Disney Beats Lucas And Spielberg To The Punch With Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

The Good: Decent characters, Engaging story, Good voice acting
The Bad: Erratic animation, Elements that are not as clear as they could be.
The Basics: Disney’s underrated Atlantis: The Lost Empire may be plagued by poorly-proportioned character animation, but it makes up for it with an engaging exploration story that was ahead of its time.


Today, before I have a day to myself as a gift from my wife, she got to choose our activities. She chose the movie we watched together and she went right for her wall of Disney. Today, we took in Atlantis: The Lost Empire, a Disney science fiction film that seems to have been very much ahead of its time. Atlantis: The Lost Empire is an Earth-based piece that instantly brought to mind Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (reviewed here!) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (reviewed here!) and it worked out to be an engaging, generally well-conceived film.

In fact, my biggest issues with Atlantis: The Lost Empire were mostly in the special effects department (and, as my regular readers know, that is not a highly-rated portion of the filmmaking experience for me!). The character designs and especially the proportions of characters as they move on screen, are somewhat sloppy, especially in comparison to the visual effects for sequences involving landscapes and vehicles moving around the screen. In fact, there are some pretty cringeworthy moments when elements of disproportional characters interact with what are almost reality-quality effects for buildings and landscape shots! But, compared to the strengths of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, these are fairly minor quibbles.

Milo Thatch is a linguist and the grandson of a noted archaeologist, who is obsessed with finding the lost continent of Atlantis in 1914. Having been shunned by the operators of the museum he works for (relegated, as he is, to the boiler room), Milo is excited when he is summoned to the estate of the reclusive financer and friend of his grandfather, Preston Whitmore. There, Milo is given the book he needs in order to conclusively find Atlantis and he is shown the equipment and personnel that will take him to Atlantis. Accompanied by a doctor, miner, explosives expert, cook, mechanic, and mercenaries, Milo makes the descent to the ocean floor to find Atlantis.

After escaping the mechanical defense of the lost continent and losing most of their crew and possessions, Milo actually does discover Atlantis. There, he meets the King’s daughter, Kida, who is intrigued by Milo and his ability to read Atlantean. With his help, she rediscovers the dying power source of Atlantis. Unfortunately, that is when the mercenaries turn on Milo and the Atlanteans and prepare to remove the mysterious power source for their own corrupt reasons and return it to the surface!

Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a rousing adventure that surrenders to remarkably few of the usual Disney animated conceits. Instead of a smartmouth sidekick, Atlantis: The Lost Empire features more of an ensemble, with only one of the characters (Mole) being a virtually indecipherable, pointless, comic relief character. The result is a Disney film that feels very much like an Indiana Jones archaeological adventure. By the time it stops feeling like that, the movie is very much into Star Trek territory, though the explanation of the Atlantean power source is a little more vague than it is revealing or truly philosophical.

Milo is an intriguing Disney protagonist. Educated and quick on his feet, his coming of age story (aren’t almost all Disney animated films coming of age stories?!) is a story of a young man who has the intelligence and the information and simply needs the opportunity. This, sadly, has the disturbingly realistic message that in life ability comes secondary to financing and simply knowing the right people. I suppose it is good that young people learn that sooner as opposed to later, though it might explain why the film did not do as well at the box office as many Disney films.

Kida is not really a Disney princess, though she is a literal princess in a Disney flick. She sits out the vast majority of the film and she is a very typical damsel in distress, though when she is actively a part of the movie, she is inquisitive and engaged.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire has a pretty incredible voice cast that includes Claudia Christian, John Mahoney, Jim Varney, Phil Morris, and James Garner. Led by Michael J. Fox (Milo), Atlantis: The Lost Empire features voice acting that is expressive, appropriately emotive and entirely comprehensible. The actors bring the characters to life and make the adventure one becomes easily invested in.

