netflix.

7/10 B

Leo (2023) Film Review

Leo the Lizard has been stuck in the same Florida school for decades. When he learns he only has one year left to live, he plans to escape to freedom, but instead has to rescue his class from their horribly mean substitute teacher.

If there’s one movie from this year that I did NOT expect to be good it’s Leo an animated Netflix movie about a talking lizard who’s voiced by Adam Sandler. Okay well it’s about a bit more than that but you get my point, I was not expecting Leo to be any good but I really have to hand it to Adam Sandler (who wrote and is one of the producers), directors Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel and David Wachtenheim as well as writer Paul Sado and producer Mireille Soria they all took a concept that could have easily gotten old within 15 minutes but made it into something surprisingly touching.

I’m not a fan of the voices Sandler has been using in some of his films as of late, but I don’t mind it here. It fits the character of Leo well and there’s some genuinely funny moments, I think what makes Leo work so well is it goes for this exploring the home life of certain kids in the 5th grade class. There isn’t anything groundbreaking being said here and there really doesn’t have to be, much like your days of going from school it’s a routine and is very straightforward at points. The film actually does a decent job of showing that quite well.

There’s some music numbers that admittedly I do think are not the best, but they are fun and creative enough to leave you with a smile on your face. The whole message of growing up, worrying about the future and connecting the reptiles with the 5th grade students and how they both share growing pains is an interesting and clever one that’s executed quite well.

I do think Leo is held back a bit from a weak third act that isn’t necessarily bad, it’s just on the very generic side of things that is much weaker when you compare it to what came before it.

Overall Leo is a charming little surprise that I had a fun time with, it’s not anything groundbreaking. But it’s a charming little movie that has a huge heart and I can’t help but respect it for being just that.

Leo is available on Netflix.

7/10 B

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever (2023) Film Review.

After getting stuck with his family in the snow during his winter vacation, Greg worries about getting the new console.

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever is the third installment in the animated Diary Of A Wimpy Kid series and actually the first of these movies (and the live action ones) to be a an adaption of the Cabin Fever book.

Really don’t have a lot to comment on here, but perhaps I’m being too generous but I actually thought this one wasn’t as bad as the previous two animated movies. Granted it’s still not something I would actually recommend to somebody but at the very least I can see there was some sort of attempt to try and make this into something interesting unlike the last two movies.

The cast actually did a decent job this time around, there was one or two jokes that actually worked well and I do think the last 20 minutes or so were genuinely charming and ended on a sweet note. The main criticism here is that it’s quite honestly the exact same thing as the other animated movies but with the voice acting being a lot better and the movie having a Christmas theme.

Much like the other animated movies Cabin Fever does have a pacing problem, admittedly it’s better than the other movies but it still takes a bit too long to get off the ground. It starts to become very repetitive and even at the point where you can predict the rest of the movie, with that said I do ultimately think this is very harmless for kids. You could do absolutely worse and at the very least this showed improvement from the previous movies.

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever is available on Disney+

5/10 C

Quick Review: Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too!

Scooby and the gang join forces with Superman’s dog when members of the Justice League mysteriously disappear.

Scooby-Doo! And Krypto, Too! Is yet another Scooby-Doo crossover movie, this time with Krypto and some other DC characters like Lex Luther.

Honestly there really isn’t a whole lot to say here, it’s your typical Scooby-Doo movie that still has the charm and love put into it like many of the others. Scooby-Doo and the gang fit well together with the DC characters and there’s plenty of jokes that are genuinely decent.

Honestly if there’s any major criticism to be made it’s that we have kind of seen Scooby-Doo and the gang team up with DC characters plenty of times before, some comparisons I’ve seen is with the Scooby-Doo Batman Brave and The Bold movie. With that said I do think this movie does it’s own thing just enough to push it to the finish line, it’s a quick and easy watch that might not have anything new going on but it is a solid watch.

Scooby-Doo! And Krypto, Too! is available on all VOD platforms.

7/10 B

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a fresh direction in the franchise.

After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers. Their new friend, April O’Neil, helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.

