Film Review: TREASURE PLANET (2002)

Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker
Writers: Robert Louis Stevenson (Novel), Ron Clements, John Musker & Rob Edwards (Screenplay).
Running time: 95 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Genre: Animation/Action/Adventure
UK Release date: 14^th February 2003

Watched on Sky+ Friday 10^th February 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is one of those films I watched because it was recommended to me by several people in the online community. Now usually such recommendations point me towards a lesser-known work, or an undiscovered gem, but this time it’s a big-budget Disney animation. It’s basically the plot of the book ‘Treasure Island’ by Robert Louis Stevenson set in space. It does all the things Disney does well and is entertaining enough, but it just didn’t quite hit the mark (for me). I’ll tell you more after this brief summary.

We are told the tale of the pirate, Captain Flint, and how he amassed a treasure and hid it on a planet whose whereabouts are a mystery. This story becomes a legend and many had tried and failed to find the planet. But when a mysterious stranger calls at the Inn run by Jim Hawkins mother, he leaves behind a map. This map, it transpires holds the key to the location of the fabled Treasure Planet. A family friend, Dr. Doppler, finances an expedition. He hires a ship, a captain and a crew and brings Jim along to share in the adventure. The skipper, Captain Amelia, has reservations about the crew, but they set sail post haste. Jim is sent to work in the galley with the ships cook, one John Silver, a cyborg. There is more to him than meets the eye, and as they near the planet Jim discovers his secret. I won’t say any more or the Spoiler Police will have me keel hauled (again).

Very well made with some really exciting sequences and some excellent animation. The look and feel of it are everything you’d expect from a modern-day Disney animation. As far as performances go, well everyone did a good job, so honourable mentions go to; Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jim Hawkins, Brian Murray as John Silver, David Hyde Pierce as Doctor Doppler, Emma Thompson as Captain Amelia and Martin Short as B.E.N.

I am very familiar with the story and I found that so much of it was either changed or left out that I really didn’t enjoy this film as much as I thought I would. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for updating the classics and I think there have been some excellent modern adaptations of classic novels but this one didn’t hit the mark (for me) I’m afraid. There were bits I did like though, the humour for one; some very nice and subtle jokes in there. I also liked the way they portrayed the relationship between Jim and John Silver; I had never seen it that way before (sorry, no spoilers). Over all though, it didn’t quite have enough for me to recommend it, but I’m sure there are many out there who will love it nonetheless.

My score: 5.2/10.

IMDb Score: 6.7/10 (based on 20,835 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0133240/

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 70/100 (based on 143 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 64/100 (based on 62,586 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/treasure_planet/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Doctor Doppler: It's...
Jim Hawkins: Treasure Planet!
Doctor Doppler: [in disbelief] No!
Jim Hawkins: That's Treasure Planet!
Doctor Doppler: Flints' Trove? The loot of a thousand worlds? Do you know what this means?
Jim Hawkins: It means that all that treasure is only a boat ride away!

B.E.N.: I'm starting to see my life pass in front of my eyes! At least, I think it's my life.
B.E.N.: [shouting] Was I ever dancing with an android named Lupé?

Doctor Doppler: Dang it, Jim. I'm an astronomer, not a doctor! I mean, I am a doctor, but I'm not that kind of doctor. I have a doctorate, it's not the same thing. You can't help people with a doctorate. You just sit there and you're useless!

Captain Amelia: I'm Captain Amelia. Late of a few run-ins with the Procyon Armada, nasty business, but I won't bore you with my scars; You've met my first officer, Mr. Arrow? Sterling, tough, dependable, honest, brave and true.
Mr. Arrow: Please, Captain...
Captain Amelia: Oh, shut up, Arrow. You know I don't mean a word of it.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Trailer:

Film Review: THE LION KING (1994)

Directors: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff
Writers: Too many to list (27)
Running time: 89 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Genre: Animation/Adventure/Comedy
UK Release date: 7^th October 1994

Watched on Sky+ Tuesday 7^th February 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I have seen so much praise for this film over the years but never got around to watching it. Well, a rather cold Tuesday night and it’s on the hard drive of my Sky+ box. I took the plunge and was quite impressed with it over all; although I’m not really the target audience I did find it both entertaining and amusing. I will give you more of my thoughts after this very brief summary.

