KidVidGames Reviews

Impy's Island (2006)

Okay film for fan of dragons

[6/10 · 3 April 2010]

It follows the plot line outlined in Max Kruse's books.

I agree, there is no moral shown in this movie, it's just a pleasant waste of time. Not a bad thing if you're a fan of dragons or dinosaurs, or anything saurian.

I think this film was made in the manner of copyright retention, as it is done with many American franchises. Since the characters are used in a new creation, the owners keep the character's rights for a bunch of years.

The movie won't do well in the American market, or any other market that hasn't heard of the Urmel franchise.

Still, it's a pleasant movie to watch at a furry/dragon/reptile fan convention room party.

Urmel voll in Fahrt (2008)

An okay average movie about a young dragon

[6/10 · 24 December 2009]

Based on the book, which was turned into a stop-motion animation, then a live action segment in Kaept'n Blaubaer's show, this CGI sequel to the first movie is okay. The storyline is a little weak, and seriously lacking details.

I saw it at a "Panda-fest" room party at a furry convention. I resisted the temptation to leave and see some of the activities outside, but it was kind of worth it, since there are some tender scenes between Urmel (Impy) and Babu, a young panda. There's no references about where Babu came from, possibly left out on purpose to build a leader for a third movie.

Other scenes were not quite so tender, and I saw a few scenes that would prevent this from being distributed in American venues. One such scene is a semi-closeup of a CGI dog whizzing on a robot dinosaur. This scene cannot be cut without seriously impairing the already-weak storyline.

Others weren't done too well - one of the Arab buyers was fiddling around with an ice cream cone. Was that a hint at an "Urmel Eiscreme" flavor? It's easy to get lost with a movie that's seen outside its target venue, as there's no marketing.

The whale that's seen breaching at the beginning of the movie irked me, as it was doing that a few yards away from shore. Unless the island has a very steep drop where the island meets the sea, that couldn't be physically possible. I know it's a CGI cartoon, but that was unexpected.

The best part of the movie was the roller coaster sequence. It's a bit fantastic in places, but makes up for the mediocrity of the rest of the movie. Too many elements were borrowed from the first movie, though.

So, if you like dragons, dinosaurs and/or pandas, give this one a watch It's not too bad.