At this point when a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film is released you kind of know what to expect, some of the movies over the years range in quality and there’s always at least some fun to be had (whether it be so bad it’s funny or genuinely fun.) So I went into Mutant Mayhem with the same mindset and in a very interesting way the focus is not only on the action or jokes but there’s an emotional core to it as well.

For starters I truly think casting actual teenagers as the turtles really benefited the film, there is some surprisingly touching moments between the four that the viewer really connects with and really makes you believe that they genuinely care about each other. Nicolas Cantu, Micah Abbey, Brady Noon and Shamon Brown Jr. all do a fantastic job as the turtles and bring so much energy and heart to the roles. We don’t often really get to see the teenager side of the turtles in a lot of these movies, but we get to see that a whole lot here which makes the film quite fresh.

There’s even this coming of age element to the film, the turtles wanting to be accepted into the human world. It’s a very interesting take that sure might not be exactly a brand new idea but it’s a much different direction from what we usually get from these movies and it works really well here. The jokes aren’t entirely the center focus here even with the supporting cast like Seth Rogen (plays Bebop), John Cena (plays Rocksteady) or even Ice Cube (plays Superfly), there’s a strong balance of comedy and more dramatic moments that is carefully done throughout the film.

The animation is also stunning, much like The Bad Guys or Puss In Boots: The Last Wish it’s inspiration comes from the Spidrer-Verse movies yet makes the style it’s own. Between the attention to detail, to the character’s emotions and actions there’s so much detail to the animation that really paints a beautiful picture.

Overall Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem puts the series in a different direction that is absolutely welcome, excellent character moments, energetic animation, touching moments and so much more make this movie worth the ride.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is available on all VOD platforms.

9/10 A

The Monkey King is a forgettable take on Journey To The West.

A Monkey and his magical fighting Stick battle demons, dragons, gods and the greatest adversary of all – Monkey’s ego.

The Monkey King is inspired by the classic Ming Dynasty novel Journey to the West. A novel which inspired one of the most popular franchises in the world Dragon Ball (and personally one of my favorites!) I’m not going to compare the two for obvious reasons, The Monkey King and Dragon Ball are two completely different takes on the iconic story. I will say that I was genuinely interested to see how this movie was going to approach the story and unfortunately it’s a very bland approach.

I’ll start with what worked because the movie does have it’s positives, the animation is actually not entirely bad. While yes it does get a bit repetitive as it goes on, early on in the movie there’s some genuinely great moments in the animation that do standout. The character designs while not anything to write home about get the job done and do have a bit of charm to them.

With that said however what hurts this movie mostly is the writing, despite being inspired on such an iconic story the movie really doesn’t do anything special with it. The characters get very little character development, the jokes are incredibly unfunny and the movie plays out exactly how you think it’s going to. While Jimmy O. Yang can be very fun at times voicing Monkey, Monkey is a very one note character both in how he’s voiced and especially how he’s written. He’s the very typical underdog protagonist who’s cocky (also a jerk to everyone around him) and wants to reach his goal, it’s a type of character who’s been done far better before.

It’s a shame because I do think introducing this influential story to kids is quite an interesting idea but it completely lacks the execution and interest from the viewer, It’s definitely not the worst out there but it’s definitely one of the biggest missed opportunities.

The Monkey King is available on Netflix.

3/10 D-

Elemental has charm but is lacking in making it’s ideas stronger.

In a city where fire, water, land, and air residents live together, a fiery young woman and a go-with-the-flow guy discover something elemental: how much they actually have in common.

Well Elemental was definitely an improvement from Peter Sohn’s previous Pixar movie The Good Dinosaur, a few almost immediate noticeable changes are that Elemental is at least trying to tell a story that is a bit more layered (keyword being try which I’ll get to) and the characters are far more interestingly designed as well as being actually written a bit better as well.

The voice acting wasn’t too bad here, granted nobody really hits it out of the park but at least the character models really reflect on the emotions of the cast. The character models despite being mostly very common fire and water elements you see in a lot of different types of media, are still interesting to look at. They have tons of emotions and the characters do have some spots where the writing does make them very likable to the viewer. The music and animation are very well done and during scenes actually can get the viewer emotional, there’s some really strong scenes here with such great voice acting combined with the music that really does feel like Pixar at their best.