The film tells the story of Simba, a lion cub who is destined to be king. That is if his uncle, Scar, doesn’t get his way first. Simba enjoys life as a cub, playing with his friend Nala and learning life lessons from his father, Mufasa. But then Scar decides to take a hand in his destiny and Simba finds himself out in the wilderness alone. Here he is befriended by a Warthog, Pumbaa, and a Meerkat, Timon. They persuade Simba to put his troubles aside and just enjoy life and so this unlikely trio live quite happily in another part of the jungle. Before we know it Simba has grown up and a chance meeting with Nala brings back memories he had buried deep inside him. But what will he do about it? Well, just in case there’s one or two out there who haven’t seen it yet, I’ll leave it there or the Spoiler Police (Jungle Division) will be taking me for a visit with the hyenas (again).

Excellent animation and some really good songs are what struck me most about this film. To be honest, I had heard most of the main songs before, but it was nice to put them into context. Performance-wise, well everyone did a good job, particularly Jeremy Irons who voiced the evil Scar really well. Also worthy of note were the voice talents of; Jonathan Taylor Thomas as Young Simba, Matthew Broderick as Adult Simba, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Nathan Lane as Timon, Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa, Rowan Atkinson as Zazu and Whoopi Goldberg as Shenzi.

Although it was good, and great for younger viewers, I guess I was expecting something a little more epic. Not that I was particularly disappointed, I suppose all those rave reviews I read maybe upped my expectations a tad. At the end of the day it does what it says on the tin and you really cannot ask for more. It does stand out as one of the better Disney animated films its era, that’s a given, but I must say I have seen later films that are equally as good, or even better. Even so, it will still delight, amuse and entertain and I cannot knock it for that… Recommended.

My score: 8.2/10.

IMDb Score: 8.3/10 (based on 220,746 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0110357/

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 89/100 (based on 92 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 89/100 (based on 1,177,009 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_lion_king/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Mufasa: Look, Simba. Everything the light touches is our kingdom.
Young Simba: Wow.
Mufasa: A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as the new king.
Young Simba: And this'll all be mine?
Mufasa: Everything.
Young Simba: Everything the light touches...

Zazu: [about Scar] There's one in every family sire. Two in mine, actually. And they always manage to ruin special occasions.
Mufasa: What am I going to do with him?
Zazu: He'd make a very handsome throw rug.
Mufasa: [Surprised] Zazu!
Zazu: And just think, Whenever he gets dirty you can take him out and beat him.

Timon: Geez! It's a lion! Run, Pumbaa! Move it!
Pumbaa: Hey, Timon, it's just a *little* lion. Look at him. He's so cute and all alone! Can we keep him?
Timon: Pumbaa, are you nuts? We're talking about a lion; Lions eat guys like us!
Pumbaa: But he's so little.
Timon: He's gonna get bigger.
Pumbaa: Maybe he'll be on our side.
Timon: A - huh! That's the stupidest thing I ever heard. Maybe he'll b-... Hey, I got it! What if he's on our side? You know, having a lion around might not be such a bad idea.

Timon: What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Trailer:

Film Review: TANGLED (2010)

Directors: Nathan Greno & Byron Howard
Running time: 100 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

Genre: Animation/Adventure/Family/Comedy
UK Release date: 28^th January 2011

Watched on Sky+ Friday 27^th October 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I thought I’d start my day off with something easy to watch, given a bit of a rough head this morning. Checking what I had recorded, I decided the one that would be easiest on the grey matter was ‘Tangled’. I was right… I was also delighted with my choice! Nothing like as bad as I was expecting, although it wasn’t perfect, Disney have come a long way in the last few years and appear to be on the right track to producing something really great in the next few years. But enough of my nonsense for now… More after this very brief summary.

