Epic (2012). Animation.

I just saw a trailer for "Epic." It's an animation in 3D (of course, why not?) and it's created by the creators of RIO and ICE AGE . And I must say that it's probably the most impressive trailer I've seen in a while... That trailer did it for me, it's a hook. Most likely it's because of a soundtrack that really defines it. In fact as you watch it it looks like a fine drama or action movie. Here's the usual: can't wait to see it in 2013... I really gotta wait that long...

If you haven't seen it, you gotta see it. Here's where...

www.EpicTheMovie.com
www.imdb.com

Pretty impressive visuals. Really impressive. As for the story, as you watch you get that's there's some actions against something quite evil, it's a forest... but also you get that the approach they took is some girl becomes just as little as the main characters (forest army? bug people? something like that...) and the story is being told through her character I guess. Nevertheless, have a look. You'll like the song.

Oh, yeah, the voices, the actors... IMDB shows they've got Amanda Seyfried, Josh Hutcherson, Beyonce Knowles, Coling Farrell (now that's just great! he's really a great actor!), Johnny Knoxville, Judah Friedlander (guess who he will be?), and Steven Tyler. That's impressive too... :)

Update. It's based on a children's book "The Leaf Man and the Great Good Bugs" by William Joyce. Don't know that, haven't read that. Will wait for the release.

Update 2. Just read from wiki: the film is described as a "battle deep in the forest between the forces of good and evil." Well, I'm still going to watch it. As said, the forces of good will always win over evil, and slaughter them all evil bastards without mercy. Here's another one: "I'm the kindest person in the whole world, and if there's someone kinder than me, I'll find him, kill him, and again become the kindest person in the whole world."

Update 3. To be released in May 2013.

Brave by Pixar (2012) a less cynical review.

It's been quite a ride for me watching "Brave" in a movie theatre yesterday. I took my whole family to watch it, and the  tearful ride began for us with the trailers before the movie. First, my three year old daughter started crying watching "Amazing Spiderman" trailer... Which I actually like and our 14 y.o. son was quite excited to watch. And then all of a sudden some smartass included "Abraham Lincolc: Vampire Hunter" trailer right before the show! My three year old was thrilled beyond tears, that my wife had to leave the roomm for some time... :) So it all began, now every thunder, or night scenes in the forest were scareful for her. Half the movie she was hiding... Well, what am I talking about... Isn't that the movie review?


I better start with what's good, because it's a great cartoon for the kids actually. Our 14 y.o. son was quite impressed with it, and the plot, and liked every bit of it. A cynical side of me was dissapointed, and that's actually just becuase I had high expectations. (by the way, in such cases I always try to cool myself down, but that doesn't happen as often, I have that strange ability to get excited before, and leave dissapointed. Still not that dissapointed as from Prometheus!).


So, as usual Pixar makes great computer visuals. The whole thing was just beautiful! The forest, the castles, characters were so distinct, and as I like to say a feast for the eyes. As far as I remember usually in Pixar's movies there were very few human characters. I understand that human's are easy to draw, but is far harder to make them well, "human." Motion, actions, movements, facial expressions are quite hard to make true, so that they don't look like robots. A case in point is that motion-capture that Robert Zemeckis uses, and that were brilliantly shown in his "Christmas Carol" (2009). Although commercially not very successful (I blame their stupid marketing campaign!) with the budget of 200 mln and worldwide boxoffice of 325 mln this was a true masterpiece! "Christmas Carol" is a true classic story that Mr. Zemeckis was able to make a living picture. Their stupid marketing campaign made me and others believe that it's a funny ride (of course it's Jim Carrey) for the Christmas and New Year's spirit. While in fact it was a serious story, with some really scary moments. Anyway, about Brave - the whole things with the scots, the characters were so ALIVE! Their mimics, their movements, and everything about characters was so fascinating! Didn't you love the whole sceme when they were fighting each other? Great animation!


Then you see all those forests, and mountains, and dark forests, and the witch, and the bears (that stuff really scared my little one). And again, that stuff scared my daughter, perhaps that stuff is too much for the little ones, but was perfect for the 14 y.o. Perhaps it's a teen movie, cartoon, and not for the very small ones. I didn't expect that. And then again, it's only my daughter, perhaps others were not scared at all. In general: the whole magic of Pixar about that was great. It was really impressive to see all that hard work they made and brought you in this world of old history to you. 