Honestly the main problem comes down to the writing, while it’s not anything bad and while I do respect Elemental for trying to go for a more layered story it ultimately doesn’t fully come together as it starts to repeat plots from other movies that have done them far better. First we get an immigrant story setup which really ends up mattering less and less as the story goes on, then we get a follow your dreams long story short these plots don’t mesh well together and really don’t say anything new or aren’t done in a fresh way to get the viewer fully on board.

Despite that however I don’t think Elemental is a bad movie, it’s definitely a harmless movie that I think younger audiences will love and there is a lot of charm here. It just could have been written in a much stronger way to fully execute it’s ideas.

Elemental is available on all VOD platforms.

6/10 C+

Resident Evil: Death Island is forgettable.

Agent Chris Redfield and his team investigate a zombie outbreak in San Francisco. They follow a clue that leads them to Alcatraz Island, where a new horror awaits them.

Resident Evil: Death Island is set in the same universe as the video game franchise, it’s also the fifth installment and the fifth film of the animated Resident Evil series. Finally it’s a sequel to the 2017 movie Resident Evil: Vendetta and I believe the 2021 miniseries Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness.

I’ll start off by saying that it is admittedly very neat to see the large group of Resident Evil characters together, Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Rebecca Chambers (even if she is given very little to do). There are some decent scenes here of them working together and interacting with one another that are pretty fun. The voice acting unfortunately is a bit of a hit or miss here, some of the dialogue really ends up being very flat and doesn’t quite capture the spirit of these characters.

The villain is very forgettable which is unfortunate because there are some quite effective villains in the series so it’s very puzzling to see a villain written in the most generic way possible who lacks so much charisma. The action is fine enough but really isn’t helped out by the CGI animation which does have it’s moments of looking half decent, but a majority of the time you are just looking at this and wishing you could just play the games.

Resident Evil: Death Island is available on all VOD platforms.

2/10 D-

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken falls incredibly short in the writing department.

Ruby Gillman is a sweet and awkward high school student who discovers she’s a direct descendant of the warrior kraken queens. The kraken are sworn to protect the oceans of the world against the vain, power-hungry mermaids. Destined to inherit the throne from her commanding grandmother, Ruby must use her newfound powers to protect those she loves most.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is a film that a huge amount of potential, despite the trailer doing a poor job of making the movie stand out I went into it hoping for a surprise. Unfortunately that’s not what happened here and really lines up with what was presented in the trailer (quality wise.)

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken does have it’s positives mostly from the animation, character
designs and the voice cast. In particular Lana Condor as Ruby Gillman, Toni Collette as Agatha Gillman, Colman Domingo as Arthur Gillman and Jane Fonda as Grandmamah. It is worth noting that nobody really gave a bad performance everyone seemed like they had a genuinely fun time being part of this movie so I do think that counts for something. The character designs are well detailed and actually really blend in beautifully with the animation as well, there isn’t any jaw dropping moments but there are some beautiful ones that you can’t help but appreciate.

Having that said what hurts this movie mainly is the writing department, there’s a ton of similarities to Luca, Turning Red and The Little Mermaid both of which execute their main ideas far better than Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. Granted the movie doesn’t execute these ideas poorly it just adds nothing new to the table, nothing to really say or comment on or really discuss.

The main problem here is the characters and how poorly they are written, sure each of the characters are given one or two character traits but that’s really about it. Sure we are told a few things about these characters and their past, the whole rough relationship between the mother and the grandmother could have been something very interesting to elaborate more on. Instead we are just given a very vague backstory like “my mother was controlling.” Ruby Gillman herself had a lot of potential to be an interesting character but ends up being just another teenage character trying to figure out who they are, which I’m all for movies to tell this lesson as it is important. It’s just that this has been done far better already in far better films like the previously mentioned Luca and Turning Red.

Overall Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken isn’t horrible, there was clearly a huge amount of effort to try and make the movie work but unfortunately it falls incredibly short in the writing department.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+