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Winnie the Pooh (2011)
Everything you could want from Winnie the Pooh.
It's been about 6 years since the previous Pooh movie came out in theaters (Pooh's Heffalump Movie), but it's been much longer than that since Pooh himself got to take the spotlight. The Tigger Movie, Piglet's Big Movie, and Pooh's Heffalump Movie weren't really about Pooh, choosing instead to focus on Tigger, Piglet, and Roo. Though The Tigger Movie was excellent, Piglet's Big Movie and Pooh's Heffalump Movie just lacked something. Disney hasn't done anything meaningful with Pooh on TV the last few years either, so it was about time we got a real, bona-fide Pooh movie.
That's just what Winnie the Pooh is. The animation is all hand-drawn, and it looks very, very good. Usually animators choose to either go for detailed or smooth, but this movie is both. There is a scene where Pooh imagines an ocean of honey, complete with an island, and it looks simply astounding. The voice acting is also excellent, with Jim Cummings reprising his role as Pooh and Tigger. Other notables include John Cleese narrating, Tom Kenny as Rabbit, and Craige Ferguson as Owl. A few of the characters sound different, but it's hard to care with a cast this talented.
As for the plot, all you need to know is that Pooh is in need of some honey, and Christopher Robin may or may not have been stolen by a creature called "Backson". Like The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, it is divided into segments that are strung together by some narration, though the honey and Backson plot lines remain throughout.
If you want to see an animated film that can be enjoyed by anyone, of any age, Winnie the Pooh is just the ticket. It's attractive, entertaining, and genuinely funny in many places. The only real problem with it is that at 69 minutes, it's really not going to last long. Look at it this way though: it's better to be entertained for a short while than to be bored for a long one.
Gekijôban Poketto Monsutâ Maboroshi no Pokemon Rugia Bakutan (1999)
Pokemon 2000 is proof that critics aren't always right.
Pokemon 2000 is the second installment in the Pokemon film series, and is very probably the best. The writing, storyline, and animation are all markedly improved from The First Movie, and it really does feel like a cinematic experience. The only thing wrong with it at all is that the Pikachu short film seemed like an excuse to show off some new Pokemon, without having much of a real reason (it's still good, though). Now, if you haven't read countless summaries already, here's the plot in a nutshell...
Wiiiieeeerd stuff is happening all over the world. Climates and temperatures are changing at an alarmingly rapid pace, sometimes going from summer heat to snow in under a minute! The cause of this is a Pokemon collector who is trying to capture the four elemental Pokemon: Zapdos, Articuno, Motres, and ultimately Lugia. His wicked misdeeds are causing nature to go completely out of whack, and it's up to Ash, Misty, Tracey, and Pikachu to find the Elephant In The Room and set things right again.
Even from a summary, it's apparent that Pokemon 2000 is more than an extended episode of the show. In fact, even without the short, it's still easily feature length, and that's more than can be said for The First Movie (which had a runtime of 74 minutes). It may not be an edge-of-your-seat, unpredictable story in the vein of Inception, but it's a satisfying and entertaining one. This is helped along by the dialogue, which is some of the sharpest I've yet seen in Pokemon. There are many memorable bits in here, not few of which involve Team Rocket.
In conclusion, I recommend watching it, even if you're not a die-hard fan of the series. Unless Pokemon Heroes knocks my socks off, I think it's safe to say that 2000 is the best of the bunch. (Oh, and before I finish this review, I want to whine about something. Once again, there is either no widescreen version available on video, or it's very hard to find. Boo, Warner Bros, BOO.)
Elf (2003)
The Short Review: The stupidest movie I've ever seen.
Elf is supposed to be a comedy, but it's more along the lines of travesty. We're supposed to laugh every time Will Ferrel's character Buddy does something boneheaded, but I found myself cringing and moaning almost every time he showed up on screen. Relentless stupidity and disgusting sight gags are supposed to pass for humour here, and it seems to be the only trick Elf has up its sleeve. For example, in one scene Buddy chugs a bottle of Coke down and starts to burp continuously for 12 seconds. In another, he licks bird excrement off of a rail. Ugh.
This buffoonery continues for 97 minutes, and it never gets any less painful. I could comment on the acting, but I don't know what to say. The actors all do a perfect job of being unbearable. The camera-work and sound are both fine as well. In fact, the cinematography is the high point of the film. However, when the best thing about a movie is the camera angle, you know it stinks. Little kids will love it, though.
Metoroporisu (2001)
The short review: If you like anime, you should definitely see this film.