For other Disney animated films, please visit my reviews of:
Wreck-It Ralph
Brave
Tangled
Toy Story 3
A Christmas Carol
Up
Ponyo
The Princess And The Frog
Bolt
WALL-E
The Incredibles
Lilo & Stitch
Monsters, Inc.
Mulan
The Lion King
Beauty And The Beast
The Little Mermaid
Lady And The Tramp
The Sword In The Stone
Sleeping Beauty
Fantasia

7/10

For other film reviews, please be sure to check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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It May Have Helped Reinvigorate Disney, But Beauty And The Beast Is Much More Erratic Than Extraordinary.

The Good: Moments of character, Musical numbers, Charm factor
The Bad: Mortgages sensibility to service the classic story, Inconsistent themes, Choppy direction, Often spends time evaluating its own magic, as opposed to embodying it.
The Basics: While aesthetically pleasing, Disney’s Beauty And The Beast holds up poorly under close scrutiny.


I can always tell when my wife is not feeling particularly well, even if she does not take to the bed. Instead, the moment I come home or enter the living room and discover her wrapped in blankets watching Disney’s animated Beauty And The Beast repeatedly, I know she is ill. Beauty And The Beast is like comfort food for her, probably as a result of her childhood love of the film. So, I have been hesitant to watch Beauty And The Beast for the purpose of reviewing it. And yet, today that is exactly what I did.

Beauty And The Beast followed The Little Mermaid as Disney revitalized its animated film division after years of stagnation and failures. Returning to vibrant filmmaking, Beauty And The Beast impressed audiences and critics at the time to such a degree that it earned a Best Picture Oscar nomination. Given how my Best Picture Project led me to realize that not all films that won the Best Picture deserved to, I have little problem critiquing a nominee and suggesting that it did not really deserve to be nominated. Beauty And The Beast is one of those films.

Disney did a decent job with Beauty And The Beast, but to flesh it out to its full running time (with its additional song in the Special Edition presentation, it makes it up to 90 minutes, up from the theatrical release 84 minute length), the film frequently belabors itself – especially with the introduction of (usually) inanimate objects that talk in the palace of the cursed prince. Moreover, I was surprised by how choppy a lot of the animation, especially in early scenes like the moments Belle’s father is chased by dogs, was.

For those unfamiliar with it, tells the classic fairy tale reimagined as an animated musical. Set in a small village in France, Belle lives as a bookworm, the daughter of an inventor who is viewed as crazed by the townspeople. Belle encourages her father and he heads out to the fair to make wow the country with his inventions when his horse is spooked and he is chased by dogs into the castle of a cursed prince. Transformed into a hairy beast by an enchantress he spurned while human, the Beast throws Belle’s father into the dungeon. Avoiding marriage to the town’s idiot stud, Belle searches for her father and finds him in the dungeon. There, she offers the Beast a trade: she will stay with him if the Beast will let her father go free. The Beast agrees and sets Belle up in a room of her own, with the only rule being that she cannot go into the castle’s west wing.

After rejecting the Beast’s offer of dinner together, Belle leaves her room and has dinner with the enchanted dishware and the talking clock and candlestick, Cogsworth and Lumiere. Tricking them into heading off to the library, Belle sneaks into the west wing where she discovers trashed rooms and the remnants of the Beast’s prior life as the prince. She also discovers the magic rose and becomes aware of the curse; that the Beast must get someone to see him as beautiful before the last petal on the rose falls and he is trapped in his monstrous form forever.

Beauty And The Beast is good, but it is a classic tale that needs something distinctive to make it stand out. The novelty of simply being an animated or musical version of the story is not really enough to sell the serious cinephile on it, though the music is wonderful. When the plot is pretty much a known quantity, it comes to character and acting to sell the work as a quality film. Beauty And The Beast is a mixed bag.

