Movie Review - Ratchet and Crank

Ratchet and Clank

Starring: James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, Jim Ward, Rosario Dawson, Paul Giamatti, John Goodman, Dean Redman, Armin Shimerman, Sylvester Stallone, Alessandro Juliani and more.

Directed by: Kevin Munroe and Jericca Cleland Written by: T.J. Fixman, Kevin Munroe, and Gerry Swallow Cinematography by: Anthony Di Ninno Music by: Evan Wise

Premise: Ratchet has admired the Galactic Rangers since he was little. So when a chance pops up to try and join during a recruitment campaign in his backwater world, he's eager to go. His carefree past, however, proves a giant stumbling block. At least until he makes the unexpected acquaintance of a small defective robot he calls Clank. Suddenly, Ratchet finds himself dumped in the path of one of the biggest threats to the Galaxy and another chance at his dream. (Rated PG)

Review:

1.Voice Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Loads of great voice talents for this one. Loved Paul Giamatti as Chairman Drek - so ruthless and so dense. Heh heh. Armin Shimerman brought some nice lunacy into evil Dr. Nefarious. Sylvester Stallone was too fun as Victor Von Ion. Rosario Dawson did great as Elaris - just a touch of manic in there for flavor. Jim Ward, James Arnold Taylor, and David Kaye meshed quite nicely together as our three principal characters!

2. Artwork/Animation - Total Thumbs Up: We saw the film in 3D - CGI always converts quite nicely to the medium. They had some cool 3D moments and used it to good effect. The space shots were lovely! The 3D also made for some fast moves down a narrow canyon. 

The animation was quite detailed and came across very well. Ratchet's fur looked fluffy and soft while Captain Qwark looked as superficial as his personality. :P Elaris' horns/hair were very reminiscent of Galaxy Quest. :)

Some lovely color palettes used to good effect especially for subtext. Blues and Greens were for good, reds and oranges for bad. This placed Ratchet somewhat in the middle before joining the Rangers, which was rather apt with his tendency to get into trouble. 

3. Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: The Ratchet and Clank film is based on a PlayStation game from 2003 (and has had several sequel games). As such, the film is filled with tons of lovely snark. They even do a countdown at the beginning to the evil speech. :P 

Several themes are used/explored in the film - belonging, responsibility, big dreams, that friendship runs both ways, as well as the fickleness of fame and addiction to it. Best of all, the little biases that can cause so much harm to others. 

The plot is pretty straight forward with a few small surprises and lots of subtext and snark. They even make fun of the Wilhelm scream. lol. Chairman Drek was both brilliant and dense - and his minions are social media fools! lol. Dr. Nefarious is so insane he actually made mad science work! (Loved the Sheep-i-nator!)

A couple of items are a little far fetched (rust takes time guys!), but it is enough fun it's easily overlooked. 

Once the film shows the voice actors names at the end, there's a bit more (and more snark) then one last bit after all the credits. Well worth it. Heh heh.

Conclusion: Ratchet and Clank is a fun ride full of snark and cute little moments. The lovely animation made the cool gadgets, guns, spaceships and space look awesome.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Movie Review - San Andreas

(Yay! Back to seeing movies again! Woot!)

San Andreas

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Ioan Gruffudd, Archie Panjabi, Paul Giamatti, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Art Parkinson, Will Yun Lee, and more.

Directed by: Brad Peyton Screenplay by: Carlton Cuse Story by: Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore Cinematography by: Steve Yedlin Music by: Andrew Lockington

Premise: Though Ray is a hero to many as a veteran rescue chopper pilot, it still hasn't prevented him from slowly losing all he loves most. But when a series of small earthquakes in Nevada end up heralding a much more violent upheavals coming to hit California, Ray unexpectedly gets a second chance to make things right again. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Dwayne Johnson has always been able to pull the heart strings or say any number of cliches or silly things with a straight face. Both are great skills to have in disaster movies, so he was a good pick. Carla Gugino as Emma was also a great choice. Alexandra Daddario, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, and Art Parkinson were adorable and worked quite well together. Paul Giamatti and Ioan Gruffudd always do great work and their performances during this film are no exception.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: Special effects are one of the main ingredients for a great disaster movie. "San Andreas" had them in spades. Several of the earthquakes scenes were just amazing! Watching the waves of force ripple through the land will give you chills. The giant crack after one of the earthquakes was jaw dropping. A great bit to bring home just how vast the reach of this thing was.