Despite sharing it's name with the 1927 Fritz Lang film, Metropolis is a whole different animal. It's about a boy who runs across a girl named Tima while investigating a factory with his uncle, and tries to find out who she really is while evading an assassin named Rock and looking for his uncle. Apparently, the director got the idea for this after seeing a poster for the 1927 film, and wrote a manga series about it which eventually turned into a movie.
To start my full review, let's talk about the animation. It's incredibly smooth and stylish, and reminded me simultaneously of Mega Man and Ponyo. Every scene is drawn with such attention to detail that there are almost no holes to pick at, and it actually tops most of the Hiyao Miyazaki films in that respect. Besides the traditional animation, there is also a large amount of CGI work. I generally hate it when CGI is used in an otherwise 2D film (especially in Lilo and Stitch), but it combines with the hand-drawn stuff so well that it compliments it rather than clashing with it.
Beyond looks, Metropolis also has very solid writing. There are no corny lines, embarrassing moments, or slow scenes. Everything is there for a reason, and none of it feels like it could have been done better. The voice work is wonderfully done as well. Even though all of it is in Japanese, I could tell that it was acted very competently, and succeeds in making it feel like we're hearing the characters talking rather than actors at a microphone.
In the end, Metropolis is simply one of the finest pieces of work I've ever seen. It has amazing animation, charging music, convincing voice work, and the most important thing of all: heart. If you have any way of seeing this, do it. You won't be sorry.
Sonic the Hedgehog (1993)
The short review: Season 1 was great, but Season 2 had many big problems.
Okay, I have an account now, and I can't honestly think of a better use for it than to review a show starring my favourite game/TV/comic character: Sonic the Hedgehog. The second of three Sonic shows by DiC, it features the cast of the Archie comic series (though their original conception was for this show) and a more serious bend than the others. That's not to say that this is some overly emotional, crisis-every-day drama series. Heck no! Sonic and friends toss around phrases like "Let's do it to it!" and ham it up all the time. Honestly though, that's a part of what makes this show so entertaining: they can maintain serial-like plots without taking everything seriously all the time. Well, at first anyway (more on that later).
The focus of the plot is that Dr. Ivo Robotnik has seized control of Mobius from its rightful rulers, and a band of freedom fighters have to join together to try and regain control. Our heroes are: Sonic, a blue hedgehog who happens to be the fastest thing alive. Tails, a two-tailed fox who hangs around and helps out once in a while. Sally, a creature of undeterminable species (she might be a chipmunk) who is the leader and the brains. Bunnie, a half-robot rabbit who has incredible strength and agility. Antione, another creature of indeterminable species (coyote?) who tries to guard Sally and help out, despite his cowardly streak. And, my personal favourite, Rotor, a walrus who acts as the mechanic and builds gadgets and junk and stuff of varying use.
Now, for the meat and potatoes. First off, Season 1 is great. The characters were all very well balanced, and no one was over-exposed or ignored. Even characters like Tails, who didn't have much to offer other than moral support, got their due attention. The plots were interesting as well, and you could never really predict what was going to happen. There wasn't a single episode here I didn't like, which is more than can be said for most shows. However, not all is rosy. Animation mistakes are rampant, and while some are nitpicky others are hard to miss. Sally's eyes turn black, parts of objects/characters are coloured wrong, Sonic's lips move disconnectedly with his speech sometimes, and in one episode they gave Rotor ears! Now, in Season 2, there were several improvements, but also many bad changes. The animation mistakes are pretty much history (thank goodness), and the thematic musical score is actually good enough to notice. Sally has been redesigned slightly, and now sports a snazzy vest. Also, SpyHog id right up there with the best of Season 1. The good points pretty much end there, though. First on the negative side of things, we have a new freedom fighter called Dulcy the Dragon. Not only does she come out of nowhere with no explanation whatsoever, but she has a tendency to annoy with her "Hi, Ma!" jokes (as does Antione with his babbling). That's not at all the worst thing, though. Right off the bat, Rotor has been slapped with a bad redesign (go look up a picture. Ugh.), a generic new voice, and is shoved off so far into the sidelines that he hardly seems to be there. Actually, he does get to feature in one episode (well, more like 1/2. You'll see what I mean), but he acts completely out of character by being hotheaded and creepy. As the final curbstomp, he is also left out of the big hurrah in the last episode. Speaking of which, the show's conclusion is terrible. I won't spoil anything, but they really should have considered the possibility of there not being a third season.
Despite all my venom about Season 2, I would still recommend this show in its entirety. Although it really isn't as good as Season 1 at all, it is still worth watching. If you're a Sonic fan, or just like well-made action shows, I would certainly recommend this.