For those of you patiently waiting for a glimpse of Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio, I feel your pain.  With my bias towards the friendly neighborhood superhero, I need to see the trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home and I need to see it asap.  In the midst of the wait, I was able to see an early screening of the new animated Spider-Man film.  Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of the best movies that Marvel has released to date.  I truly believe that Stan Lee (Doctor Strange, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Age of Ultron​) would be extremely proud of this film.  Combining diversity with animation and a stacked cast results in a new type of Marvel movie.  The story somewhat follows the same formula as previous Marvel films, but this is a new evolution for the powerhouse that is pushing out at least three movies a year.  

Sony Pictures Animation succeeds in a fresh style for the superhero that has been around forever.  Spider-Man was always my favorite Marvel superhero and this film keeps the character fresh.  The animation style is like nothing I've seen before, ranging from blurry vision to clear-cut characters.  The vibrancy of the colors kept my eyes glued to the screen at all times.  I have heard some complaints about the blurriness, but personally it makes for a beautiful big-screen experience.  Unfortunately, I only saw this on a regular screen and will need to see this again on either Dolby or in 3D to get even more out of the experience.

Spider-Man fans have been waiting for the debut of Miles Morales in the MCU, and we finally get a brilliant portrayal of this character.  Shameik Moore (Dope) contributes the voice for the new Spider-Man, but he is joined by many other characters that voice the hero.  Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit, The Edge of Seventeen, Ender's Game), Jake Johnson (Jurassic World, Safety Not Guaranteed), John Mulaney (Mulaney), Kimiko Glenn (Nerve), Nicholas Cage (Teen Titans Go! To the Movies), and Chris Pine (Star Trek, Wonder Woman) all voice different renditions of the superhero (unless I am missing someone, which is totally possible with the amount of characters).  This stacked cast could have slowed down the film, but rather the film proceeds smoothly so that children can remain entertained throughout the film.

Furthermore, the soundtrack is perfectly chosen for the hero's big-screen debut.  Post Malone's original song for the film is worthy of an Oscar-nod along with the original soundtrack that is crucial to the fluidity of action.  Pop culture references constantly pop onto the screen, creating a re-watchable animated film.  In fact, images of Chance the Rapper are on the screen so often that I wonder if he is making royalties off of the film.  Either way, there are some great Easter Eggs throughout the film for adults to enjoy.  No matter how often they pop up, it is exciting to see them.

The Bottom Line: With all of the live action Marvel films from the past to the present, it is a nice refreshment to see this unique animated take on one of the foundation characters for the MCU.

Score: 9/10

Image credit: ​By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America - Stan LeeUploaded by maybeMaybeMaybe, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22896794

Mulan will remain as one of Disney's best films for a long time.  Personally, the film is categorically within my top three Disney films.  After 20 years, the animation and effects are still clean and superb.  The music never gets old and the story about a girl saving China to bring honor to her family and nation still remains relevant.  There are a lot of broad themes throughout the film that make the viewing a learning lesson, and yet the storyline is extremely entertaining to watch.  There is action for kids to maintain their attention span, but also moral values to keep Mulan as a tool for adults to teach from.

The cast clearly put in effort during the voice acting sessions, bringing out strong characters and whimsical scripts to accompany them.  Miguel Ferrer (Traffic) is terrifying as the lead villain, Shan-Yu.  Yet, Eddie Murphy (Coming to America, Shrek) as Mushu is hilariously exaggerated.  At the center of the story is of Mulan, voiced by the charming-but-tough Ming-Na Wen (Street Fighter).  The list of voice actors go on-and-on as the film is densely packed with characters to support Mulan's journey.  While the voice actors are important, the directors chose to use different actors for the singing portions which are crucial to Disney's cinematic formula.

Mulan has the most recognizable soundtrack out of every Disney film with hits including "Reflection", "I'll Make a Man Out of You", and "A Girl Worth Fighting For".  Donny Osmond's (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) voice provides the overly-masculine Shang tracks.  Lea Salonga (Aladdin) provides a powerful counter to Osmond's Shang.  One of the themes portrayed through the music is the role of gender in modern society.  For a 1998 film, Mulan was progressive and remains progressive the more we learn about Hollywood's scandals.  I look forward to the live-action remake that is set to release in 2020, but I hope that they can keep the messages from the original film and modernize them even more.