Having been kidnapped by Mother Gothel as a baby, Rapunzel is kept away from the world in a hidden tower. The only way in or out is to climb up her long golden hair. It is her magical hair that holds the secret to why Mother Gothel stole Rapunzel away… but I’m not going to tell you about that here. Just as Rapunzel is about to turn eighteen, a man, Flynn Rider climbs the tower trying to evade some palace guards who are chasing him. He has stolen something from the palace and they want it back. Each year on her birthday the sky is filled with magical lanterns and Rapunzel wants more than anything to go and see them. But Mother Gothel has made her afraid to go outside. Can she persuade Flynn to take her to see the lanterns and, more importantly, can she overcome her fears of the outside world. I think that’s enough to whet your appetite for now… don’t want the Spoiler Police chasing me down and throwing me in a dungeon again.

Beautifully animated with some really great songs (& some not quite so great) to take you along the journey. This is a really well made family film with some really nice touches. The voice talents of Mandy Moore as Rapunzel and Zachary Levi as Flynn Rider were both excellent. I thought Donna Murphy played the evil Mother Gothel very well, particularly the songs. Honourable mentions go to the voice talents of; Ron Perlman as Stabbington Brother, M.C. Gainey as Captain of the Guard, Jeffrey Tambor as Big Nose Thug, Brad Garrett as Hook Hand Thug, Paul F. Tompkins as Short Thug and Richard Kiel as Vlad.

The comic relief was supplied by a horse, Maximus and a chameleon, Pascal. There is also a band of thugs who help the unlikely pair on their journey; they have the best musical number in the show (IMO). In fact, this film did have the ring of an old fashioned musical about it and I must admit, I did enjoy that aspect of it. On the down side, I thought everyone looked a little bit too ‘Disney cute’ for my liking. The eyes way too big and the waistlines way too thin… it doesn’t look right (to me) I’m afraid. That aside, I did enjoy this film (in 2D) though… Recommended.

My Score: 7.7/10.

IMDb Score: 7.8/10 (based on 60,662 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0398286/

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89/100 (based on 179 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tangled/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
[first lines]
Flynn Rider: This is the story of how I died. Don't worry, this is actually a very fun story and the truth is, it isn't even mine. This is the story of a girl named Rapunzel.

Rapunzel: Something brought you here, Flynn Rider. Call it what you will... fate... destiny...
Flynn Rider: A horse.

Flynn Rider: [sword-fighting with Maximus] You should know that this is the strangest thing I've ever done!
[Max flicks the frying-pan from Flynn's hands]
Flynn Rider: ... How 'bout best two out of three?

LINKS:
Official Site: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/tangled/textonly/
Trailer:

Film Review: THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE (2010)

Director: Jon Turteltaub
Running time: 105 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

Genre: Action/Adventure/Comedy
UK Release date: 13th August 2010

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 11th June 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

You know how sometimes curiosity can get the better of you and you find yourself in a situation you would rather have avoided. Well that’s what happened when this film came up on TV recently. I thought, “How bad can it really be?” well, it’s bad enough that I had to resort to the ironing to get through to the end. Yes, there are exciting bits, some funny bits and some really impressive CGI, but the story and the characters were just not there.

For a change I won’t bore you with a summary as we’ve all seen the basic story a thousand times before. What did interest me more was the back-story that is just skimmed over at the beginning of the film. I would have much rather seen the story of Balthazar up to the point where he finds the ‘Chosen One’ in New York City. What happens after that is all so predictable and I really hope they don’t make a sequel.

Performance wise, well, Nicolas Cage does his best impression of Nicolas Cage as Balthazar Blake, the ‘Sorcerer’ of the title. Jay Baruchel has probably the most irritating voice I’ve ever heard and he plays the ‘Apprentice’ of the title, Dave Stutler (who’d have guessed the saviour of the world would be called Dave). Of course there has to be a bad guy and this amply is provided by Alfred Molina as the evil Maxim Horvath. And finally, the love interest is provided by Teresa Palmer as Becky Barnes.

As you can probably guess I didn’t enjoy this Bruckheimer/Disney co-production too much. It all seemed too superficial, I found it hard to identify with any of the characters, except maybe the bad guy, Horvath. As I’ve already said, the special effects are very impressive, but that’s the problem, they do look like special effects. I don’t believe the filmmakers are aware of the phrase ‘less is more’ in some cases… and this is one of those cases. You may think I’m being a little generous with my score, but I do appreciate the skill involved in bringing this visually impressive if uninspiring film to the screen. I did like the nod to the animated Disney film ‘The Sword in the Stone’, that was actually quite funny. Over all though, sadly NOT recommended.

