Movie Review - Kubo and the Two Strings

Kubo and the Two Strings

Starring: Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes, George Takei, Rooney Mara, Brenda Vaccaro, and more.

Directed by: Travis Knight Screenplay by: Marc Haimes and Chris Butler Story by: Shannon Tindle and Marc Haimes Cinematography by: Frank Passingham Music by: Dario Marianelli

Premise: Kubo enjoys telling stories. It lets him connect to others and also to his ailing mother. In her lucid moments, she's warned him time and again never to be out after dark. That those who took his eye as a baby will be able to find him and take his other eye as well. Despite his intentions to do as he's been told, Kubo doesn't make it back in time one day. His mother's otherworldly sisters catch his scent. Now he has no choice but to run and try to find the fabled mystic armor pieces in his stories to save try to himself. (Rated PG)

Review:

1) Voice Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Art Parkinson is adorable as Kubo. His emotions come across very well. Charlize Theron as the reserved Monkey was also a lot of fun. Matthew McConaughey does a great job as the cursed samurai Beetle. Brenda Vaccaro and George Takei add a nice, amusing backdrop for Kubo's normal days at the village. 

2) Artwork/Animation - Total Thumbs Up: Laika does amazing stop motion films. "Kubo and the Two Strings" is another fine addition to their gorgeous repertoire of work. The use of paper and moving origami was inspired. A neat new tactile and visual realm to explore. Gorgeous! 

Amazing visuals appear throughout the film. The giant waves at the beginning were amazing. And though he is but a bit of paper, the origami samurai is totally awesome. It adds a neat non-verbal character to the mix. (All the stories told via moving origami were so cool!)

Loved how Hanzo looked like Toshiro Mifune. (The Moon King looks like Peter Cushing! Nice choice! heh heh)

3) Plot/Story - Neutral: As amazing as the stop motion animation is, the plot overall was a major letdown. They do a lot of build up on the importance and power of the sword and armor. But when they get them, the three objects are actually pretty useless. Yet these pieces were supposedly the main driving force for two sets of events! As powerless as the objects turned out to be, the importance placed on them made no sense. :( 

Some of Monkey's attitudes don't jyve later when we find out one of the reveals. Also, though the Japanese believe in spirits and magic, it seemed out of place that the villagers didn't make more of Kubo's super unusual skills. (Aside from loving his storytelling that is.)

Old Japanese stories are usually tragic. This one definitely continues the trend as well, but then they try to cheat and fool the audience into a supposed "happy ending". But it isn't... *sigh*

Several themes are explored - the meaning of humanity, of family, treasuring the little things, light and darkness, ying and yang. There are a few minor surprises. One of which made some of the earlier sections of the film not make sense. Oh well...

4) Music - Total Thumbs Up: Dario Marianelli's score was lovely. Lots of string music with a marked oriental feel. Nice!

Conclusion: Kubo and the Two Strings is an amazing piece of animation. Unfortunately, the story itself wasn't of the same caliber. Gorgeous work though.

Rating: 3 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission) 

Movie Review - Mad Max: Fury Road

(Sorry there's been no movie reviews for the last couple of weeks. Between a super late night for Avengers and sickness at home...)

Mad Max: Fury Road

Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Josh Helman, Nathan Jones, Zoë Kravitz, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Abbey Lee, Courtney Eaton, John Howard, and many more.

