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SoonerDave
SoonerDave's stats
- Review count3
- Helpfulness votes0
- First reviewJune 28, 2008
- Last reviewMarch 5, 2011
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating3.7
SoonerDave's Reviews
Overall rating
3
/
5
Stunning, slow, weird flick..
PostedMarch 5, 2011
SoonerDave
from Oklahoma City, OK
Ever been slapped repeatedly with a wet fish?
Didn't think so.
But after enduring two-hour marathon of oddness that is Nickelodeon's "Rango," that's about the best way I can describe my feeling as I left the theater.
Rango is a visually stunning film that implies a great technical challenger to Pixar's benchmark CGI skills, but is a dragging, peculiar, and often dreary exposition into the lives of some bizarre desert creatures in a dying town.
With Johnny Depp in the lead role, perhaps "bizarre" should be no surprise.
Forget the cheery, upbeat marketing of "Rango" as a combination kids/grown-up animated comedy. This is a movie that will be nearly impossible for kids to fully grasp, and at times the vivid realization of these animated characters could well spook the younger crowd. On that basis alone, I wouldn't recommend this to any families with younger kids. Its just a little too strange at times.
Then again, I'm not sure I'd recommend it to adults, because it just isn't terribly compelling. It isn't especially funny despite a few comedic moments, and the overtold morality play embedded within "Rango" drags on too long. At some point, the incredibly vivid and photo-real representation of Rango and his townspeople works against the movie, leaving the viewer at times wishing the animation weren't quite so good.
Ultimately, Rango is a tale of introspection embedded in a morality play, with the bad guys all too obvious, and the introspection going on way too long. Not even the singing owl quartet breaks up the pace with enough humor to bridge the gaps between the laugher, and the result is an odd film, technically brilliant, but leaving nothing behind to warrant a second view, or a reason to recommend it to anyone else.
No, I do not recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
5
/
5
A Breathtaking Reimagination
PostedMay 8, 2009
SoonerDave
from Oklahoma City, OK
Forget what you think you know about Star Trek.
JJ Abrams and company have taken Star Trek to an astonishing and brilliant new frontier.
This isn't just a franchise reboot, its a reimagination that just plain works. This is a trip not in a rollercoaster, but a 3D immersive thrill ride at an amusement park built squarely in the middle of your imagination.
This is the wildest, most intense two hours of Trek adventure ever, in a story that is undeniably true to the Trek mythos.
Just about the time you've caught your breath to take in all that's happened during the film's 126 minutes, you realize its over all too soon. and you're missing these old characters that are magically new all over again.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
3
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5
Technically astounding, but not compelling
PostedJune 28, 2008
SoonerDave
from Oklahoma City, OK
If you are a caviar afficionado, even Beluga sometimes can't compare to Beluga, and it is in that vein I assess Pixar Animation's "WALL-E", which premiered last night across the country. When you compare WALL-E to the other astonishing Pixar creations, is it even fair?
WALL-E is a story about an abandoned trash-collecting robot on an abandoned 29th century Earth enwrapped by garbage. Visually, this is the most astounding animated film Pixar has created, with the increasingly photoreal quality of their animation forcing your mind to recognize that nothing you see exists in reality. The photoreal quality is not consistent throughout the film, however, as WALL-E ultimately encounters a cartoonish group of humans on board a not-so-photorealistic spaceship, and then labors too long and too hard for a story resolution that is only marginally satisfying.
On its own merit, WALL-E is a fine if a bit dark film, and represents another technical triumph for Pixar. That said, Pixar is as at least as well known for creating characters at least as compelling as the reality they inhabit - and while John Lasseter and crew have done a remarkable job with two starring robot characters - the comparison to the rich characterizations accomplished in earlier feats such as Toy Story or Finding Nemo leave WALL-E wanting. Let's face it; there are only so many times a robot's mechanical voice intoning the name of another robot can be emotionally intriguing.
All said, WALL-E will be a success for PIXAR, even if it falls short of its predecessors. And, as a bonus, the traditional pre-feature Pixar cartoon is *not* to be missed - this one, featuring a magician's assistant bunny, is laugh-out-loud funny. That may make the DVD ultimately worth having all on its own.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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