The Bottom Line:  Mulan gives audiences the hero it needs and questions gender roles in a way that adults and children can both understand clearly.

Score: 9.8/10

Image credit: ​By Gkaidan - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67121492

Over a decade later, Brad Bird (Ratatouille, The Iron Giant​) picks up the story of the Parr family right where he left it in 2004.  Once again, the Parr's are back in action as they balance their family life with fighting crime.  Incredibles 2 spends more time on the family life than the original film, bringing out a relatable experience for moviegoers.  Sarah Vowell (A.C.O.D) and Huck Milner create the voices of Violet Parr and Dashiell Parr as they both go through the struggles of growing up.  These characters are sassy, but also clever.  At times they act smarter than their elders, which is reflective of real life families in many cases.  The youthfulness of this film shines the brightest with the "innocent" baby, Jack-Jack.  Jack-Jack is a fun character to watch and he makes us question whether or not superpowers are dangerous or not. 

The relationship between Bob Parr and Helen Parr has a lot of interesting development in this sequel as well.  Their roles from the first film are nearly flipped around entirely.  Bob acts as the stay-at-home dad while Helen fights crime to protect her family.  Craig T. Nelson (The Family Stone) and Holly Hunter (The Big Sick) return to voice these characters respectively.  Once again, they are well-spoken and perfect fits for the characters.  As the story unfolds, Bob and Helen make the audience question stereotypical family roles.  Certainly, there can be enriched discussion after the film about these roles and their place in modern society.

For the most part, I really loved this sequel.  However, the original story still stands taller than this new installment.  The villain in Incredibles 2 is not nearly as strong of a character as Buddy from The Incredibles.  The effects are improved, but storyline is more important to me than visuals.  If this installment had stayed more focused on the Parr's family dynamic throughout the whole film, then it might have held more weight than the addition of Screenslaver.  Screenslaver is a decent villain, but does not introduce anything new to the superhero filmography.  Updated effects make for smooth animated action sequences, although Screenslaver is nothing special.  

The Bottom Line: Incredibles 2 is a fantastic watch because of the Parr family, but falls short with the crime-fighting subject.

Score: 8/10

Your Name is one of the most beautiful movies I have seen in quite some time.  The story is touching, the visuals are awe-inspiring, and the music is catchy as heck.  Upon a first viewing, I understand the main idea without being able to fully place all of the details.  Your Name is a film that takes multiple viewings to comprehend the complexity of the storyline.  Without going into too much detail, the timeline is hard to follow right off the bat, but I am sure that there are very few flaws (if any) in this film.  There is a lot going on all at once, but the main storyline leaves room for discussion after viewing.  Every good film should leave room for discussion after the story is resolved, and Your Name leaves plenty of ideas hanging around in our minds.

Makoto Shinkai's (5 Centimeters Per Second) direction brings us beautiful visuals to guide us along the story's journey.  Every line drawn is thoughtful and concise.  The precision of animation in this film is reminiscent of Miyazaki's (Spirited Away) works.  In fact, Shinkai might be the next Miyazaki.  As someone who knows almost nothing about animation, it is still clear to me that the team behind this film spent long hours in its creation.  While there are plenty of Pixar and Disney films with good animation, nothing that I have seen from American studios can compare to this form.

I would go completely amiss without discussing the soundtrack for this film as well.  RADWIMPS's indie rock soundtrack brings the viewer back to their childhood with a punk edge added in.  Often times, the beauty of the film is complimented by the soundtrack's sweetness.  Some of the lyrics do not translate well into the subtitles, but I'll be damned if the sounds are not a perfect match to the visuals.  I have been waiting a long time to view this film after it's release because I missed it in theaters.  While I waited, I had to check out the soundtrack that all of my friends have been raving about.  At the very least, listen to the soundtrack as it pulls you into a foreign world, full of jaw-dropping inspiration and beauty.  For starters check out the song, "Sparkle".

The Bottom Line:  Shinkai's animated masterpiece will be cherished for a long time because of it's beauty and complexity.

Score: 10/10 (This is my first 10/10 since Swiss Army Man)

When superhero movies start to grow stale, there is one thing that Hollywood can do to revive the genre... more LEGO movies!  After The Lego Movie, I craved more LEGO Batman.  After a few years, I was still excited for this film and it did not disappoint.  The Lego Movie introduced us to the crazy world of the LEGO cinematic universe, unknowingly opening a whole new children's film sub genre.  Yet, this film is a fun time for adults along with children.  Subtle jabs at political figures (President Trump himself) and self-centered characters push the film's subtle adult humor.  However, an inspiring message for the kids is still revealed towards the end of the film.  That way, we don't feel guilty about the film's education value.