Directed by: George Miller Written by: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nick Lathouris Cinematography by: John Seale Music by: Junkie XL

Premise: Dealing with his own demons, Max Rockatansky is caught and dragged to the Citadel to be used as a blood sack for reenergizing White Warriors. But when an Imperator breaks ranks with one of the Citadel's tankers and some hidden cargo, Max unexpectedly gets one last chance to struggle for freedom - for Immortan Joe, leader of the Citadel, wants the cargo back - at any cost. (Rated R)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Max is definitely mad and Tom Hardy conveys it quite well. Yet in his madness might also be salvation. It was fun watching the almost feral man slowly regain his humanity and self. When he finally says his name, you can almost feel him dragging it back up from oblivion. Charlize Theron is tough, competent, and strong where it counts. Nicholas Hoult was great as Nux - gung ho 100% yet we also see him evolving, proving he is more than what the Citadel made him.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: Since the film is written and directed by pretty much the same group of people responsible for the previous Mad Max films, it comes as no surprise that there is a TON of special effects with regards to explosions, cars, flamethrowers, and more! As pimped and crazy as the previous Mad Max films made the vehicles, they still somehow managed to raise the bar again. Booyah!

Fantastic work too on the Citadel, the people powered machines there, and the overall look and feel of the place. Cogs in the machine!

The approaching field of storms in the dessert looked fantastic! And once they drive in between them, and  some of the consequences of doing that - totally fab! The CGI and Cinematography shots of these and other scenes were just gorgeous.

Nice job too on the mutations! They ranged from hardly noticeable to downright disturbing. All the branding and scars looked real as well. Great job!


3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: You get a very fast intro and not much detail as to what has brought the world to this junction. Seemingly, Max was a pre-apocalypse cop, which doesn't exactly jive with the civilization we see at the Citadel - as it implies a longer span of time, like several generations, but I may have missed something. Like I said, very fast intro.

Loved that they actually did try to develop distinct cultures for several of the groups we come across. A lot of it the audience has to put together on their own, but they do give you enough info or visuals to help you get there. Every cog has its place, and every survivor above a specific social strata had a purpose all their own.

We don't see enough of the other groups to put as much together, but the fact they actually are different and conform to their areas in different ways was definitely a plus.

Story was pretty solid overall and just enough to string the action together without getting in its way. There's even some surprises! Which was lovely. The only place it fell apart a little was towards the end. Injuries suffered by one of the characters would in no way actually be overcome the way they showed. This was the only major disappointment, though - the action doesn't leave a lot of time for anything else. :P

Though water and fuel play a major piece of what people want, mother's milk and trying to make perfect children added new layers of complexity and food for thought. Another new and fun bit was the addition of drums and music to the hunt - things that are ancient and traditional - and in the film wove into the actual music soundtrack, tying their reality in with the fiction of the film.

One large bit of kudos to the writers for having a heroine with a prosthetic. Gave a lot of weight to her years of pulling up hill to get to the position she had when she finally made a run for it. Nicely done!


4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: Mad Max films would be nothing without stunts - and this film is chock full of them. CGI does play a major part in a lot of them, but there's plenty of real ones as well. Between all the guns, cars, exploding javelins, flamethrowers, hand-to-hand combat, and explosions, I doubt anyone will be disappointed. Great job!

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: Fury Road goes back to its roots and filmed a lot of the movie in Australia. This rendition, however, also added several locations in Africa to its repertoire. All the locations set the mood perfectly. Awesome choices all around - which got taken full advantage of in the cinematography! Sweet!

6) Costuming/Makeup - Total Thumbs Up: The costuming and makeup departments did great work. From the emaciated rabble at the Citadel, to the Immortan Joe's White Boys and Warrior Boys, they had their own unique looks and were instantly recognizable as to their strata. The tattooes on the blood sacks as well as the carved flesh and scars of warriors and others, and the Citadel's brand on those they claimed for themselves were distinct and added a lot of flavor.

Even more kudos for making the dress, look, etc of the rocky area group and that of the people in the marshes and beyond unique to their own groups.

Conclusion: For fans of the previous Mad Max movies or anyone who loves a good action film - Mad Max: Fury Road totally delivers! Between the great stunts, special effects, and cinematography, there's a lot to enjoy on this chaotic ride.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)

Movie Review - Snow White and the Huntsman

Snow White and the Huntsman

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Sam Claflin, Sam Spruell, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan, Toby Jones, Johnny Harris, Brian Gleeson, Vincent Regan, Noah Huntley, and more.