Like most Disney movies, Beauty And The Beast contains a generic, absolute evil villain. The Beast is not that villain. Gaston, self-centered moron that he is, has a lackey, but he uses the head of the local asylum to incarcerate Maurice (Belle’s father). The administrator becomes the absolute evil and his monolithic nature is disappointing because he has no concrete motivation (he acknowledges that Gaston’s plan for Maurice is monstrous, but eagerly goes along with it). Similarly, the treatment of women in Beauty And The Beast is incredibly problematic. Opposite what appears to be a strong female character (Belle, who nevertheless is annoyingly unclear in her rejection of Gaston – instead of saying she is not interested, she opts for the tongue-in-cheek, requiring interpretation “I don’t deserve you.”) are the townswomen who are the generic swooning blondes. The plump teapot and wardrobe fulfill the mentor roles (smart is unsexualized) while the French featherduster that is the love interest of Lumiere is dumb and easy in his arms. With thirteen writers, not one manages to break through all the stereotypes to create a truly powerful woman or complete cast of female characters who are complicated. Instead, most are “types” and the only one that is truly smart and desirable is Belle.

Belle is an interesting character, but she is hardly as deep as one would like from a protagonist. Rather than deepen her character or progress the layers of her transformation from fear to love of the Beast, Beauty And The Beast is fleshed out with songs that give the inanimate objects (who are all transformed humans) more screentime.

On the flip side, the voice acting is homogenously excellent. Established performers like David Ogden Stiers, Jerry Orbach, and Angela Lansbury are joined with flawless performances by Paide O’Hara (Belle) and Robby Benson (Beast). The characters all have the same level of emotion projected through their actors and the music is memorable.

The story is classic, the performances are good, but the direction is erratic; scenes like the big dance number were very clearly given priority treatment over many of the early sequences and that diminishes the film some. Still far better than Beastly (reviewed here!), Beauty And The Beast is a success more of style and marketing than it is of actual substance.

For other Disney animated films, please visit my reviews of:
Wreck-It Ralph
Brave
Tangled
Toy Story 3
A Christmas Carol
Up
Ponyo
The Princess And The Frog
Bolt
WALL-E
The Incredibles
Lilo & Stitch
Monsters, Inc.
The Lion King
The Little Mermaid
Lady And The Tramp
The Sword In The Stone
Sleeping Beauty
Fantasia

5.5/10

Check out how this film stacks up against others I have reviewed by visiting my Movie Review Index Page where the films are organized from best to worst!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Surprisingly Adult Premise Makes Lilo & Stitch An Intriguing Disney Film!

The Good: Set-up, Moments where it commits to the premise, Character work, Decent character design.
The Bad: Predictable plot and character arcs, Sacrifices its mature elements for safety, Surprisingly violent for a children’s movie, Erratic animation quality.
The Basics: When an alien falls to Earth and ends up adopted by a Hawaiian girl in need, she finds family and the viewers find Lilo & Stitch unable to commit to its own premise.


I can admire when an established studio takes a real risk with its fan base. Disney certainly took a big risk with Lilo & Stitch, which was a science fiction animated Disney adventure that had a number of elements atypical to a Disney animated film. I find no small irony in the fact that the night after my wife sat me down to watch Lilo & Stitch, a film with a number of comparative elements to the Star Wars Saga, for the first time was the day before Disney bought Lucasfilm. If Lilo & Stitch is any indication, future Star Wars films will be troublingly safe, formulaic and problematically rendered. Come to think of it, that’s pretty much what most people say of the Star Wars movies now!

Lilo & Stitch is a science fiction story, though, with the character of Stitch being an alien. The film has a number of familiar elements, especially in the basic plot structure and character types, but the film opens with a comparatively audacious opening that is exceptionally engaging for Disney and science fiction fans. The Disney fans who do not give up on the film for how far from the norm it begins, are rewarded by a movie that develops into exactly like what one expects of a Disney film. As one who was impressed by the strong opening for the film, I ended up a bit more disappointed by the direction in which Lilo & Stitch went.

Experiment 626 is the creation of Jumba, a mad scientist who is incarcerated by the Grand Council of the galaxy. When the measures used to contain Experiment 626 fail, the small creature with two legs, four arms, giant ears and eyes and a mouth full of deadly fangs escapes and ends up crashing on Earth, on one of the Hawaiian islands. There, the creature comes into contact with Lilo. Lilo is a young girl, being cared for by her older sister, Nani, and getting into quite a bit of trouble. After biting a dance classmate and nailing shut the front door on Nani, Lilo’s family life is menaced by former CIA-turned-social-services-agent Cobra Bubbles. Agent Bubbles wants to make sure Lilo is adequately cared for by Nani and he is not at all impressed by their first meeting.