Throughout The LEGO Batman Movie, I was constantly trying to figure out who was voicing each character.  Of course, Will Arnett (Despicable Me, Ratatouille) returns as one of the best cinematic Batman characters ever along with Michael Cera's (Juno, Superbad, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) addition of an oddly flamboyant Robin.  Other familiar names round out the cast of villains and heroes.  Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) might not be your typical Joker, but I will admit that I enjoyed his rendition more than Jared Leto's (Requiem for a Dream, Dallas Buyers Club).  

Whenever a film as innovative as this one comes out, I have to take the time to admire the effects.  As a LEGO action movie, this film has some super cool effects that had me wondering how hard it is to create such a film.  Warner Bros. seems to have struck gold, but I am sure they put in a lot of gold in the creation of this piece of art.  The cast is probably expensive enough, but the LEGO effects must have taken a lot of workers and time as well.  I should be able to maintain my interest in this genre for at least the next half-decade.  I know nothing about the NINJAGO universe, but the trailer for that next franchise installment already has me hyped!

The Bottom Line:  This is truly a family film that LEGO and Batman fanatics can enjoy in the same theater.

Score: 7/10

Image credit: ​By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America - Chris McKay & Will Arnett, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56228004

Every image on the screen flutters with finesse and glows with glory.  This tale of a boy trying to save himself and his family is an extraordinary accomplishment in the realm of animation.  Sheer beauty engulfs the screen at all moments, whether it's a sword-fight between a monkey and an evil twin or just the background image of a mountain shining in the sun.  As a first animated feature film directed by Travis Knight (Coraline), surely he will return to direct many more and become a well-known creator in time.  Kubo and the Two Strings reminded me of the spectacular films created by Hayao Miyazaki.  The story is created for adults and children alike.

My favorite part about the storyline is its traditional creativity.  The story relies on magic, dreams, and music to mesh together purity and ingenuity.  There are creatures that terrified me and I am 22 years old!  Honestly if you want to bring children to this film, I would be prepared for the nightmares that they will have afterwards.  Two evil twins are brilliantly designed to remind audiences of the horrifying imagery in past films.  They act as a sort of homage to Kubrick's twins in The Shining.  Yes, I just compared this child-friendly animated film to one of the most horrifying films of all time.  Don't worry, it's not quite as scary but there are some aspects that could provoke a child to wail in the theaters.  I will say that aside from the horror story aspects, there are some twists that are easily predictable from the beginning of the film.  Kids may not see these twists, but adults will most likely realize their foreshadowing early on.  Still, the story is epic and told in an interactive manner to keep us grasping at the next step.

I would be completely amiss if I did not discuss the use of music and art in Kubo and the Two Strings.  Within the first twenty minutes of the film, we see the creativity behind the project.  Kubo picks up his musical instrument a plays a song that tells a story.  Origami art flies around the screen, battling each other for glory and honor.  The animation is smooth and seemingly flawless; yet, it is unique and attractive.  New creatures strike us with swords, wings, and paws throughout Kubo's journey to redeem his father's pride and defeat his extended family.  Along with the original music and sleek animation, we hear familiar voices in new roles.  Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road, Hancock), Rooney Mara (The Social Network, Her), George Takei (Mulan, Star Trek), Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, The Wolf of Wall Street, Dallas Buyers Club), and Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Schindler's List, Skyfall) all contribute their vocal chords to Kubo's epic adventure.  All of their voices give away who they are, but their characters are unusual parts for the individual actors.  However, I did get a mix of Ramses and Voldemort for Fiennes's character, but it was fun to hear nonetheless.  Credit must also be given to up-and-rising star Art Parkinson (Dracula Untold​), who plays Kubo.  This role gives him more to do than his role in Game of Thrones, but let's not even go there for now...

The Bottom Line:  Kubo and the Two Strings is the most respectable animated film since Miyazaki's genre-dominance.