The whole story with the clash of generations, a case in point mother and daughter, and the moral of the story about it was good enough for our son. Yet wasn't very satisfying for me and my wife. It's quite simple, "heard-and-seen-that-before" style. Of course after watching other Pixar works, and Madagaskar 3, I was confident that it'll be fun enough for kids, and fun enough for us. That didn't happen. That's exactly I felt dissapointed. Or perhaps their intent was for the teens, and I just didn't get it. And perhaps those marketing guys didn't get it, and tried to appeal to a wider audience in their trailers and campaigns.


I wrote a short note right after watching "Brave," and today right as I'm writing this review, I've read what other critics say, and what do they say? 
IMDB: 7.6 out of 10 from 1,394 users.
Metascore: 68 out of 100.
Rotten Tomatoes: 6.8 out of 10 based on 140 reviews.
Roger Ebert: 3 out of 4 stars.
Rotten Tomatoes consensus: "It may not live up to the lofty standards of the Pixar brand, but Brave offers young audiences and fairy tale fans a rousing, funny fantasy adventure with a distaff twist — and surprising depth."

Roger Ebert:  "The good news is that the kids will probably love it, and the bad news is that parents will be disappointed if they're hoping for another Pixar groundbreaker."

Well that's a surprising consensus. I wasn't stealing anobody's ideas or thoughts, but I'm surprised how my humble opinion coincides with these guys... Most of the time, mine is quite different from the others. (I got all this from different sources, the most obvious of course Brave of IMDB.COM, Brave on Wikipedia, Brave on Boxofficemojo.com). "Brave started good enough with 24 mln on Friday. You don't have to be Nostradamus to be sure that it'll have a nice ride at the boxoffice, but it'll have a much better run at the television. Still, it really doesn't feel like one of those Pixar miracles that used to come out. Every animation they had was great! I didn't like cars much, but that's solely my problems (exactly because it was made purely for kids, but it was a great one), and I loved Ratatouille (what a mess, it was more for adults, rather than kids). 

Resume: A great one for kids, but not as exciting for adults. Still go ahead there with kids, you don't need to be as cynical as me.

(Perhaps a spoiler. Don't read!)

What was typical about Brave? Three cliche younger brothers. Why did you have to do that? They seemed so obvious, and not really fun (for me, not for kids). The whole story with the mother turning into a bear, so old, so used up, so uninspiring... That spoof witht he witch when she found her for a second time and the bowl answering machine seemed out of place. There were no spoofs before. Why did you add this one? It really seemed out of place. I stop before I add more spoilers and before this review becomes less and less interesting.

Madagaskar 3: Europe's Most Wanted.

(I haven't edited this one, I just wrote it, I'll edit it later :) Just wanted to share about it asap)


Now that animation is just a feast for the eyes, and mind-bending story that goes beyond borders... Just as my wife and I watched the final titles the feeling of a celebration struck us wave after wave, as if we are both wind-surfers unexpectedly covered by those desirable ocean waves to make our great surfing show... Yes, that was just some non-stop journey, and I might say that each new sequel to the first is just better than the previous one. Madagaskar The First - was ok. Nothing so special except for the Self-Proclaimed King Julian, and those Penguins that made is so fun to watch. Now the second was even better. There it started that non-stop ride fromt the beginning till the end... and it left our main characters stuck, but with the expectation of a great ride ahead... So, right when I watched the first trailer with the "I'm sexy and I know it" song in the background I knew - that's gonna be something really, really enjooyable...


So, here's the story. Our main characters Alex the Emphatic-To-Be-Leader-Lion, Marty the Party-Animal-Zebra, Melman the Crazy-Romantic-Phlegmatic-Giraffe-In-Love, and Big-and-Chunky Gloria the Hippo are left in Africa. Penguins leave them, promise to come back, but don't want to come back and spend all the African Gold and Gems in Monte Carlo... Soon enough home sick Alex realizes that pengiins and chimps are not coming back, so, if they want to go home, they have to go to Monte Carlo and persuade them to go home... And that's where it all starts... We've got just about 5-10 minutes of all that sweet home-sick drama, and enough is enough... right after that you've got a thrill ride of your life! And that's not worth talking about, that's worth watching. Because on their way home, they meet so many wonderful and fascinating characters that their whole journey becomes a Circus... :)


Well we are all quite familiar with the main characters from two other stories, and they are basically the same... All those great voices from Stiller, Rock, Pinkett-Smith and Swimmer do their job at the best... But what is worth mentiong are the NEW crazy characters they meet on their way and the first one worth great praise is Captain Chantel DuBois by Frances McDormand! What a feat! What a character! A true fanatic of animal control, extremely professional, knows her job well better than other guys in other jobs... She has the strength to digest all those misfortunes that Alex's Gang put her through... What an acccent! You just watch how she rides on her scooter through the streets of Monaco! Now that's something that really blows your mind, as you would never expect such a crazy fantasy in action from the creators of Madagaskar 3. They way she finds the Gang, they way she sees where and how they go, and the way she deals with the Italian police!!! Worth every moment! With all her serious great drama roles in Cohen brothers' movies, you'd never expect such a character  explode in motion animation on screen (yeah, yeah! She always looks so serious!)....


