Looking Back at the Films of 2022 Finale - Christmas Bloody Christmas, The Whale, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish & Babylon

 

Welcome to the final installment of Looking Back at the Films of 2022, and I feel like we end on kind of a bang.

Why Didn't I See Christmas Bloody Christmas?

Now I actually had plans to watch this just incase I couldn't see The Mean One, but then I got a chance to see The Mean One, and decided to cancel the initial review in favor of this segment.

What is Christmas Bloody Christmas?

Christmas Bloody Christmas is a Christmas-themed horror movie. It was produced by Channel 83 Films and distributed by Shudder. Christians Bloody Christmas was written and directed by Jon Begos.

The story is, two teenagers think that their Christmas will be nothing but sex, drugs, booze, and music. Little do they know, a malfunction robotic Santa Claus is on the loose and is going on a killing spree, and they're its next victims.

My Thoughts

The Good: One thing that really took me by surprise was the overall look. The majority of the time the movie is lit by all of the Christmas decorations, in this case Christmas lights, and it looks like pretty cool. I'll also liked how this is some holiday horror fun. You get your gory kills, while also getting chase scenes, and then next thing you know, there's an explosion! So if you just want to turn off your brain, I say give this movie a shot.

The Bad: I've got nothing.

The Okay: The first mix bag is the dialogue. Some of it is fine, because it's very realistic for you trash talk and debate about pop culture with your friends. Hell, I've done that plenty of times with mine, especially the debate part . Where it loses steam is with all of the cursing. Now I am by no means against swearing in films, especially since it's for a rated R flick like this one. The problem comes in the form of doing it too often. The characters drop the f-bomb so much, that not only does the f-bomb losses its shock value, but it'll start to come off as the filmmakers trying so hard to be edgy. Speaking of characters, I actually did like them for the most part. It's just that the previously mentioned dialogue wasn't helping them.

Final Verdict: Okay.

Why Didn't I See The Whale?

I was hoping to see this, solely for Brendan Fraser, but sadly, there wasn't a showing.

What is The Whale?

The Whale is a drama movie based on the 2012 play of the same name. It was produced by Protozoa Pictures and distributed by A24. The Whale was written by Samuel D. Hunter and directed by Darren Aronofsky.

The story is, an English teacher named Charlie is a morbidly obese reclusive, who just wants to reconnect with his estranged daughter, in the hopes that it'll be his chance at redemption.

My Thoughts

The Good: One thing I'll praise is the director, Darren Aronofsky. It was a great thing he was attached to this movie. Stories about very flawed people are very much in his wheelhouse, and he did a great job here. Then there's Brendan Fraser's performance. Whatever praise you've heard about his acting, it's all true. There is no denying that he was truly amazing, and he definitely earned that Academy win for best actor. Then there's the story, which received controversy for being "fatphobic". Which I found ridiculous. Sure, the main character's weight is obviously brought up, but Charlie could've easily been written as either an alcoholic or a drug addict. Not to mention, they completely missed the point. This story is a heartbreaking one, because it's about a man who screwed up everything in his life, not just because he ate too much, because he abandoned his family for what he thought he wanted, and for the longest time didn't bother to try to fix things, until his health started declining. That's the real story, and it's a great one, even if it is hard to sit though.

The Bad: I've got nothing.

The Okay: Nothing to see here.

Final Verdict: A Must Watch.

Why Didn't I See Puss in Boots: The Last Wish?

While I did like the first movie, it wasn't one of the Shrek films that I would repeatedly watch. So when I heard of the sequel, I personally skipped it. And wow, I really missed out on this one.

What is Puss in Boots: The Last Wish?

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is an animated adventure comedy movie. It's not only the sequel to 2011's Puss in Boots, but it also serves as the sixth installment of the Shrek franchise. The movie was produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was written by Tommy Swerdlow, Tom Wheeler, and Paul Fisher and directed by Joel Crawford.