Score: 9.7/10

Image credit: http://www.geeksofdoom.com/GoD/img/2016/01/kubo-and-the-two-strings-laika-530x297.jpg

​On November 17, 2015 I reviewed The Night Before with a creative poem that I believed was fitting.  The Night Before ended up being my least favorite Seth Rogen (This Is the End, Superbad, The Interview) film ever, so I needed something to see that would redeem his comedic concepts for me.  Sausage Party is the perfect redemption story for Seth Rogen.  This animated film breaks boundaries with constantly offensive and inappropriate scenes, but I'm not complaining.  The film is a call for creativity similar to South Park, with witty jokes and gory imagery.  It's not every day that you get an R-rated animated film in theaters.  Rather than wasting time with more live action comedy films, Rogen and his team finally break away from the rut that they got stuck in with Sausage Party.

In the film food is our enemy, our friend, and the most disgusting thing ever.  Foods are humanized to act as immature and ignorant beings who oddly wear gloves and boots most of the time.  Ethnic wars are prone to the different foods, especially between an Arabic lavash and a Jewish bagel.  The journey through the supermarket acts as a completely stereotypical drug trip where we question what we see, and think about deeper concepts like the existence of an afterlife.  There is a naivete among the products that believe leaving the store is basically going to heaven, as opposed to getting eaten and dying.  Brutal scenes of food deaths look so realistic that I often tensed up during certain scenes.  Most of the comedy really shines during the scenes portrayed in the trailer, so if you want to see the movie I recommend skipping the trailers if you can.  Still though, the film is worth the watch because it keeps the jokes flying all the way through.

It would be amiss to stop discussing this film without a proper mention of the score.  Most animated films strive to keep audiences entertained with music numbers.  Sausage Party is no different, opening with a musical number.  Alan Menken contributes to the project with past experience in composing.  If his name doesn't sound familiar, you need to go back to your Disney roots and re-watch Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and a few others as well.  That's right, Menken has moved into the realm of comedy films, which is an amazing addition to the genre.  Other stars contribute to the projects as different characters including an unrecognizable Edward Norton (Fight Club, American History X).  I encourage the viewer to stay for the credits because there are so many names that you may not realize are in the film.  The news is now out that there could be another Sausage Party and possibly more comedy animated films.  Personally, I cannot wait to see what other odd stories might show up next.

The Bottom Line:  Sausage Party is a spectacle that the whole family should definitely not see.

Score: 9.2/10

​Image credit:  ​By Howardwrites36 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Netflix has recently shown its dominance over the online movie streaming field.  The Little Prince is no exception to this.  With stunning imagery and breathtaking textures, the film creates a world that is unfamiliar to audiences with experience in animated film.  Not only that, but the film is an exercise in creative writing and knowledgeable storytelling.  Audiences of all ages can enjoy this film, which is hard to say for a lot of other animated films.

The animation in this film has two styles as the viewer is introduced to two different stories.  One style reminds us of the neat and clean Pixar-esque imagery that we have seen in past animated films.  The other style is more of a textured figure style that reminds us of older animation and often claymations.  The two styles work extremely well together, creating two worlds for children and adults to enjoy.  This work of art is very different from Mark Osborne's (Kung Fu Panda, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie) past filmography, but maintains his respectability as an inventive animation director.

The storyline in The Little Prince is brilliantly created through two perspectives.  Duality constantly arises in the film to portray grown-ups and children in different manners.  Children are creative, hopeful, and outstanding from the crowd of boring, overly-mature adults.  Irena Brignull (The Boxtrolls) and Bob Persichetti (Shrek 2) bring Antoine de Saint-Exupery's (Night Flight) novel to the screen in a daring journey of fate.  Personally I have not read the novel, but even if the film does not follow the storyline exactly it is a well written screenplay.  The Little Prince is all about standing up for hope in the world and refusing to get stuck in boring old routines as we age.  I call the storytelling knowledgeable because it creates the two worlds in a mature, but fun process for the viewer to enjoy.  The film's technical aspects reflect the story that it tells.  

The Bottom Line: Sheer messiness and organization combine to bring Saint-Exupery's epic tale to the big screen.

Score: 8.5/10

​Image credit: By Arnaud Malon from Paris, France - DSCF0268.JPG, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3975508

Here's yet another Pixar film that floats towards the top of animated cinema.  Somehow, Finding Nemo is capable of catering to adults and young children through powerful undertones of family and meaning in life.  Upon the reveal of a Finding Nemo sequel, I was skeptical of the possible ruination of the original film.  However, Finding Dory brings a fresh and yet familiar story to its loyal audience of kids and their parents.  I do not see a lot of movies with my parents anymore, but I got to see this one with my mom and it was a blast!