Given three days to shape up her family, Nani allows Lilo to buy a pet from the local animal shelter. There, she adopts the blue alien Experiment 626, whom she names Stitch. As Stitch is hunted by Jumba and his dimwitted police guardian, Pleakley, he causes Nani to lose her job and Nani goes on a quest to find a new job to keep her family safe and secure. While outrunning Jumba, Pleakley, and Captain Gantu of the space fleet, Stitch begins to bond with Lilo and come to understand that his destructive actions have consequences.

In the age of ADHD, Lilo & Stitch would seem to be exceptionally relevant. Unfortunately, the film fails to truly stick with its own premise. Jumba defines Experiment 626 as the ultimate destroying machine. Fast, strong, and destructive without remorse, Stitch is characterized initially as an agent of chaos. However, the simple lack of cities on the island seem enough to reform the creature from unstoppable evil to just periodically annoying. For sure, writers Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois might well be making a comment on how children who suffer from ADHD simply need a change in their environment. However, that does not work. Neither does Lilo’s approach which seems to be to try once, then guild the alien into doing what she wants.

I am, by no means, saying that Lilo & Stitch would be a stronger film if the main character never developed, but the speed of the development utterly undermines the premise of the film. Jumba, Pleakley, Gantu, and ultimately the Grand Councilwoman herself all arrive to do what they can to stop Stitch because the threat of him being out of their custody is perceived as so great. And yet, stuck on the island, there is remarkably little trouble the creature can get into and, more importantly, less it appears inclined to. So, Lilo & Stitch seems an overblown response to a significantly overstated problem.

As one expects from a Disney animated film, Lilo & Stitch is intended to show the strength of family, in this case a broken, small, Hawaiian family. Lilo is easy to empathize with; she lost her parents relatively recently and the film take the time to make some really perceptive comments on such situations. While Bubbles is initially characterized as a monolithic antagonist, his goals are always honorable; to make sure that Lilo is being cared for in the best possible way. When Lilo notes that she likes Nani better as a sister than a mother, it opens a complicated range of emotions and discussions. It is easy to empathize with Lilo, who has lost her parents, and equally easy to empathize with Nani, who is not much older than Lilo (there is a perception that she is in her late-teens, early twenties compared to Lilo, who is in (I believe the film said) first grade). Nani has lost her parents and been saddled with a child at a time in her life when she was very much ready to move on. It is hard not to empathize with that.

Lilo & Stitch opens with the threat of a big villain, who is easily pacified, and epic space battles and a lot of sound and fury that make the film seem like it will be intense and engaging throughout. Unfortunately, it settles pretty rapidly into very standard Disney fare and Lilo and Stitch bond and the alien learns the importance of family. It is very much the Disney formula, with the inclusion of the usual conceits, like the all-powerful authority figure that sits most of the film out (Grand Councilwoman) and the wisecracking sidekick (Pleakley).

The voiceovers in Lilo & Stitch are one of the superlative aspects of the film. All of the vocal talents, from Daveigh Chase (Lilo) and Tia Carrere (Nani) to David Ogden Stiers (Jumba) and Ving Rhames (Bubbles) are clear, emotive and distinctive. Lilo & Stitch benefits from having a decent caliber of actor performing the lines for the occasionally obvious and sometimes action-packed animated film.

But for all the leaps Lilo & Stitch takes to be audacious, clever, and interesting, it rapidly degenerates into exactly what one expects from a Disney animated movie. With a soundtrack of Elvis songs instead of characters singing, Lilo & Stitch makes the fantastic seem credible before it abandons the attempt, making a film more average than audacious.

