Film review: Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa

Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa @ IMDB

Now, DreamWorks Animation Studios has always come off worse when compared to Pixar. Most people come off worse, admittedly, but DreamWorks have always been like Simon Cowell compared to Pixar's Brian Eno: in it for the money rather than for the love of the medium.

So it continues with this sequel to Madagascar; our animal friends from the first film leave the island only to crash land in Africa. What kind of hi-jinks will ensue? I think we already know.

I don't have a problem per-se with the the first film, it just wasn't that good. It was fun and everything but never more than that.

Do we need that fun a second time? Probably not but we'll get it anyway because the kids like it and makes the studio a lot of money.

Everyone from the first film is back but now we get some backstory crowbarred onto them that makes no sense: if he arrived in New York in a crate wouldn't he of mentioned this in the first film? When did the monkeys arrive on the island? Two of the characters are in love? Really?

To be honest, most kid films collapse when you think about them too hard* but the whole thing just comes off as lazy. The point is: there is no need for this film to exist. The reason Toy Story 2 works so well is because there was a new story to tell with the characters. There is no story in this film that wasn't already told in the first film, it's just a collection of set pieces hamfistedly strung together in order to get the kids in.

Which works, because my son loves it.

In a word? Roar-ful.

* Except for Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Wall-E etc.

Film review: Wall-E

Wall-E @ IMDB

I think we can all agree at this point that Pixar make really really good films. Has there ever been a bad Pixar film? Even the worst Pixar film is better than the majority of animated dross that gets thrown at us.

So when I say that the new Pixar film is one of, if not the best Pixar film then it's pretty damn good.

Wall-E is a robot that has been left alone cleaning Earth for 700 years. His best friend is a cockroach and he spends his evening watching Hello Dolly and waiting for...something. Then another robot named EVE arrives and Wall-E< falls in love.

Toy Story changed cinema when it was released but comparing it to Wall-E is like comparing a cave painting to a Van Gough. It looks amazing. Previous Pixar films have made various leaps in 3D technology; the hair in Monster's Inc, the water in Finding Nemo, the food in Ratatouille. What Wall-E really advances is the 3D camera itself. It looks like it was filmed. The depth of field and movement is astoundingly realistic. Couple that with the overall design, including Wall-E himself and you have one amazing looking film.

And it's so different as well. You get the feeling this is Pixar really flexing their creative freedom. How many other merchandising juggernauts have no words spoken for the first 40 minutes? There's live action footage thrown in there as well. It's so different than the usual kids films like Madagascar or Ice Age.

One might argue that the story gets reigned in once Wall-E gets into space and meets the Humans but that's not a problem. You get so drawn into the relationship between the two robot leads that you get swept along.

It's simply a great film. And my son, not yet four years old, sat through the whole film entranced. That's all you need to know really.

Two final points: the end credits are amazing. Before the film starts there is the traditional Pixar short film and this one is a corker. Absolutely hilarious.

In a word? Astounding.

Film review: Ratatouille

Ratatouille @ IMDB

It's hard to approach a review for a Pixar film. Everyone knows they're going to be, at the very least, very enjoyable. Kids will love them and they will make a ton of money.

So it goes for their newest film, Ratatouille, the tale of a rat in Paris that wants to be a chef.

Is it a Toy Story 2? No. But that doesn't matter, it's a great kids film. It doesn't resonate like Finding Nemo does but the story is great, the characters interesting. The film looks amazing, yet again. Somehow Pixar manage to find something else to improve with each film: the food looks amazing, photo realistic in some instances.

The main problem? The length. It is very long for a kids film. I took my son to see this film (his first time at the cinema, no less) and I was worried about whether or not he could sit through all 110 minutes.

To the credit of the film, he near enough did. Only started acting up a couple of minutes from the end.

There's the best review of the film. A three year old was entranced and watched 108 minutes of film before acting up.

It seems strange allocating a ninja weapon for a kids film but what the hell, I'll give this one a meat tenderiser.