The story is, Puss has come to the realization that eight of his nine lives are gone, which means he only has one life left. After finding out the Wishing Star is real, he sets out to find it, and get his lost lives back. But he's not the only one after the star, and to make it worse, a mysterious hooded wolf is after not the star, but Puss.

My Thoughts

The Good: First thing to get out of the way is the performances. The cast is wonderful in this. They brought the humor, sadness, fear, heart, etc. to their characters. Then the animation. While there is a clear Spider-Verse influence in it, the animators still found a way to put their own style to it. If anything it felt like a mix of both new and old. Which I greatly appreciated. I also really enjoyed the humor. I was laughing throughout the whole movie, and typically I'd tell you my favorite part, but I don't want to give anything away. What was also done perfectly was the characters. We understand why they want the Wishing Star. They all have very understandable reasons whether it be for family, love, or wanting to avoid something inevitable like death, or in Jack Horner's case doing it just for the sake of being an egotistical dick. And when your not getting character development than you get a character who's just entertaining like Perrito. At first I was worried he was gonna be an annoying comedic sidekick, but I actually grew to like him. Not only is he pretty happy with life and his glad to be making friends, but all he wants to be is therapy dog just for the sake of wanting to help people. How could someone possibly hate that? My final praise is the story. Not only is a fun fairy tale adventure, but it also has some great themes going on. Such as not taken the one life you have for granted, not being able to escape death, anxiety, etc. Deeply layered things I'd never expect from a Puss in Boots movie of all things.

The Bad: Nope! Don't have anything negative to say.

The Okay: I've still got nothing.

Final Verdict: A Must Watch.

Why Didn't I See Babylon?

This was yet another instance of wanting to see this, but couldn't because there wasn't a showing.

What is Babylon?

Babylon is a epic period black comedy-drama movie. It was produced by Paramount Pictures, C2 Motion Picture Group, Marc Platt Productions, Wild Chickens Productions, and Organism Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Babylon was written and directed by Damien Chazelle.

The story is, we're taken on a journey to the rise of very promising young stars. However, with every rise we will also see their fall thanks to them given into their vices. These stars are also trying to deal with the fact that Hollywood is transitioning from silent films to ones that provide sound.

My Thoughts

The Good: The first thing I'll praise is the performances. From Brad Pitt to Margot Robbie to Diego Calva, everyone was tremendous, and they were all truly amazing. Even someone who has a small part like Tobey Maguire does an incredible job. I also loved the look of the movie. It's can be stylish, but at the same time does have a very dirty and gritty feel to it as well. I also enjoyed the dark comedy aspect. There's a hilarious scene where Pitt's character is making his newest silent film, and people on the set are either getting horribly injured, or just getting straight up killed. The last thing I'll praise is the story. While we do get a glamorous Hollywood, we also see how these people are falling apart from both their addictions and the fact they just aren't made for this transition from silence to sounds. Not to mention the story felt like a dark Hollywood tale, while also feeling like an exploitation flick. Which I'm clearly not complaining about, it was pretty awesome for doing that.

The Bad: I've don't have anything for this section.

The Okay: If there's one slight problem I had with the movie, it was the pacing. Some parts of the movie are just breeze to get through, but you do have others that really needed to speed things up.

Final Verdict: Great.

Gotta say, this was a fantastic way for me to end the year. That's all for now. Come back on Monday, Jan 8th, where I'll tell you my most anticipated movies of 2024. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day, have a Happy New Years, and let's hope nothing but good things for 2024.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Review

NOTE!: AT THE END OF THIS REVIEW, I'LL BE GIVING MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS WHOLE JOURNEY WITH THE DCEU & MY THOUGHTS ON JAMES GUNN'S UPCOMING DC UNIVERSE.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is a comic book movie based on the DC Comics' character, Aquaman. The movie serves as a sequel to Aquaman as well as the 15th and final installment of the DC Extended Universe. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and directed by James Wan.

The story is, Arthur (aka Aquaman) has been a great king of Atlantis since taken the throne. He thinks his life is going great even if he does find the whole King thing boring at times. Soon, Black Manta returns and seeks vengeance against Arthur. Now, Aquaman must team-up with his rival/bother Orm in order stop Black Manta.