For other Disney animated films, please visit my reviews of:
Tangled
Toy Story 3
A Christmas Carol
Up
The Princess And The Frog
Bolt
WALL-E
The Incredibles
Monsters, Inc.
The Lion King
The Little Mermaid
Lady And The Tramp
The Sword In The Stone
Sleeping Beauty
Fantasia

6/10

For other film reviews, be sure to check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Surprisingly Pleasant Sequel: Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil Develops The Franchise Better Than Expected!

The Good: Decent character development, Largely funny, Decent voice acting.
The Bad: Very predictable plot, No commentary track.
The Basics: Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil is an engaging continuation of Hoodwinked! that has a decent theme on the importance of teamwork, despite featuring adult allusions for much of the humor.


Almost three years ago, I met the woman who would become my wife. After a surprisingly short time of communicating via e-mail and online chats, she invited me out to meet her in Michigan and despite the fact that I could not actually afford it, I took her up on her invitation. That trip changed my life; we were married a little over four months later and we have been happily married since. That first weekend, we shared movies with one another. I brought Magnolia (reviewed here!), which she still holds against me to this day. I also rather stupidly, apparently, informed her that I had "a bit of a thing" for Anne Hathaway when she pulled out a copy of Hoodwinked! for us to watch together. Despite her general loathing of Anne Hathaway (her films and singing voice at least), I find it deeply ironic that she had an Anne Hathaway film in her collection before me. We both enjoyed Hoodwinked! (reviewed here!) and watch it an average of once a year. So, when we heard about Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil, we were both pretty excited (she was probably a little more excited considering Hathaway was not going to be in it). Unfortunately, the movie was only played locally for a week before it disappeared from our theaters and we missed seeing it on the big screen.

But last night, that changed when our local library got in Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil for us. The sequel, featuring Hayden Panettiere in the role Anne Hathaway had in the original, is a decent sequel, which does a good job of continuing the original and developing it beyond what it was. While Hoodwinked! was focused on Red Riding Hood becoming an empowered heroine while cracking the case of the goodie bandit, Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil illustrates the challenges to the Happily Ever After Agency when Red Riding Hood is not available.

Having, presumably, been on several missions with the Happily Ever After Agency following their induction, Red Riding Hood has taken a leave of absence to learn with the Sister Hoods in the mountains. She is, thus, cut off from the group when Granny Puckett is abducted and the Big Bad Wolf botches the case they were on when it happened. Granny, in trying to save the kidnaped Hansel and Gretel, is captured herself. Nicky Flippers contacts Red Riding Hood, who quickly comes to believe that Granny's abduction has to do with her knowledge of how to make a devastatingly powerful truffle.

Journeying to the Big City, Red Riding Hood rejects working with the Big Bad Wolf, irked because she blames him for Granny's capture in the first place. Trying to milk the local Giant for information, though, she is bailed out by the Wolf and soon comes to rely upon him for help. Working together, the pair infiltrates the castle in search of Granny. All the while, Granny comes to realize that her capture is no accident and she finds the responsible party to the crime!

Having not read anyone else's reviews of Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil, I'm not exactly sure why so few people actually seemed to enjoy the film. For my money, what I liked was pretty solid: the movie progresses the story and characters without simply rehashing the successful elements of the first movie. For sure, the plot is ridiculously simple and predictable, but there is a great deal of adult humor that hinges on an adult knowledge of popular culture. As an Alpha Geek, I can appreciate the many references and the fact that there are very few fairy tale allusions makes the work much more relevant to adults than children.

That said, the dominant theme in Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil is that is is important to work well with others. While this might seem like a terribly juvenile idea for an otherwise adult film, it works well as a reminder to adults in these cash-strapped times. No, it's pretty much the solid element for younger people in the movie. But why it worked for me was that it effectively illustrated how playing for a team does allow the strengths of each member to be used, something which is not often seen in movies today. Moreover, the theme is well-developed and Red Riding Hood painfully illustrates how a team is weakened when the most potent negative traits of a team member are allowed to dominate. Red Riding Hood's absolute belief in herself is over-the-top arrogance, which leads to a disastrous meeting with the Giant. But when she begins to rely upon her teammates, her innate strength and intelligence are able to come through.

