Tag Archives: Animated

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Twovix – TV Review

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TL;DR – Not all the story worked, but jumping back into this world was still a delight.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The USS Cerritos approaches the Star Base.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

After a stellar final season of Star Trek: Picard and a stunning follow-up season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, surely there is nothing left of Star Trek in 2023 … right? Well, hold on to your horses because Lower Decks is back and committing to changing one of its core features, changing the tone of the show … okay, not that much.

So to set the scene, the USS Cerritos has been sent on its most secretive mission so far. No one knows why they have been sent to this starbase until the lights turn on and everyone witnesses the joy that is the USS Voyager [Insert theme song here]. They have to escort the now museum ship to its permanent resting place. This should be a breeze, but Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) lets Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) know he is up for a promotion, just as long as he fails spectacularly. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Monkey King – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While not all of this story works, it is like lighting striking when it does.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

The Monkey King poses in front of a setting sun.

The Monkey King Review –

Of the great works of human canon, few contenders have had the impact of the Journey to the West. It has had adaptions across every form of media and multiple interpretations worldwide. My first experience with it was watching Monkey Magic on SBS in the afternoon as a kid, so I enjoy seeing when they can reinterpret the story in new ways.


So to set the scene, the world was in balance for generations under the watchful eye of Budda (BD Wong) and the immortals under the leadership of the Jade Emperor (Hoon Lee). That is, until one day, a monkey is born from a rock that can shine light from his eyes. This is a world full of rules and order, but The Monkey King (Jimmy O. Yang) does not follow the rules. He is an entity of chaos, of recklessness, such as stealing the Grand Column from the Dragon King (Bowen Yang) and ignoring the advice of the elder Monkey (James Sie). He wants to be an immortal, so how do you do that? Well, you defeat 100 demons. Cue the montage scene. But on demon 100, things don’t go to plan.

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Nimona – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A delightful tale of two misfits that find each other when they need them the most.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Nimona shapeshifts into a Whale

Nimona Review –

Very rarely does a cancelled film get a second chance at life, even less so with animation, but this is what we are getting today. Coming back from the dead with an interesting animation style and a story that takes no prisoners.   

So to set the scene, a long time ago, there was a kingdom at peace, but there was a monster waiting to attack, and attack it did. A glorious hero Gloreth defeated the monster and put in place champions to make sure this never happened again. One thousand years later and the new knights are about to be knighted, where generations of tradition are being put aside as a commoner Ballister Blackheart (Riz Ahmed) might become the champion over other nobles, including Gloreth’s own descendant Ambrosius Goldenloin (Eugene Lee Yang). But when Ballister’s blade was bobby trapped, and the Queen (Lorraine Toussaint) is killed, he has to go on the run when he comes across his biggest ally or trap in the shapeshifting Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz).  

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Skull Island: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a perfectly watchable show, but it never reached its potential, with some odd tone issues and a lacklustre narrative holding it back.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this series.

King Kong's foot print.

Skull Island Review –

When  Kong: Skull Island came out in 2017, I was delighted with the world they created, full of mystery and wonder. This meant I was slightly disappointed when they killed off the island with one line of dialogue in Godzilla vs. Kong. However, there is clearly still a lot of space in the Monsterverse, and today we look at more adventures on an island where nearly everything wants to kill you.   

So to set the scene, we open on a research boat of some sort in the South Pacific Ocean. There is a loud commotion when a girl named Annie (Mae Whitman) in handcuffs tries to escape the crew hunting her down. She makes her way onto a lifeboat in a last-ditch effort and drives into the storm. Meanwhile, on an exploration boat, Charlie (Nicolas Cantu) and his father, Cap (Benjamin Bratt), have a significant conversation about going to college. As Charlie’s friend Mike (Darren Barnet) consoles him, Charlie notices a girl floating in on some wreckage. It is quite a commotion, but while Annie is concerned about the mercenaries chasing her, she is even more concerned about what lurks in the deep. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A pure delight from start to finish in an absolutely stunningly realised world.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film

Gwen and Miles sit upside down looking at the sky line of New York.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Review –

If there is ever a tough act to follow, it is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. A film that shifted an entire film production style that many movies like The Mitchells vs. The Machines and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish have taken onboard since. Indeed, I loved the movie so much that it sits on My Personal Top 10 Animated Films of All Time. There is no way a sequel could like up to that legacy … but hear me out … what if it could.

So to set the scene, It has been one year since the event of the last film, and Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) has been struggling with being all alone again after finding a kindred spirit with Miles (Shameik Moore). However, when a Vulture (Jorma Taccone) from a Renaissance-style universe trashes the Guggenheim Museum, she discovers that the Spider-verse is not closed off. But also her dad George Stacy (Shea Whigham), finds out she is Spider-Woman, and tries to arrest her. This could have ended badly without the rescue from Miguel O’Hara / Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), for a Spider-Society is protecting the Multiverse from all threats, and Gwen is the newest member.