My Score: 5.4/10

LINKS:
(RT=Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0963966/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sorcerers_apprentice/
Official Site: http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/sorcerersapprentice/
Trailer:

Film Review: TOY STORY 3 (2010) – [Rewatch]

Director: Lee Unkrich
Running time: 103 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Genre: Animation/Comedy/Drama
UK Release date: 19^th July 2010

Watched on Sky+ Thursday 2^nd June 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

NOTE: What follows is my original review of the film when I first saw it in July last year (2010). It recently premiered on TV and I felt I should see it again. Fortunately my opinion has not changed, hence the repeat outing for this review. It was good to watch it in the privacy of my own home because I got something in my eye towards the end and there was a handy box of tissues nearby… Hope you enjoy the review.

-o0o-

The toys are back for their third outing. And as the 3D debate rages on I took the high ground and stuck to the supposedly outmoded two dimensions for this one. After all that’s exactly the number of dimensions the screen has. But enough of this I hear you say, tell me more about the film.

Andy is growing up fast and is on his way to college soon. He has not played with the toys in quite a while and, quite frankly, they’re worried. With talk of the attic, and even worse, the trash, even Woody is getting apprehensive. Andy’s mum tells him to sort out his room, things for the attic, things to go to college with him and things to go out for the trash. His sister Molly also gets a box to put toys in to donate to the Sunnyside day-care centre (yes I know I used the English spelling, I’m English, what can I say?). By some mix-up all of Andy’s toys end up in the donation box, I won’t say how because I don’t want to spoil it. All seems very pleasant when they arrive. They are greeted by a bear called Lotso who is very nice to them, but all is not what it seems at Sunnyside. I think that’s enough of the plot to whet your appetite. You wouldn’t forgive me if I gave too much away would you.

As we have come to expect from Pixar, this is an exceptionally well made film with a great plot, endearing characters, lots of adventure, comedy and one or two tear-jerking moments along the way. Great work, as ever, from the voice talents of, Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear, Joan Cusack as Jessie, Ned Beatty as Lotso, Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, Michael Keaton as Ken, Wallace Shawn as Rex, John Ratzenberger as Hamm, Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head, John Morris as Andy and Jodi Benson as Barbie.

There are some great moments, like when Ken met Barbie for the first time, Mr. Potato Head as a tortilla and Buzz Lightyear in Spanish mode has to be seen to be believed! I really enjoyed this film, I really engaged with the characters I know so well for the previous two films and found myself quite choked at the end. All three films have been tremendous and I really hope they don’t make a fourth, finish on a high guys! Over all, highly recommended.

My score: 8.7/10

LINKS:
(RT=Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0435761/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/toy_story_3/
Official Site: http://disney.go.com/toystory/
Trailer:

Film Review: WALL-E (2008) - Revisited

Co-Writer/Director: Andrew Stanton
Running time: 90 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): U

Genre: Animation/Comedy/Adventure
UK Release Date: 18^th July 2008

Watched on Sky+ Monday 30^th May 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

As I may have mentioned before, I’m quite a big fan of animated films. I have some friends who will only watch anime, but I have a much broader palate. I wasn’t going to watch this today when it came up on TV as I had seen it before, but I got enchanted by it all over again and ended up sitting all the way through it (again).

All life has left the Earth, it sounds pretty bleak, but it’s not really, they’ve gone on a big space ship while an army of robots cleans up the place. And now, some 800 years later, there’s only one robot left, Wall-e. He spends his days collecting and compacting the garbage and making enormous towers out of it. He’s not alone though, and insect, probably a cockroach, is his companion. Wall-e lives in the back of an old truck, where, apart from a bunch of spare parts, he also has a collection of interesting things he’s found over the years. Amongst these is a video of an old musical that he plays every night, and a plant that he found.

One day he’s going about his business when a spacecraft arrives and drops off another robot, EVE. After a bit of a sticky start, they begin to talk and Wall-e shows EVE around. She has spent most of her time going around scanning everything she sees, looking for something. Later, with a big storm brewing, Wall-e takes EVE to his ‘house’; he shows her some of the things he’s collected. When she sees the plant she immediately puts it inside her chest and shuts down. Wall-e is dumbfounded and tries to revive her, but fails. All he can do is wait with her until the spacecraft returns, which eventually it does. As it takes off, Wall-e stows away and he is taken to another, much larger ship, the Axiom where the humans are. This is where things start to get interesting, so I’ll leave it here.