The animation in Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil is quite good and the vocal performances are decent as well. Glenn Close reprises her role of Granny with ease and Patrick Warburton and David Ogden Stiers are trained hands at vocal acting, so their performances are flawless as far as vocal emoting goes. Hayden Panettiere does a decent job stepping into the role of Red Riding Hood and she pretty much makes it her own. Amy Poehler, Joan Cusack and Bill Hader do fine as Hansel, Gretel and the Witch, though Martin Short noticeably does not perform Kirk quite like Belushi did in the first film. For the most part, though, the acting is decent, easily living up to the expectations left from Hoodwinked!.

On DVD, Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil comes with a featurette on the vocal performances for the movie that is dominated by clips from the movie and storyboards. There is not a commentary track, but there are three music videos (none of which are stellar). Regardless, the primary material is engaging enough to entertain.

For other works featuring Amy Poehler, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Monsters Vs. Aliens
Southland Tales
Arrested Development

6.5/10

For other film reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Dying Hits The Late Middle-Aged Hard In "Half A Life."

The Good: Great actors, Interesting story idea, Wonderful character development
The Bad: Moments of disappointing delivery
The Basics: In "Half A Life," Lwaxana Troi returns in a tight dramatic role that explores a culture where the elderly kill themselves as a method of keeping an orderly society.


Star Trek The Next Generation had a remarkable way of getting wonderful actors to appear and play intriguing characters. Indeed, all of the Star Trek series' have managed to woo great actors, actresses and personalities. For example, Sally Kellerman and Teri Garr appeared in Star Trek, Star Trek Deep Space Nine managed to get Richard Beymer, Louise Fletcher and Frank Langella for multiple episodes and by this point in the series, Star Trek The Next Generation had been visited mostly by genre greats, such as DeForest Kelly and Mark Lenard. In "Half A Life," Star Trek The Next Generation is visited by a truly great actor, David Ogden Stiers, of M*A*S*H among other things.

The Enterprise journeys to a planet whose star is dying and there they meet Timicin, a scientist who is incredibly intelligent and has a plan to try and save his planet. Almost immediately, the mission is compromised by the presence of Counselor Troi's mother, Lwaxana. Lwaxana takes an instant liking to Timicin who is closer in age to herself than any of the other prospective mates Lwaxana has chosen in the past. When the initial results of the procedure appear positive, the crew is elated and Timicin is hopeful. When, however, the technique ultimately fails, Timicin reveals that he will never have a chance to try again; he is returning home to die. It seems that Timicin has reached the age that his people decide to kill themselves as a part of a population control and health care program.

More than anything, this is Lwaxana Troi's most serious and profound episode to date. Rather than being used as inane comic relief as she has been relegated to in her previous three outings, "Half A Life" puts Lwaxana in the middle of a serious dilemma. Lwaxana has fallen in love with Timicin and the societal pressures on him to kill himself come in conflict with her personal ethics and her feelings for Timicin.

The strength of the acting in this episode is surprisingly not in David Ogden Stiers, who is a phenomenal actor. Instead, the show is stolen by Majel Barret-Roddenberry. Instead of being a continual annoyance, here Barret plays Lwaxana Troi as a well-rounded, passionate character acting out of a very real sense of injustice. And how easy it is for the audience to identify with her! Who wouldn't be initially outraged over the idea of killing off the senior citizen population?

And this is possibly the most creative way of dressing up a current events issue that Star Trek The Next Generation ever came up with. Instead of tackling the problem of what to do with the elderly in 1990s Earth, "Half A Life" explores a possible solution and does it with an amazing amount of balance. Timicin, as a character, is caught between two conflicting societal pressures. On the one side, he loves his planet and wants to save it, on the other, he wants to be equally selfless and do what is expected of him, which is to die before he becomes a burden on his family and loved ones.

The only disappointment in this episode is the acting in the last half of the episode by Mr. Stiers. Usually great and creating the character of Timicin wonderfully, David Ogden Stiers' performance falls apart in the second half. From the moment he reveals that he is returning home to kill himself, Stiers' performance - not the character's actions - become uncertain, as if he completely lost direction for the character. It's disappointing considering how well he initially creates this unique character.