Initial Reaction

Now I have truly been looking forward to this, because I surprisingly enough liked the first one. But, I was also sad, because sadly this does mark the end of the DCEU.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

The only mix bag I had was with the story. Sure, there's a bit of global warming, climate change, whatever they're calling it now, in here, but deal with that. Especially since it wasn't so in your face about it, the REAL slight issue stems from the overuse of comedy. Yeah, the first movie had its comedic moments and sometimes Aquaman could be a goof in that as well, but here, it's like they said, "Hey! Let's dial that all up to eleven!" And it kinda sucks too, because there is a really good story in this. It's not all ridiculous, there is some good stuff that I truly did like. Sadly, as production was going on, people decided one thing should be brought up to the forefront, when it should've been pushed to the back.

Pros

Even though the script (or at least this version of) is decent, at best, one of the few good things are the performances. Even though there's just goofy sh*t going on, everyone still provided some really good acting. Another good thing was Black Manta. If any of you were disappointed that he was the secondary villain in the first, you'll love this one, because he's our main villain. Every scene with him was just awesome. Then there's the effects. Now some weren't good, which was most likely the result of reshoots, but for most of the movie, the effects are good. Which now brings me to James Wan. Even though I imagine he had to butcher his movie here and there, it still didn't change the fact that he still showcase his talent as a director. There's still some wonderful looking shots, and this movie, even if I did have some issues with it, this didn't change my feelings about Wan as a filmmaker. I'll wrap this review up by telling you my feelings about the action. The action, especially in the last act, was great. I took no issues, I loved it, especially that final battle, that one was sweet.

While I didn't like this movie as much as the first, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is an overall decent film.

My final rating is, Okay.

My Thoughts on The Journey with the DCEU

So, now that I've reached the end of the DCEU, what did I think. Well, from Man of Steel to Wonder Woman, that part of this franchise, I actually really liked. But from Josstice League to now, jeez Warner Bros. I mean it when I say, if there's anybody to blame for why this franchise didn't take off as much as it should have, it's the studio. You can blame Zack Snyder and his more darker tone all you want, but the truth is, biggest enemy to WB, was WB themselves. Because no matter what, no matter who was in charged, whether it be Kevin Tsujihara, Geoff Johns, Walter Hamada, Ann Sarnoff, and etc. No matter who, they all had the same mindset, and that mindset was "Let's be MCU 2.0, even if means f*cking over our filmmakers! Yay!"

It's not like anybody was against some lighter DC films, hell, a fan like me knows that DC Comics come in a wide variety of tones. So when I saw we were getting darker and more serious movies like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, while at the same time getting some more lighthearted like Shazam!, I liked that. Because then, they were following the comics by having variety. But sadly, all Warner Bros. decided to was listen to critics and bloggers who already had their minds made up way before they even bothered to give this cinematic universe a chance. And what's funny is in this attempt to please critics and bloggers, it was all in vain, because by the time Avengers: Endgame came out, everybody was so burnt out from the "Marvel brand" of humor.

So in a way, had they just stuck to the plan of letting the filmmakers make their movies, and having variety in their comic book flicks, they [Warner Bros.] could've been the start of something new. But instead they decided to try their damnedest to copy a franchise that yes, was very successful, but it's now crumbling just like theirs. And like I said before, it was all Warner Bros.' fault. Because in the end, it wasn't Zack Snyder or any other filmmakers fault. It was Warner Bros., they were their own worst enemy.

My Thoughts on James Gunn's Upcoming DC Universe

So, with the DCEU officially done, that means all we have to look forward to now is James Gunn's DC Universe. You're all probably wondering what I think about that about that? Well...I don't hate it, but at the same time, I'm not all that enthusiastic about it either.