Directed by: Rupert Sanders Screenplay by: Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, and Hossein Amini Screen Story by: Evan Daugherty Original Music by: James Newton Howard Cinematography by: Greig Fraser

Premise: After having been held captive for a decade, Snow White escapes the clutches of her step mother on the eve she was to be killed to give Ravenna eternal beauty and power. Escaping into the Dark Forest, she forces the queen to seek outside help in tracking her from the Huntsman. A broken man since he lost his wife, the Hunstman agrees to find Snow White after the queen promises she can bring back his beloved. Yet when he meets her, it comes to light that all is not as he'd been told. (Rated PG-13)


Review:


1) Acting - Thumbs Up: Charlize Theron made for a tasty evil queen. Her desperation to remain beautiful and shattered self worth were easy to see and made you empathize despite yourself. Chris Hemsworth also did a good job as the heartbroken Huntsman. Kristen Stewart also did well, despite the fact she was given little to work with. 


All the dwarves were played by normal height actors shrunk to size. And while I love Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, and several of the other actors portraying the dwarves, after having seen the available talent of diminutive men as shown in "Mirror Mirror", "Special Unit 2", and "Game of Thrones", it seemed odd for the film makers to have used special effects to create the shorter men rather than pull from the awesome pool of talent already out there.


 2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: While the special effects were top rate, it proved hard not to be a little disappointed as most of the major ones had already been given away in the previews or proved to be drug induced hallucinations rather than the real thing. It also didn't help matters that the edit on the previews created certain false expectations in plot and number of special effects, which did not materialize. 


3) Plot/Story - Neutral: The story of Snow White has been done many times, so it's not like viewers don't know what to expect. I must give credit in that it was nice to see them delve deeper into Ravenna and what brought her to be as she was, and that a lot of detail and thought was given to the Huntsman as well, with a twist to the original, but the character of Snow White had no real detail or flavor whatsoever. 


Worse, Ravenna's brother, Finn, exhibited all the worst traits his sister loathed in men and exercised them. As long as the two were together, I found it very difficult to believe she would not have discovered his predilections and corrected them through magical surgery or other means.


One last sad point with the plot was that though there were excellent actors involved, the film lacked life. There was no spark to the story, making the whole come across as bland fare. The chosen previews in no way helped this, as they showed most of the effects used and led viewers into making false assumptions with regards to some of the combat scenes and the majority of the Dark Forest.


5) Locations/Cinematography - Thumbs Up: Excellent spanning shots were doled throughout the film. Many of the shots allowed even comparisons by viewers of the state of things pre and post Ravenna, which made for great contrast and encapsulated how dark everyone's lives had become. 


6) Costuming/Makeup - Thumbs Up: Make sure to take a close look at all of Ravenna's dresses, especially the ones after she takes over everything - the one with a full collar of bleached crow skulls was especially impressive. Unless you looked closely, you wouldn't even realize what it was made from. Kudos for the work on all her clothes.


For Snow White, while I loved the puffed sleeves giving subtle homage to the Disney version, the rest of her main costume made no sense whatsoever, which truly distracted from the film. Here you have an eighteen year old who has been imprisoned in a tower and never let out for ten years, yet she has a dress on as well as thick pants and strong leather boots? It is implied they might have been gifts from Finn, but a lech would not have given a young girl clothes to hide her femininity from his view, especially as he liked to watch her while she slept. Unfortunately, since all the other characters and costumes were so well done, it made this inconsistency stick out even more.


Conclusion: I wanted to love this film, but despite the good acting and great visuals, it left me feeling flat and strangely dissatisfied. The previews, I feel, did the movie a great disservice and raised expectations or created assumptions that the film did not actually deliver on, prepping the viewer for unexpected disappointments. 


Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Better For Matinee.)