Michelle Forbes, who will end up playing Ensign Ro beginning in the fifth season, appears here as Timicin's daughter and gives a very different performance to what we expect from her later on. Similarly, the regular cast of the show backs up what is essentially a two-character debate. Most notable is Marina Sirtis, who plays Counselor Troi with less disappointment and more compassion than in previous Lwaxana Troi episodes.

Fans of Star Trek The Next Generation will enjoy "Half a Life" for the moralistic play, people who have not classically been fans will find a compelling drama in this episode. Instead of being terribly out there as a science fiction piece, this quickly becomes a focused character drama. And who could not enjoy that?

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete Fourth Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the fourth season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

8/10

For other Star Trek reviews, please check out my index page!

© 2011, 2007, 2003 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Hilarious Fairy Tale Parody Begins With Hoodwinked!

The Good: Funny, Decent mix of parody and general humor, Good story, Decent animation
The Bad: Light on character development, SHORT!
The Basics: When Little Red Ridinghood visits Granny, an altercation with the Wolf ensues and an investigation reveals a larger conspiracy in the forest, in Hoodwinked, a funny, animated film!


I cannot remember the last movie that was only PG that I both laughed at and was satisfied by. Allow me to amend that: I cannot recall the last film before Hoodwinked that was PG that I laughed and and was completely satisfied by. Some might look at it as a cheap Shrek knockoff, but Hoodwinked has what Shrek didn't for me; more than one joke. My main problem with Shrek was that it essentially sought humor from the same joke over and over, with almost all of the humor being remarkably similar reversals based on the idea that the fairy tales were a lot more edgy and relayed with broader details than the finer points of "reality."

Hoodwinked does not do that. Instead, it recasts the story of Little Red Riding Hood as a whodunit with various parts telling their take on the story as part of a criminal investigation into the theft of the recipes from all of the major bakers in the forest. The humor tends to be more universal, fresh and funny than that of the more repetitive Shrek. And on its own, there is plenty to keep finding in Hoodwinked that is funny, making it worth returning to!

Red, granddaughter of Granny, is a spunky girl who is eager to protect the bakers and sweetmakers of the forest whom she notices are all going out of business rather suddenly. Charged with protecting the recipes to Granny's bakery, Red flees into the woods to get the recipe book to safety. At Granny's house, though, she finds a poorly disguised Wolf who seems quite interested in the book. An altercation ensues, wherein Red holds her own against the Wolf, a crazed Woodsman breaks in wielding an ax and Granny is revealed to be very much alive, though she is tied up in the closet. The police arrive and while they are quick to jump to conclusions, Inspector Nicky Flippers enters to get full depositions, believing that not everything is as it seems.

What follows then are the stories as told by Red, the wolf, the woodsman and Granny. Red describes her attempts to keep all of the bakeries from closing, even as more of them are forced out of business. Dogged by the wolf, her day has been hectic and she has escaped death at several turns. The wolf, then, is given the chance to tell his story, which casts him as an investigative reporter on the case of finding out why all of the sweet shops have been shuttered. The woodsman describes his behavior as method acting gone wrong and Granny tells her story of training in extreme sports. Flippers, then, finds the common thread in the stories and together they bring the guilty party to justice!

First off, the two big strikes against this animated film are the predictability of the plot and the short duration of the movie. At eighty minutes, Hoodwinked is barely a movie and it is unfortunate that the DVD version did not restore the deleted scenes back into the movie to get it up to a respectable - feature-length - film. As well, the moment the real perpetrator enters the movie, adults will pretty instantly get who it is as it is fairly obvious to anyone watching closely. That said, the process that the story takes to unfold is generally enjoyable and Hoodwinked works as a result of that.