First off, that "big" slate announcement, wow. That was just lackluster. Really the only projects I'm looking forward to are Superman: Legacy (although expectations are low for that, cause I don't trust Gunn with the character), The Brave and The Bold, cause even though Superman is my favorite, even I can't resist a Batman flick. And the other two films, those being Joker: Folie à Deux and The Batman - Part II, those aren't even part of his cinematic universe. They're Elseworlds, which means they exist outside of this new cinematic world. The other projects, I'm just not feeling. Like who was asking for an Amanda Waller solo series? And if the slate wasn't an odd choice, what was James and everybody else at Warner Bros. thinking? Jan 31st of THIS YEAR?! When you still had four other DCEU movies yet to be released. Ya couldn't wait till January of 2024 to make this announcement? Just terrible timing folks, just terrible.

What's also bringing my enthusiasm down, is it seems like James is just making things up as he goes along. One moment he's saying everything starts with Superman: Legacy, then he says Blue Beetle is the first character in the DCU. Which doesn't that mean Blue Beetle is the first DCU movie not Superman: Legacy? Then he'll say it's a totally reboot, but then he says things from the DCEU will be brought to the DCU, which doesn't make sense, cause the point of reboot is you wipe the slate completely clean and start from the beginning all over again. All of this sounds more confusing than what the previous guys were doing. Which is funny, cause he was being praised online for having a big thought-out plan.

Then there's the whole idea of incorporating television and video games in this cinematic universe. Which isn't a good idea. Because he's making the same mistake that Kevin Feige made with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is having too much. And having video games, TV, and movies rolled up into one for the sake of your big overarching story, is too much. 

Despite sounding so annoyed, suspension of disbelief, I don't want to see failure for this new franchise. Do I still want the "Snyderverse"? Yes, it could easily be treated like an Elseworlds. But at the same time, I still want to give this upcoming franchise its fair chance, just like I've done with many other films, part of a franchise or not. Maybe I'm just being to cynical, maybe a miracle will happen and the DC Universe will be pretty good. But until July 11th, 2025, when Superman: Legacy is released, I'm gonna be very skeptical. So you pretty impress not only me James Gunn and Peter Safran, but audiences everywhere. Cause all eyes are on you two, and if you two fail, even though I don't want you guys too, then your cinematic universe will be done before it ever got started.

Anyhow, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Dec 28th, for the final part of Looking Back at the Films of 2022. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire Review

 

Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire is an epic space opera. It's produced by The Stone Quarry and Grand Electric and distributed by Netflix. Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire is written by Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, and Shay Hatten and directed by Zack Snyder.

The story is, the evil legion known as the Imperium have become an unstoppable militaristic force. After conquering many planets, they now set their sights on a peaceful farming world. Now, a former Imperium soldier named Kora, wants to take a stand, and form her own rebel, in the hopes of standing against this seemingly unbeatable foe.

Initial Reaction

I think it's pretty obvious why I wanted to see this. It's a Zack Snyder film, and I love his work.

Cons

Nothing to see here. Just scroll down to the next part.

Middle Ground

The only minor issue is yes, you do notice that things have been trimmed. The story doesn't feel as fleshed out, and when somebody is killed, you just know that death scene was way more violent than what we got. But despite that slight gripe, it didn't bother as much as I was worried about. As far as PG-13 cuts go, this was handled very well when compared to other toned down cuts. So I think even though it's noticeable, it didn't feel like something you should feel annoyed by.

Pros

Let's move on to the more positive aspects of this, one of those being Zack Snyder's directing. Love him or hate him, there's no debate that Snyder has a tremendous visual style. His cinematography throughout his work is gorgeous, and Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire is no different. Then there's Junkie XL's score, it's just pure chef's kiss folks. If you love what Junkie did in Zack Snyder's Justice League or any movie that had nothing to do with Zack Snyder, then you'll love what he does here. My personal favorite was when Tarak was flying in the air, the only terrible thing about that bit of music, was when it ended. Which brings me to the action. Again, no surprise, but Snyder gave us spectacular action scenes. Whether it's swords or blasters, the action was awesome. I never got tired of it, and just wanted more. What also workd was the pacing. Typically when a movie gets things cut out, the pacing will probably suffer. Not the case here. The flow of this film was very good. The movie just goes by. The last thing I'll praise is the tone. I know I'm most likely sounding like a broken record, but thank you Snyder and co. for keeping this serious. Now a days it feels like almost every movie whether it's comic book, action, sci-fi, etc. it always feels like they're trying to be funny, despite it clearly being a problem for the movie's quality. Here, while there are jokes, they're rare. Which is what you should do, when making a movie with this concept.

While Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire isn't perfect, it's still a very fun sci-fi flick. And after watching it, I'm looking forward to that rated R extended cut and part two.

My final rating is, Good.

That's going to do it for me. Come back on Tuesday, Dec 26th, for my review of the final DCEU movie, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day, and I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy Holiday!

Underrated Films - Fatman Review

 

Fatman is a black comedy action movie, that was produced by Fortitude International, Mammoth Entertainment, Rough House Pictures, Sprockefeller Pictures, and Ingenious Media and distributed by Saban Films. Fatman was written and directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms.

The story is, on Christmas Eve, a child named Billy Wenan received a lump of a coal. Swearing vengeance, young Billy hires a hitman to go find Chris Cringle and kill him. Now, Chris must find a way to survive the assassin's barrage, so he can make it to the next holiday season.

My Thoughts

My only slight issue was with the pacing. For the most part it's pretty good, but you do have some moments where things do feel a little bit slower than they need to be. And yes, I understood this isn't a fast paced adrenaline flick, but point still stands.

Now for the things Fatman does absolutely right, mainly from Mel Gibson, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and Walton Goggins. Gotta say, wasn't expecting Mel Gibson to play more of grizzled Santa, but he plays it well. And with Marianne she's pretty much the main heart and soul, and with Goggins, he's just awesome. Sure he's character is menacing, but he does have a lot of good comedic moments.

Speaking of humor, I really dug what the movie was going for. The humor in this is by no means in your face, cringe, or comes along to ruin a moment. It's not only subtle, but very dry. So if dry humor is more of your thing, then you just might get a kick out of this.

One of the two biggest surprises in Fatman was how much this was a new and more grounded approach to Santa Claus. This Santa doesn't have "Christmas magic", even anything he's more of a blue collar guy. Now I'll always like the holy, jolly Santa Claus, but sometimes, if done right, it can be fun to see a Santa who's not afraid to get his hands just a bit dirty, which might be why I liked Violent Night so much.

The last thing I'll praise is how this movie was far from focused on story than action. Don't get me wrong, there's is action, but the story wanted to focus on character. For a majority of the time, we're focusing on how broken down Santa who's lost faith in today's world, and feels like a failure. But, somewhere along the way, has his faith restored. This aspect I greatly appreciated, even though there are days where I just want to kick back, and enjoy explosions and people hitting each other.

Fatman is without question a very untraditional Christmas movie like others that came before it, but still an entertaining one. Sure things can be slow in some areas, but I think that's forgivable.

My final rating is, Good.

Alright, that's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Dec 23rd, for my review of Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire . Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Cinematic Disasters - Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

 

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is a sci-fi comedy movie. It was produced by Jalor Productions and distributed by Embassy Pictures. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians was written by Paul L. Jacobson and directed by Nicholas Webster.

The story is, every parent on Mars is noticing there's something wrong with their children. They also noticed that they seemed obsessed with an tv channel showcasing Santa Claus. So the a group of Martians go to Earth, take Santa to their planet, and hope he can find a solution to their problem.

My Thoughts

The first thing you'll automatically notice with this movie is, that's it's an absolutely poorly done. Everything about tells you they didn't have the budget. The opening song alone tells you right off the bat, you're in for a terrible movie. Then there's time when a big flash appears on-screen. And that's because the camera just started rolling, and instead of just simply giving the camera some slack, they just decided to film with the flashes. Then there's makeup, costumes, props, and sets. Everyone of those things, look like they be better suited for a school play than a feature film. Don't believe me, well, here's what the martians look like.

Apparently they couldn't afford actually makeup, and by the way, there's times when you can clearly see the green paint running down their faces.