Dory, Nemo, and Marlin return with a new purpose of finding Dory's family.  Considering how hard it must be to make a movie revolving around a character with short term memory loss, Pixar balances the character's disability with a lot of side stories.  At first, I worried that the short term memory issue would be overplayed and eventually annoying.  If this were so, the movie would probably have fallen into my own short term memory.  Yet, this movie is one that I will remember for quite a while (at least until the next Pixar film).  Look out for my ranked listing of Pixar films coming at you soon!

I love the story line, but I was surprised by the amount of false endings.  The movie swims forward for quite a while adding new obstacles for the characters to overcome.  There were just one or two obstacles that were unnecessary in my opinion, but the audience still seemed entertained by the story.  If the story were just a bit more refined, this movie would be extremely close to being my favorite Pixar film.

An applause must also be given to the spectacular voice actors that contributed to the film.  Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show), Albert Brooks (Drive, Taxi Driver), Ed O'Neill (Married with Children), Kaitlin Olson (Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Hayden Rolence (Cicero in Winter), Ty Burrell (Modern Family​), and so many more create characters that are relatable and odd.  All of these voice actors add diversity to the characters, which seems to be the route that animation is finally journeying down.  These characters with different disabilities are treated with respect and treat others with respect.  This movie still avoids preaching to the youth, but displays the idea of living in harmony with others.  No matter what somebody else's life is like, you can still make an effort to get to know them and be surprised by their accomplishments and skills.  This is easy to forget in a world that is being targeted by hate.

The Bottom Line:  Its another family-friendly Pixar film full of fun and familiar faces!  (How's that for some good ol' alliteration?)

Score: 9.5/10

Image credit:  http://cdn2-www.comingsoon.net/assets/uploads/gallery/finding-dory-1381167300/12710861_10154095363532240_4168275657864665666_o.jpg

From the directors of Tangled and Wreck-it Ralph comes this animated film about a world comprised of animals.  The animals are divided by certain characteristics and the story is about the struggle to break their stereotyped features.  This is all coming from the studio that brought us the hit movie, Frozen.  Unlike Frozen, this is the most diverse animated film I have ever seen.  Its definitely the most diverse animated film from Disney, featuring all sorts of animals with different backgrounds.  That is funny to say about a movie that does not have any humans whatsoever.

One of the reasons I love the medium of film is because it is an object of the arts.  In my opinion, fine arts are used to spread culture.  Zootopia is a clear example of how culture is spread through cinema.  When the writers create a message about diversity and equality, the film comes out with a deeper meaning.  Zootopia not only struggles with race equality, but also sex equality.  Ginnifer Goodwin (Walk the Line) acts as a symbol for women through her character, Judy Hopps.  Hopps is an adorable bunny who is tired of being seen as prey.  She sees all hunting animals as evil, and believes that they see all of the weaker animals as wimpy and easy targets.  These ideologies are heavy-handed throughout the film, which starts to become preachy.  Everyone in the film is wrong with their judgement of others.  Personally I liked the use of diversity and the message of Zootopia, but the message was so deeply entrenched in the film that I could not feel entertained in any way.  Its as though Disney is trying to create something that will engrain itself into the minds of the youth.  The ideologies portrayed in the film are agreeable, but overall I felt brainwashed by the end.  To me, cinema needs to walk a fine line between message and fun.  It is easy for us to forget a film without both of these traits.  If something is fun to watch but leaves me without any afterthoughts, then I no longer have any feelings for the film when the lights come back on.  However if a film is too much like a sermon, then I eventually tune out the jargon and feel a disconnect from the screen.  Zootopia acted as too much of a sermon and started to annoy me because I was tired of listening.  I should not have to feel so downtrodden after a Disney film, especially when it points out everything that I am seeing in the news nowadays.  I left without much afterthought, but rather the thought that big studio cinema is no longer the same because of how modern society is evolving.  That being said, Zootopia is a very creative and intelligent film that serves as a good start to a more diverse Disney studio.

The Bottom Line:  While being the most diverse Disney film yet, Zootopia struggles with subtlety and enjoyment.

Score: 8.7/10

Image credit: http://img.lum.dolimg.com/v1/images/movie_poster_zootopia_866a1bf2.jpeg