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"LILO & STICH"
Well it's no surprise to those who know me that I went to see this. Yes, I
am guilty of being somewhat of a Disney buff. However, this one showed
just how great Disney's "New direction" can be! No singing animals, or
overly elaborate musical numbers ( Not that those didn't have a charm of
their own in the past ... After all, Lion King is still *THE* most sold
video ever ). The movie follows the story of "Experiment 626" ( who
eventually comes to be called Stitch ), a genetically created alien bred
to destroy. Stich is sentenced to destruction since he is considered an
abomination by the Galactic Committee. However ( of course ) he
escapes, and lands in Hawaii on earth. He is then adopted by a little girl named
Lilo under the belief that he is a dog.
The story has some Disney's usual "touching" moments ( that some
consider just plain sappy ), but overall, is quite humorous to the point
where there are jokes that will fly right over the kids' heads but the
parents will get ;). It's a great family film, and really feels like a new
thing for Disney.
On a side note about the animation. It's really beautiful in this film, as
they opted to go with water color backgrounds, something Disney hasn't
done since the days of Dumbo the Elephant.
"MEN IN BLACK 2"
J AND K are back in the sequel to Men In Black. As everyone has heard
about this one, I'll cut right to the chase. The movie finds J needing to
bring back K to the Men in Black in order to save Earth. I enjoyed this
movie quite a bit ( and my son laughed out loud at the bit about the
Ballchinian ). I find that the first one was better, but that's really
typical, I think. It lacked that new marvel the first one brought to the
whole concept of MIB. Still, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones still have
that great chemistry together, ( Even though "K" spends a lot of time
being sort of morose for a large part of the film ) and Frank the dog
brings a few good laughs as well.
Basically, if you liked the first one, you'll like this one. But don't go
looking for something that will blow the first one away.
"REIGN OF FIRE"
I went into this with marginal expectations. It's always been
difficult for a movie to meet anyone's expectations on what dragons
should be like. Especially for those who happen to be very fond of the
whole dragon mythos. With the increasing use of CGI, dragons have
gotten better and better LOOKING, but it's not always the look that matters.
With films like Dragonheart, the dragons are given witty dialogue and kind of
take away from the ferociousness that has always been said about
dragons. That being said, I didn't know what to expect not only look wise, but
"personality-wise," as it were.
Suffice it to say, I was very satisfied with the dragons. They did a
top notch job of creating a look that followed both the mythical Celtic
dragon and brought forth the fear that the characters of old tales would
have thought was frightening. At the same time, putting them in a
"modern" setting that still manages to look like old England was brilliant. Despite
the use of technology ( i.e. Tanks, guns, etc. ), it still somewhat
retains the feel of a medieval tale of knights and dragons. The reasoning
behind the spawning of the dragons was also decent, as well as how
easy it was to kill off the brooding.
All in all, I had a good time watching this one and if you like
dragons, go see it for sure!
P.S. What the hell happened to Matthew McConaughey?! HE'S HUGE!
"STUART LITTLE 2"
What can I say, I have kids and the Powerpuff Girls movie was in no
nearby theater. This movie was cute. It's pretty much what you'd expect if
you've seen the first one. It's not worse or better. It's fun if you have
kids. You can sort of see it vicariously through them. Otherwise, you may
not get into it very much other than a humorous moment here and there.
"EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS"
Now before you go into this movie, you have to bear in mind that it is
supposed to be CAMP. And Camp it certainly is! It's about spiders that
are massively transformed ( emphasis on the word massively ) into giants. As
they start gobbling up the local townfolksÂ’ pets, then the local townfolk,
the villagers revolt and start fighting back. The feel of this movie is
very much like Gremlins, in the sense that the spiders are not so much
threatening as they are a little goofy yet still deadly within the
parameters of the film. It might even be said that this will make it into
the annals of cult classicdom.... Well... maybe not.
Stephane Morrell
Laurier CIM Group
MCSE,CCA
-Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
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