Another great character of course is Stefano the Sea Lion with the well below the average IQ by Martin Short... And Martin Short we all know him! A great master of comedy, any comedy, but most of all physical... I believe that most of his physical comedy went into Stefano. He's the major force in the lacklustre circus - who actually still believes that they can regain all that glory of the past... but he's just a believer and he doesn't know what to do next... (well perhaps with the understanding of his low IQ :) he knows that he's unable to do anything, but he really believes in it.. and when he meets Alex, he blindly trusts that he can revive the show). Stefano is probably the brightest star in the third movie. My great great thanks to Mr. Short for such a character! (I'm a fan of Mr. Short from long time ago, since the first time I saw "Three Amigos!")... His dialogues with Alex and others are so funny, so entertaining, and by the end of the movie when you see him in trouble, you almost weep :) (well don't worry, Stefano gets saved by the Gang, but you've got to see it.)


A character which just had to be there for a dramatic element is Vitalyi the Russian tiger voiced by Bryan Cranston. Well this character just had to be there, so that everyone unites around him, and he unites everyone for one sigle cause. There's more fun about him when they escape the Zoo, but as for the rest of the show he remained quite predictable. Gia The Classy Lovely Jaguar is almost like that, but of course a good character, also with a quite predictable story line.Other fun characters are the little dogs, and one voiced byt Vinnie Jones. Vinnie Jones is always a nice actor to watch and hear... Well he's got that spark and that grand stature that's always nice to see and hear. Especially funny knowing that he voices the smallest dog from the Circus.


Well, another new Animal makes it curious for Madagaskar 3 is Sonya the Bear. While it's ok that all animals talk, their mimics is fun and lively, they think and act, run and plan, drive planes, fix machines and etc., Sonya is a Dumb bear... She actually is an animal unlike all those human like pengiuns, Vitalyi with his fears and past troubles, Alex with his home-sickness, Marty with his wild desires for a travelling and even Melman with his love for Gloria... All of a sudden among all those caricature wild beasts, Sonya is a real beast. She's a bear! And a true circus bear who can ride a bicycle (later a motorbike)... Her loveline with Julian is fun to watch, but why make her so different from the rest? Perhaps that was the idea, because it wouldn't be as charming between Julian and Sonya the way they made it. Their romantic trip to Vatican, their break-up wouldn't look as lovely.


Anyway - all new characters are fun, some more, some less... But that's the Circus... Some are more, and some are less... And in the end what's that all about? THE CIRCUS! The whole magic of the circus is right there, before your eyes. That colorful feast as I have perhaps said before is just what makes it so upbeat. You feel so enlivened! Madagaskar 3 is probably more enjoyable for adults for all those gags and jokes, and parodies in the Naked-Gun-Hot-Shots-Airplane style, but it is more enjoyable for kids for all those Circus shows the old Gang and the new Gang created to lift up their spirits and get their mojo back... Imagination blasts from inside of you, you're out of control! And both kids and adults watch the Circus with admiration, but having different feelings...I'm not sure what kids feel, but adults I believe simply recall their childhood, and all the magic of those circus shows from their long-forgotten past... From the times they don't really remember visually, but remember it with their guts, with that tickly feeling in the circus of their childhood...


Hoorah to creators! They've managed to create a cartoon for both kids and adults! They've managed to balance great fun, and a bit of sad! They've managed to make the third movie better than the first, and the second (and to tell you the truth I didn't like much the first one, but enjoyed greatly the second one). If you haven't seen it, do it right away! Take your family! Your kids! By the end you'll be sorry that Madagaskar finished so early... On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this cartoon an 8! It's really worth watching in in the movie theatre, rather than at home. 3D is pretty good, so don't miss it!

Avatar: Legend of Korra.

So, it's finally out. Two episodes are on the web right now, and more is coming. The funny thing about it is that the official premiere is April 14, 2012... Didn't figure out how could this happen, still there's time to enjoy this new creation... The Legend of Aang is quite great for kids and adults alike. This should be just as good.

(pic from http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_Korra)