Then we see what a deadly robot looks like in this movie.

Ya know, I think in preschool I drew a robot just like this, minus the large areolas. I know for a fact I didn't draw those.

Then there's the acting...oh boy the acting. I swear, everyone's acting in this, felt like it was their first time on the job. Maybe it's just their lack of skills or maybe it's because of poor direction. I don't know, either way, yikes.

The character of Dropo. Rifftrax said it best, he's this movie's version of Jar Jar Binks. And think that's all anybody needs to say about him, so let's move on.

When watching this, there's one huge head scratching moments in here. And that's, is, nobody has a normal reaction to see maritans. Two child characters named Billy and Betty see them, scared for like four seconds, and then they just act like it's no big deal. Santa sees them, and he doesn't even flinch! I don't know about you, but if I saw an alien, I'd be freaked out.

Now for the story. This story had far more questions than answers. Like, why did they need Santa? Some sort of sage guy told them the problem is their kids are hooked up to machines since infancy, and because of that they're adults in kids bodies. So why not just stop hooking up the children to machines? Sounds like you didn't need Santa at all. Why did the martians feel the need to kidnap Billy and Betty? Sure, they said it was because they didn't want them to alert the authorities. But if they're so advanced, shouldn't they know no rational adult is gonna believe them? I mean come on, the oldest is like what? Nine? Why is Santa having such hard time with the martians? The movie said earlier he's magical. So shouldn't he be able to handle these guys without breaking a sweat? And these are just the most common questions, there's many, many, many other plot holes throughout the movie.

The last thing I'll comment on, and it's the most unintentionally hilarious thing about the whole movie, and, it's the fact, that Santa...didn't conquer anything! Nothing! He got kidnapped, enslaved, then the martians conveniently found a new solution, and then Santa's allowed to go back to Earth. I mean it, this is the only time when the movie is actually funny, and you know the writer didn't plan that.

I know there's a lot of people who look forward to seeing this movie for the Christmas season, but for me, the movie is only truly entertaining when you watch it with commentary from Mystery Science Theater 3000 or Rifftrax. Cause despite how awful it is, it just didn't get to that so bad, it's good status with something like Batman & Robin or The Room.

My final rating is, Awful.

Little bit of a letdown, but whatever. Anyways, that's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Dec 21st, for my review of, Fatman. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget Review

 

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is a stop-motion comedy movie and the sequel to the 2000 film. It's produced by Aardman Animation and Netflix Animation and distributed by Netflix. Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is written by Karey Kirkpatrick, John O'Farrell, and Rachel Tunnard and directed by Sam Fell.

The story is Ginger, Rocky and the rest of the gang have been living in harmony since escaping the farm. Everything seems perfect, until they receive bad news. A new threat has appeared on the mainland, and this could be trouble for Ginger and co. Now, instead of breaking out, they must break in.

Initial Reaction

Having really loved the first movie, I was fully on board for the sequel. Although I was a bit skeptical because only one of the three original writers came back, but I still remained hopeful.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

The only mix bag was the story. Now, overall the premise is actually pretty good. I think the one of the two issues stem from a lighter tone and fan-service. Now maybe the lighter tone won't bother you and for the most part it didn't really bother me, but with this lighter tone it did feel the movie's stakes were that bad, even though there still is some danger involved, if that makes any sense. Which brings me to the fan-service. Now,there's nothing wrong with fan-service, especially when it's executed well, here there a few times, not too many, where the fan-service felt like it got in the way.

Pros

One pro was the acting. Now it does take a bit of time to get use to the new voices, but when that's out of the way, you can clearly hear just how talented the cast is. They did a tremendous job. Then there's the humor, while some jokes didn't work, for the most part I had a good laugh. Sure, I wish it was on par with the first movie, but with what we got, it's not too bad. The absolute best thing about the entire movie was the animation. Unsurprisingly Aardman did a fantastic job with the stop motion. But for this movie there was stop motion and digital technology, and those two things blended perfectly. I mean it, I didn't notice anything digital at all. That's how great of a job the animators did.