This is a very well made film with some great comic touches, particularly in the opening scenes. The first third of the film was really engaging and very enjoyable, however, as soon as Wall-e and EVE make it to the Axiom it becomes slightly more predictable, which is a shame. There isn’t a great deal of dialogue, but it was all done well, honourable mentions go to the voice talents of, Ben Burtt as Wall-e & M-O, Elissa Knight as EVE and Jeff Garlin as Captain McCrea.

This is the second time I’ve seen this film and I can say I enjoyed it much more second time around. The filmmakers are great at giving characters to the robots, even though they cannot really talk properly. I found the opening scenes particularly good, although I didn’t much care for the song from the musical that they kept playing. I guess Wall-e is so appealing because he looks a little like the iconic alien, E.T. As I said, the latter scenes when they make it to the Axiom do get a little predictable, but I still found it very enjoyable… Recommended.

My score: 8.7/10

LINKS:
(RT=Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0910970/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wall_e/
Official Site: http://adisney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/wall-e/
Trailer:

Film Review: MULAN (1998)

Directors: Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook
Running Time: 90 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Genre: Animation/Adventure/Drama
UK Release Date: 16th October 1998

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 16th April 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I don’t watch many Disney films these days, I’ve probably outgrown many of them, but I took an exception in this case. It had been recommended to me and so I thought I’d give it a look when it came up on TV recently. I was pleasantly surprised, a strong story, some nice animation and a few decent songs thrown in… not too shabby. I’ll give you my more detailed thoughts after this brief summary (summary haters, and those that don’t wish to know about the plot, please go training with the army while I write the next paragraph).

Mulan is a spirited girl who, having failed to make an impression with the matchmaker, is looking for some other way of bringing honour to her family. China has been invaded by the Huns, lead by the very tough and evil, Shan Yu. An army is being raised by the Emperor and Mulan’s father, Fa Zhou, is chosen as one of the conscripts from their village, but he was injured fighting for the Emperor before. He insists he will go, but Mulan has other ideas. Stealing his armour and his sword and taking her horse, Khan, she sets off to join the army in his place, hoping she can pass herself off as a man. The penalty, if she’s discovered, is death. To help her on this quest, the family ancestors, inadvertently, send Mushu, a small dragon with ambitions to improve his position. A lucky cricket, Cri-Kee, also comes along on the adventure. The soldiers are led by Captain Li Shang, the son of a General and a very handsome man. Calling herself Ping, Mulan is befriended by three soldiers, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po, but can she pull off this charade and will she bring honour to her family? Well, you probably guessed it, I’m not going to tell you here, those Spoiler Police will be after me if I do.

I found this film surprisingly good, some great animation, a really good story and some pretty good songs along the way. The only let-down (for me) was the inclusion of the voice of Eddie Murphy as Mushu. Whenever I hear him now I think of ‘Donkey’ from the Shrek films. Don’t get me wrong, he has some great lines and does his stuff very well, but I just kept seeing ‘Donkey’ in my mind’s eye. The film started very strongly with a nice set-up and it was looking good until the ‘comic relief’ is brought in (‘Donkey’). It’s then a struggle for the narrative, which is very good by the way, to fight its way past the comic japes of ‘Donkey’. Fortunately, it does and we end up with a pretty good film that’s entertaining, funny (thanks ‘Donkey’) and, at times, quite dramatic.

Decent performances all round, Ming-Na did a good job as the voice of Mulan, ably backed up by Lea Salonga who did the singing parts for the character. B.D. Wong did a nice job as Li Shang with Donny Osmond doing the singing parts. The voice that really stood out (for me… apart from ‘Donkey’) though was Miguel Ferrer as the voice of the evil Shan-Yu, he was really menacing and made you believe in the character. Honourable mentions go to the voices of; Harvey Fierstein as Yao, Gedde Watanabe as Ling and Jerry Tondo as Chien-Po. I would also like to mention George Takei who had a nice little cameo as the voice of the First Ancestor.