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While frustrating in more places than it should be, it shines when it lands on the fun.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and end-credit scene

Disclosure – I was invited to a screening of this film

Bowser arrives.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review –

When this film was first announced, you could feel a general odd bemusement permeate through the internet, with relocations back to the last time they tried this in live action [a film that I have fond remembrances of, but that might be just the distance of time and youth as I have not seen it in decades]. That amusement was only highlighted when the lead cast was announced. A feeling that was only slightly abated when the first trailers landed. However, 2023 has been the year for good video game adaptations, so maybe this could work … maybe.

So to set the scene, Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are two brothers that have just started their own plumbing company in Brooklyn and Queens. They are trying to make a name for themselves when a water main bursts, and only they can fix it. But as they go underground to find the source, they stumble across a giant green pipe lying open. What harm could that do? Was the thought right before both brothers were sucked into a new world, one full of mushrooms and the other dark and foreboding.

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Mummies – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While there are moments here, nothing saves this film that stumbles in all the most odd places.     

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is an end-credit scene

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

the land of the living dead.

Mummies Review –

Whenever you translate a film from one language to another, there is always a danger that something can get lost in translation. At least with an animated movie, you can edit the lip flaps and lose the synch issue that happens with dubbed films. Today we look at a movie that had its moments, but something did not make the jump from Spanish to English.

So to set the scene, thousands of years ago in Ancient Egypt, Thut (Joe Thomas) was racing around a stadium in a chariot. It is a brutal race with cheating and wheels full of spikes. Through some clever manoeuvring, Thut almost gets over for a win, that is, until his chariot disintegrates, sending him flying. Today, Lord Carnaby (Hugh Bonneville), a pompous archaeologist, is looking for the tomb of Princess Nefer (Eleanor Tomlinson). But when he opens the sarcophagus, he finds it empty. Because for some of the mummies, death was not the end.

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The Films from 2022 That Showed Off the Wonderful Glory of Animation

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Animation is a form of filmmaking that is often related to second-tier status, something just for kids. This is by both the organisations giving out the awards and the guilds meant to promote their members’ work. However, they are not second-tier films; in many ways, animated films push the frontiers of filmmaking and what is possible, and they should be championed for their work.     

Animated films can be hand-drawn, stop/clay motion, or computer-generated, it does not matter, but all of them show the unique techniques of hundreds of artists that bring the work to life.

So without further ado, these animated films showed us the glory of animation in 2022. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers for the movies in question. Also, click on the banners/titles to go to the full reviews of each of the films 

The Nominees Are –

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Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A work of art that hits on every emotional level from start to finish.    

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Pinocchio but just a puppet.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Review –

Some names instantly intrigue you when you hear they are attached to a project. Which is entirely what happened when I heard that Guillermo del Toro was going to make a Pinocchio film. This alone was enough to interest me. Then you discover that it will be an animated film, not just that, a stop-motion animation film, and the masters of puppets, The Jim Henson Company, will produce it. Well, that is a combination that could not be missed, and I am fundamentally glad I watched it.   

 So to set the scene, master craftsman Geppetto (David Bradley) lost his only child Calro (Gregory Mann), during the Great War when he was only ten years old. A stray bomb destroyed the church that they were working in, and it is a loss that he has never recovered from. Sometime later, Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor), a travelling cricket, came to live in the tree planted at Carlo’s grave and watched as a drunk Geppetto laments over his lost son. But as that is happening, some old spirits from the forest who typically ignore humanity hear the pleas of the grieving father and when he cuts down the pine tree that was planted at the grave to turn it into a puppet. So The Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) looks over the creation and then brings that puppet Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) to life.   

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Strange World – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A visually stunning romp through an unknown world with danger at every turn    

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this film

The airship descends into the unknown.

Strange World Review –

There is always a particular joy when you sit down to an adventure film and get to be taken into a majestic new world with wonders at every turn. It is where danger and joy can switch in a moment or be intertwined. It is easy to give lip service to this genre without exploring the depths necessary to bring it off. But today, we look at a film that plums those depths both literally and figuratively.  

So to set the scene, we open in Avalonia, a beautiful land cut off from the rest of the world due to a ring of impassable mountains. Many people have tried to find a route, but all have failed, and most of them gave their lives in the process. But one family, The Clades, decided to buck that trend as father Jager (Dennis Quaid) and son Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal) fight through every obstacle to find a way through the mountains. However, one day when finding the way through the mountains, Searcher finds a green plant brimming with energy that could be Avalonia’s future. The two fight, and Jaeger walks into the icy gloom alone. Twenty-five years later. Searcher has married Meridian (Gabrielle Union), and they have a son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White) and make their lives farming and selling Pando. But when the Pando starts dying off, Callisto Mal (Lucy Liu), the president of Avalonia, arrives at the farm to go on an expedition to discover why, and Searcher, son of Jaeger, gets roped in, as does a stowaway or two.

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