“Next Door Spy” Review
Despite a premise that sounds ripe with twists and turns, Next Door Spy feels very much like a quiet-time movie for the kids. As a counter to the manic and mile-a-minute animated movies, there’s a bit of a simpler splendor to the film’s indie-styling and gentle tone to its drama. Continue Reading
“Scoob!” Review
Scooby-Doo has remained a constant icon of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon stock for so long one often wonders how it continues to linger. Born from the groovy 1960s setting and still holding its dated decor, the gang of the Mystery Machine has been solving mysteries in many forms for many years. Continue Reading
“Trolls: World Tour” Review
As the first major film to forgo a theatrical release amid the COVID-19 pandemic to favor a digital release, Trolls: World Tour has a benefit to offering comfort during tough times. As the sequel to the 2016 animated fantasy, it’s a colorful mix of light and musical silliness. It has Continue Reading
“Sonic the Hedgehog” Review
Sonic the Hedgehog, personally, is a conflict of nostalgia. I grew up playing the Sega Genesis games which made the blue blur becom an icon of my childhood. I also grew up watching mindless 90s-cool media like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and still hold an affinity for which is partial Continue Reading
“Finding Santa: A Christmas Adventure” Review
After the success and iconography of Rankin Bass, there was a time when every television station wanted their own animate special for the Christmas season. Many of them meant well with fairly original concepts for a Christmas special but held back with animation that was cheap at best and horrifying Continue Reading
“Frozen II” Review
While 2013’s Frozen became firmly lodged in the pop-culture consciousness for its numerous merchandising and constant repetition of the soundtrack, it was also a film of great surprise and subversion. Shifting the tale from being about finding true love to staying to your sibling, the charming characters and visual splendor Continue Reading
“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” Review
The good news is that the sequel to 2014’s Maleficent has some notable improvements. It’s more colorful, magical, features a more solid story and a significant reduction in rape allegories. In its place, however, is a more milquetoast fantasy of familiar elements that comes off as Ferngully meets Guess Who’s Continue Reading
“The Addams Family” (2019) Review
The Addams Family is a premise that seems as though it’d be perfect for animation. A comically creepy family living in a haunted house with all manner of monsters lurking about would be suited well for a medium where anything is possible. But when mired in the current framework of Continue Reading
“The Lion King” (2019) Review
As the second Disney film directed by Jon Favreau to feature computer-generated animals, The Lion King plays things relatively safe with the perfected formula of the studio remaking their animated classics. Is there any deviation from the 1994 animated classic? Nope. Are the familiar songs all there? Yep. Does it Continue Reading
“Toy Story 4” Review
Only the saga of Toy Story could be bold enough to charge into a fourth film after 24 years and still have that same engaging edge that only grows grander with age. I haven’t outgrown these toys as they always seem to bounce back with more to say and something Continue Reading