What really sold the film, however, were the special effects that were up close and personal. A multitude of gags happen right beside you, making them immediate, devastating, and shocking. The way they were handled made the moments more poignant than usual, which only added to the realistic feel of the disaster and the immersion of the audience into the story.

There are a multitude of iconic moments. And they run the whole gambit - falling buildings, out of control fires, tsunamis, death by cruiseship, death by buildings, possibly even death by a kitchen sink. The special effects people also had some great fun with helicopters and planes!

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: Disaster films tend to be formulaic by nature. "San Andreas" is no exception. But I will say it came across a little more creative and believable than some. The people they gave to cheer for were likable, and also ratcheted up the anticipation as they gave us others to get excited about in just how they'd get their 'just desserts'.

A few spots might ring a little false, but they were in the minority. Best thing to do, is to strap in and go along for the ride. :)

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: Though some of the stunts involved CGI, many did not. Between all the shaking and the rolling, the stunt people were kept quite busy. Great job guys!

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: Some lovely sweeps of LA and San Francisco tantalize the audience before disaster strikes. An easy way to make the destruction have more impact. The disasters were filmed from all angles - from the air, from the ground, from the water - immersing the audience completely in the story being told.

Conclusion: If you're a fan of disaster films, this one is definitely worth putting on the list to watch. The visuals are great! All the right components are there, and the personal drama, and even a budding romance, worked well within the film.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again)

Movie Review - Turbo

(Sorry I'm late! Life conspired against me!)
Turbo

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Michael Peña, Samuel L Jackson, Luis Guzmán, Bill Hader, Snoop Dogg, Maya Rudolph, Ben Schwartz, Richard Jenkins, Ken Jeong, Michelle Rodriguez, Mario Andretti, Mike Bell, and more.

Directed by: David Soren Screenplay by: Darren Lemke, Robert D Siegel, and David Soren Cinematography by: Chris Stover Original Music by: Henry Jackman

Premise: Theo is a garden snail, but the slow toils of the garden where he lives just aren't for him. His dream is to become a racer, regardless of what his brother says or the fact he's almost an outcast within his own community. A freak accident with nitrous oxide after months of drinking his favorite racing hero's sponsored (and full of possible side effects) cola changes something inside Theo so that his body will move as fast as his dreams. But even after fate brings him to a kindred spirit, the human Tito, there are a lot of obstacles still to be overcome - not the least of which is his own brother. (Rated PG)

Review:

1) Voice Acting - Total Thumbs Up: "Turbo" has nice voice acting work by all involved. Ryan Reynolds really brings through Turbo's yearning for racing as well as his utter bafflement with regards to his brother not understanding what drives him. Paul Giamatti did a great job as Chet, easily conveying Theo's brother's frustrations and worries. Samuel L Jackson was fun as Whiplash, the 'not quite sane' leader of the racing snail group at Starlight Plaza. The decision of getting Bill Hader to play Guy Gagné proved a great choice, as Hader gave Guy just the right amount of suave and sleaze, depending on the situation.

2) Artwork/Animation - Total Thumbs Up: As usual Dreamworks delivers a gorgeous piece of animation. From the factory like garden environs of the snails to the racing track of the Indianapolis 500, there is meticulous attention to detail. So despite the mind boggling premise with it's necessary 'suspension of disbelief', it's not hard at all to accept that the world portrayed in "Turbo" is real.

There are several visual gags and repeated bits throughout the film. Make sure to sit through part of the credits as a recurring moment finally gets a resolution and a laugh.

3) Story/Plot - Thumbs Up:  Despite my own eagerness to see this film, I'd been wondering exactly how they planned to pull off the main premise, and if they could do so in a satisfying manner. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised by their choices! "Turbo" is not one of those contrived arrangements where the hero gets to his final goal without any realistic hardships. The story actually places real life stumbling blocks in the hero's path, like the need for big money to pay entry fees, or the fact it takes more than just dreaming to reach your goals.

Another surprise were the two concurrent themes with regards to brothers and dreamers - not only do we get the struggle between Theo (the dreamer) and his older brother Chet (the pragmatist), we also get the same friction on a human level with the Dos Bros Taco stand owners, Tito and Angelo. So "Turbo" actually tackles some quite emotional and adult themes.

Conclusion: "Turbo" was a lot of fun on several levels. It's more adult in themes than one would expect, but still has a lot of 'gags' and action to keep both kids and adults well entertained. And if you're a racing fan, there's even more to love! Don't forget to sit through part of the credits.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Paying Full Price To See Again)