Hoodwinked is funny. Written by the co-directors, Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech, Hoodwinked is a collection of pretty fast deliveries, strong deadpans and utterly ridiculous songs. So, for example, one of the funniest bits is Red describing how she got her nickname and its relation to the hood. Red straightforward telling the detectives that she likes red and she is not often found wearing anything other than the hooded jacket is delivered in a way that is laugh-out-loud funny. As well, the goat, who is enchanted (supposedly) so he must sing all of his dialogue, who sings a song about his various horns kills time in the movie and makes for a rather laughable sequence.

The narrative technique works fairly well to keep the story moving, even if it is a little predictable. Like most detective stories, the interrogation of various people yields a different perspective on common events and as Flippers connects the events of one story to another, the broader narrative is created. Point of view stories have been chic of late, but Hoodwinked works because it feels more like an organic story and not like it is being a slave to trends. The result is an intriguing take on a story that is treated as simple and straightforward. The new take on it, the concept that there are more perspectives to the story than the traditional interpretation makes for a decent movie. Hoodwinked works because the narrative techniques force the writers to innovate a completely different story than the traditional "Little Red Ridinghood" story and the shading and depth they come up with for the various characters - while often silly - serves a much more interesting story than the simple, oft-told fairy tale.

Character development is tough to discuss in a film like Hoodwinked, though. All of the characters are given extensive backstories, usually through straightforward exposition. They all have more depth - even if it is absurd and modern, as are the cases of the woodsman and Granny's stories - and character than the characters in the original fairy tales. However, there is a somewhat generic, assigned, joke-like quality to virtually all of the characterizations. In other words, the story is not about the characters and how they develop so much as it is about the way the characters are turned on the expectations we, the viewers have for them.

That said, Hoodwinked has a pretty impressive cast, which does seem to be the norm for such animated films of late. The all-star cast includes Anne Hathaway as Red, Glenn Close as Granny, Patrick Warburton as the wolf, and Xzibit as Chief Grizzly. The irony here is that the only other acting I have yet seen rapper Xzibit do was in The X-Files: I Want To Believe and he was cast in essentially the same role!

Nicky Flippers is voiced by one of my favorites, David Ogden Stiers and it is nice to see that Kelsey Grammar isn't getting all of the dignified voice acting roles. For all of my appreciation of Grammar and his work, Stiers has a dignity and presence in his vocal performances that is at least on par with Grammar or Patrick Stewart's and the role of the investigator suits him perfectly. Stiers opens the film with a voice over that immediately establishes both a comic and investigative tone to the movie and it works exceptionally well.

The other decent surprise for me was in the voice acting of Anne Hathaway. I still recall seeing commercials when I was younger for the television show she was on on FOX where she became the breakout character, based - largely, one supposes - on her looks. Given that this is an animated film, Hathaway's looks do not factor into her performance as Red at all. The result, is a performance one must judge entirely on the merits, not the mythos. And Hathaway presents Red with a sense of comic timing and vocal expressiveness that reinforces the idea that she is one of the premiere actresses of our time. She is funny, articulate and her acting is solid from start to finish as Red.

As for the animation, I have seem some griping about it, but I actually like it. Hoodwinked has a distinctive computer generated animation look and feel to it that is unique to this production. It is not trying to be real, nor is it trying to be a traditional cartoon as far as the animation quality goes. The result, is a visually-exciting, three-dimensional environment that brings the story to life in an entertaining and fulfilling way.

On DVD, Hoodwinked has deleted scenes and featurettes on the making of the movie and the telling (or re-telling) of the story and they are nice additions for a film that holds up surprisingly well over multiple viewings. The jokes that are most risque will easily pass over the heads of younger audiences and the animation style, complete with big-eyed bunnies and bright colors, will keep them entertained for the spectacle while older audiences enjoy the actual humor and cleverness of the movie.

For works featuring Anne Hathaway, please check out my reviews of:
Anne Hathaway For Wonder Woman!
One Day
Love And Other Drugs
Family Guy Presents: It's A Trap!
Alice In Wonderland
Valentine's Day
Twelfth Night Soundtrack
Bride Wars
Rachel Getting Married
Passengers
Get Smart
The Devil Wears Prada
Brokeback Mountain
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Ella Enchanted
The Princess Diaries

7/10

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© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.









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