Over all a pretty enjoyable film with lots to admire. The animation of the scene where the Huns are attacking down a snow-covered hill is quite spectacular. Would I watch it again? Yes, I didn’t find ‘Donkey’ all that bad at the end of the day, and, who knows? I may even see him as a small Chinese dragon one day… Recommended.

My Score 7.3/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0120762/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mulan/
Trailer: (This is a fan-made trailer, but it’s very good)

Film Review: UP (2009)

Directors: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson
Running time: 96 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Watched at the cinema Saturday 10th October 2009.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I am a great fan of animated films, and I must say this is, without a doubt, the best I’ve seen this year! I really wanted to stand up and give it a round of applause at the end; unfortunately it’s not something we do here in the UK. Hats off to the guys at Pixar, they’ve done it again! A great script, some great characters and a truly excellent story. But I’ll tell you a little about the plot before I continue to sing its praises.

Carl Fredrickson is a 78 year old retired balloon salesman who decides one day to go on an adventure. He is doing this to keep a promise he made a long time ago, don’t worry, I won’t give that part away. Attaching thousands of balloons to his house, he takes off and heads towards South America. Little does he know that Russell, a Wilderness Explorer was on his porch at the time of take-off. The pair finally makes it to South America, not far from the location Carl wants to go to. Having lost some of the balloons on the journey they have to walk the house the rest of the way. This is where the real adventure begins. They meet a giant bird called Kevin, a talking dog called Dug, an old-time adventurer called Charles Muntz and a whole pack of highly trained dogs. That’s all I can tell you I’m afraid, do yourself a favour and go and see it, it’s really worth it!

Now, I’m not going to get into the 2D, 3D debate, my local cinema can only offer films in 2D, which I found to be perfectly adequate. I guess, having never seen a modern 3D film, I’m not missing it. Technically, another faultless piece of work from Pixar, we’ve come to expect nothing less from those guys. I think the casting was bang on, tremendous work from the voice talents of Edward Asner as Carl, Jordan Nagai as Russell, Christopher Plummer as Charles Muntz and Bob Peterson as Dug and Alpha (the lead dog). As I said at the beginning, I wanted to stand up and give it a round of applause. I very rarely feel this way about a film, I guess the last time was the first ‘Lord of the Rings’ films. This just shows how much I really enjoyed it, a really touching tale set within a great adventure and an awful lot of laughs! I absolutely loved it!!

My score: 9.5/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1049413/
Official Site: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/up/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/screenplay/vi172163609/

Film Review: RATATOUILLE (2007)

Directors: Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava (co-director)
Running time: 111 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): U

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 9th August 2009.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This was a breath of fresh air, I liked it a lot. A well conceived, well written and excellently executed script, it was all you could ask of a modern Disney animated feature. When required, the rats looked like rats, the people looked like people and even the cars fitted the Paris backdrop (I know because I’ve been there). Here’s a summary.

Remy is a rat, the furry kind with a bald tail, and, as you might guess, he’s a rat who has a talent for food. Having been inspired by Chef Gusteau while watching TV, he finds himself in Paris at Gusteau’s restaurant. Unfortunately Chef Gusteau has passed away and the kitchen is now being run by Skinner, a small man with ambitious to own the restaurant. Gusteau’s illegitimate son, Linguini, gets a job as a garbage boy, but finds himself befriended by Remy when he accidentally ruins the soup and Remy fixes it. They discover a way that Remy can control Linguini’s actions and he gets a reputation for excellent cooking. Then Remy discovers the papers that prove the restaurant really belongs to Linguini and Skinner is displaced. As you might imagine, the plot gets kind of exciting from here on in, particularly if we throw in Remy’s estranged family, a scary food critic and Colette, a fellow chef and girlfriend of Linguini.

An extremely well made film, with an enjoyable plot, great dialogue and great animation by Pixar. Excellent performances from the voice talents of Patton Oswalt as Remy, Lou Romano as Linguini, Ian Holm as Skinner, Brian Dennehy as Django, Peter O'Toole as Anton Ego (the food critic) and Janeane Garofalo as Colette. Over all, great all round family entertainment and I highly recommend it!

My score: 8/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0382932/
Official Site: http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/ratatouille/