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Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017)
Excellent Christmas animation
This a perfect Christmas animation featuring all the characters you love from Frozen.
I watched this of my own accord after seeing Frozen 2 in 2019 (initially this was presented as an overlong, at 21 minutes, 'short' before another feature movie in the theater in 2017, which isn't giving this the place it deserves as a standalone animation, and presumably resulted in its low score)
I feel like this, and Frozen Fever are excellent palate cleansers for those who were daunted by how overwrought with emotion Frozen 2 was. You can consider these shorts 'sequels' as such which continue the same more cheerful tone and characterization as Frozen had.
The animation looks wonderful, it add some backstory to events from Frozen, and it will definitely get you in the Christmas spirit. Highly recommended viewing for anyone who enjoyed Frozen.
Charmed (2018)
Brilliant Fun
I'm not sure whether my review will be seen among all the ridiculous one star reviews from people who watched half an episode and then threw all their toys out of the pram, but both Season 1 and Season 2 are truly excellent, and this is coming from someone who usually can't bear to watch entire TV seasons, X Files excepted.
Beautiful and endearing characters, engaging and fun plotlines, frequent surprises and excellent special effects. What's not to love?
Frozen II (2019)
Paving the way for a third movie
Had a look at the hashtag for this movie. One photo was a mom and her toddler, caption: "we loved it" (mom smiling, toddler looking confused)
Then checked the IMDB user reviews, one stating all 50 children in the cinema seemed confused and disappointed.
Someone else screencapped one of the voice actors Tweeting "sing the songs til 2023" and separately, a scheduled Disney release date for November 2023, so there's likely gonna be a third one. As a movie it seems like further background characterization aimed specifically at adult fans.
The songs are unmemorable, wordy and miserable, with lyrics that aren't gonna be interesting for kids. Olaf even sings that it will "make sense when I am older."
A positive is I really like how the female characters move when their full body is shown.
I am hopeful for maybe some actually catchy songs, an interesting or at least logical plotline, and maybe a return to some of the themes from the first movie in the prospective 3rd movie. For context, I really liked the first one, have it on DVD, have 4 Frozen dolls (I am a doll collector) and related to Elsa in the first one.
The second one leaves me questioning what is its purpose in the franchise. It adds nothing to the plotline, the character development has taken a step back - Elsa, running away again, Elsa, unable to control her powers again. Anna, cheerily trying to fix things again. Kristoff has gone from being placid and blase to romantic hero attempting to propose, which is just an entirely different character than what he was in the first.
The most memorable bit is probably Anna singing a song about being depressed, literally Johnny Cash "Hurt"-tier. The climax is random and ill-fitted to the fantasy world this exists in, nor the powers Elsa is bestowed with.
It seems almost like they picked it out of a hat from maybe another 50 plots written on post-its. The animation is disjointed between scenes but also very well done, which suggests outsourcing to huge teams of people.
My hope for the third movie is more cohesive scenes, better communication between teams of animators, and a good plotline set in stone early in production rather than a collection of randomly arranged setpieces as this ends up being.
Hogfather (2006)
Really excellent
A slightly more recent review. I watched this based on a still image I saw of one of the ending scenes, and the words- 'You're saying humans need...fantasies to make life bearable.' That scene is really the backbone of this plot, and the brief moments of sobering, heartfelt dialogue amongst the humour and fun are really perfect. The set, and actors are completely full of life, and perfect for this.
The author was very involved in the making of this (and there are even fun little videos of him in the extras), which I think is one of the reasons it exceeds expectations. I've never read any Pratchett, but this adaptation made me think I probably should. If you get a chance to watch this- and you are a fan of similar Christmas & magic themed films such as Arthur Christmas, and Rise of the Guardians (which has a similar tooth fairy angle), or just fancy a fun Christmassy romp with a smart undercurrent and heart, then you will be very happy with this.
Transcendence (2014)
A very strong 6
This film is the director's first- it has a great concept and some decent acting. The special effects are one of the best things about it, and there are great moments of intelligence and soul in it. The plot is a genuinely good one, and my feeling was there needed to be more time spent on this movie to make it what it could have been.
However, it is let down significantly by a few elements which don't allow for suspension of disbelief- in the early scenes, the attention to scientific or technical detail in the actions and dialogue of these scientists- who should know a lot about the topic - was seemingly missing. There are a few notable scenes later where the lack of technical dialogue stands out like a sore thumb. So over-all I felt that maybe it had been over-simplified in places where it really wasn't needed.
Too, the hair, makeup & wardrobe department was completely nonexistent. In the space of two years, the two female leads look so identical to their earlier versions, it might have all taken place on the same day. The haircut and style is identical, the clothes are often identical, facially and physically there appears to have been no passing of time evident on any of the characters. This doesn't really sit comfortably with the extremely effective 'healing' special effect seen later in the movie. It seemed to be an oversight- why purposely spent time making one visual element very convincing, and miss another? So again this might fall back on time constraints while filming.
Over-all I have to give it a strong 6, but it deserves more. If you're thinking about watching this - DO. It won't be a waste of time, but it won't blow your socks off either. It's an intelligent, slow paced sci-fi with great sets/locations and visual effects, let down by a few minor elements which unfortunately affect the whole, but do not detract from the storytelling or general quality of feeling in the movie.
'71 (2014)
Past the bias, a good film
Jack O'Connell is a wonderful actor, perfectly cast for this role. I felt there was an anti- Irish bias, especially in the early portions of the movie, but obviously this is a fictional tale.
It felt quite dreamlike, like a play. Some kind Irish characters emerge from the mist to help O'Connell which restores some reality to proceedings. The eventual result is quite interesting. I think this was very well made but didn't really grasp the full Irish perspective on events.
Every actor in this did an excellent job and it was excellently set (the portrayal of war-stricken streets, the burrows Jack rushes through in escape, the misty, shaken scenes as he stumbles down a road).