While Dawn of the Nugget isn't as good as the first movie, the movie was still far better than what I feared it was gonna be.

My final rating is, Good.

Alright, that's all for today. Come back on Monday, Dec 18th, for my Cinematic Disasters review of, Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

A Look Back at Chicken Run (2000)

 

With Dawn of the Nugget arriving very soon, it's time to look back at the first movie.

Chicken Run is a stop-motion comedy movie. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation, Aardman Animation, Allied Filmmakers, and Pathe and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The movie is Aardman's first feature-length film. Chicken Run was written by Peter Lord, Nick Park, and Karey Kirkpatrick and directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park.

The story is there's an egg farm run by the cruel Mrs. Tweedy and her submissive husband, and at this farm if a chicken can't lay any eggs, they're done for. Because of this, a rebellious chicken named Ginger wants to bust out of the farm and take both herself and her friends somewhere safe. She thinks she's found the answer with a rooster named Rocky Rhodes.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

Still nothing.

• Positives

It goes without saying but, the claymation, stop motion, whatever term you want to use, is spectacular. It's also very surprising how despite being clay, we're able to see so much emotions out of the characters.

Speaking of characters, the movie does a tremendous job with them. All of the animal characters are very likable and charming. There's really no character to hate, well you'll most likely hate the Tweedys, but they're the villains so who cares.

Which now brings me to the humor. This was and will always be a funny film. While there are physical bits of comedy, the strongest bits of humor mainly comes from the dialogue. One that had me laugh out loud was when one of the chickens said "I don't want to be a pie, I don't like gravy." Like seriously? THAT'S your biggest issue with the whole pie thing? 😆

The last thing I'll praise is the story. Not only is it funny, it's also very entertaining how this is basically The Great Escape but with chickens, but what also made the story great was it's pretty dark despite being very lighthearted. Mainly because these chickens will actually die if they fail and are then get captured. Something the movie touches on earlier. So there's some actual stakes involved.

Chicken Run is a very fun movie and I strongly recommend you watch it, if you haven't already.

My final rating is, A Must Watch.

Okay, that's gonna do it. Come back on Saturday, Dec 16th, for my review of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever Review

 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever is an animated Christmas comedy movie. It's the seventh overall installment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film franchise, but the third animated feature. It's also the adaptation of the 2011 book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever. It's produced by Bardel Entertainment, Titmouse, Twentieth Century Animation, and Walt Disney Pictures and distributed by Disney+. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever is written by Jeff Kinney and directed by Luke Cormican.

The story is it's Christmas time, and Greg is gonna do everything he can to be a good kid. But like everything else in his life, things take an unexpected turn with a giant snowball, which in return makes Greg think he's a wanted criminal. Then just to make matters more complicated, both him and his family are stuck inside their house during a massive snowstorm.

Initial Reaction

Honestly, I'm doing this because since 2021, reviewing these movies has pretty much become a holiday season tradition for this blog. So why stop now? 😆

Cons

I've got nothing. Just move on.

Middle Ground

Once again, I'm getting it brief with the animation. While I still found it serviceable, there were quite a few nice looking shots this time around. Nothing that's gonna make your jaw drop, but still not bad. Then we have the story. Now yes, the overall message is the whole be kind to others and it's not about the gifts, but it's about giving. That should be seen as a major eye roll but, I didn't mind the message. Sure as the story progressed I knew where it was going, but I was more than willing to give it a pass, because the messages weren't so heavy handed and in your face about it.

Pros

One thing I'll give credit to is the voice work. With the first movie I felt like the actors and actress needed to put more emotion into their roles, then in the second movie I believed there was an improvement, now with this, I think the actors and actress have finally found comfort in their roles. Then there's the humor. With the first two movies, the jokes kinda worked. There were times I just didn't laugh, but the humor was okay. With this movie, I laughed lot more than previously.

While Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever is the so far the strongest of the three movies, it's still not something I think you should watch immediately.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Dec 14th, for my A Look Back at review of, Chicken Run. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.