Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)

Tags

Animation, Anime, Drama, Fantasy

Mother of mine,
What a trial you bore
When I, in my infancy, cried more and more!

Mother of mine,
How obliviously
Did I take for granted your keeping of me!

Mother of mine,
What a fool you held near,
No thought for a thank you, no room to revere!

Mother of mine,
How ungrateful was I
When I was at last old enough to defy!

Mother of mine,
What regret I now feel
For waiting so long for my thanks to be real,
That love all too often I tried to conceal,
That raising me had to be such an ordeal.

Mother of mine,
How I wish you to know
The love that I should have returned long ago!
_____________________

MPAA rating: Not Rated (should be PG-13 for some violence and mature themes, though nothing too explicit)

From early in 2018, I thought that Mirai would surely be the anime film of the year, but no, it’s not. That title goes to Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, a film I had no idea had already come out until I heard about it from Rachel of Reviewing All 56 Disney Animated Films and More! The description alone had me desperate to see it: a high fantasy tale of an immortal girl adopting a human baby. I tried to avoid spoilers at all cost, but everything I read about this cross between Lord of the Rings and The Age of Adaline, including its growing reputation as an all-out tearjerker, only heightened my excitement. With its 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, it looked like a film I was destined to love.

Finally, I got to see it, and though my expectations were high, Maquia met them. This may be writer/director Mari Okada’s debut film, but her first movie is a humdinger in both its emotional impact and its fantasy world-building. The titular Maquia is an orphan of the lorph clan, a small race of people who live for centuries with no aging and record their lives and histories by weaving cloth called Hibiol. A neighboring kingdom invades, taking most of the lorph captive, but Maquia escapes in despair, only to stumble upon an orphaned baby boy she names Ariel. Although she is alone, knows nothing of motherhood, and was expressly warned never to love a mortal lest she endure true loneliness, Maquia raises the child as her own, and…sniff… you’ll just have to watch it for yourself.

Anime has some amazing mothers to its credit, from Hana in Wolf Children to the mom in the tenth episode of Violet Evergarden (another tearjerker of 2018), but there’s something special about Maquia. She shares no blood or background with Ariel, not even fully understanding the physical realities of motherhood, and yet in her efforts to be a good mother, she shines as few parents do in any medium. She struggles with the task, especially as Ariel grows older while she remains the same, becoming a constant reminder that he was adopted, but she takes to heart the lessons taught by others that moms will do anything for their children and that “moms don’t cry.”

As much as I wish I could call it a faultless film, Maquia is not without some weaknesses. There’s an extended subplot concerning two of Maquia’s lorph friends, whose paths in life are far more oppressive than hers; enduring rape and imprisonment, they serve as a contrast to the love that Maquia finds, and while their struggles remained interesting and sympathetic, I wouldn’t say they were resolved in an entirely satisfying way. Plus, one jump in time left me unsure what was going on, dropping some uncomfortable implications and keeping its full context vague.

Despite these gripes, Maquia is a beautiful film on multiple levels, from its tender moments to its exceptional animation to its affecting soundtrack. Its rich fantasy world of warring nations and dying dragons offers several striking settings reminiscent of Middle-Earth, and its themes of love and parenthood go straight to the heart, demonstrating how children can have just as much of an impact on their parents as the other way around. Plus, there’s hardly any of the stylistic exaggeration typical of anime, making it a film that fantasy lovers who may not be into anime should be able to enjoy as well.

I don’t cry easily these days. Only two anime have left me sobbing before, and Maquia makes it three. I’ve mentioned that some sad films like The Wind Rises seem to almost pull back from full-on tearjerker mode for whatever reason; Maquia does not. I wept bitterly, though for different reasons than something like Grave of the Fireflies. There’s a scene at the end that mercilessly kicks your heartstrings while kissing them tenderly, and it still haunts me. I said yesterday that Mirai made me want to hug my mom; Maquia did the same times eleven. That’s why, for me, this is the anime of the year. The film itself represents its theme of pain being an integral part of love, a bitterness made sweet by all that came before.

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
600 Followers and Counting!

 

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Mirai (2018)

Tags

Animation, Anime, Drama, Family, Fantasy

 

When a child asks, quizzically,
“Where did I come from?”
Who knows what the most fitting answer may be?
The truth of it, physically,
May create someone,
But ‘tis but a branch of the whole family tree.

For what you’re aware of,
Your path and your parents,
Are products of precursors we’ll never know,
Dependent on their love,
Their choice and forbearance,
The roots they put down that their children may grow.
_____________________

MPAA rating:  PG

Back when I reviewed Netflix’s Flavors of Youth, I mentioned there were two new anime films I was dying to see before the end of the year, and now that I have, I also wanted to squeeze in a review for each of them. Thus, I’ll do one today and one tomorrow, starting with the one I’ve been expecting longer.

I’ve enjoyed the works of anime director Mamoru Hosoda for years (The Girl Who Leapt through Time and Wolf Children are still in my top 365 Movie List), and Mirai was one of my most anticipated movies this year. With every new feature, Hosoda has carved out a niche for animation fans, putting his own stamp on imaginative half-Ghibli-like fantasies mixed with real-world drama. In Mirai, his latest acclaimed feature, he does the same with a highly minimalist plot and a younger-than-normal protagonist.

At its core, Mirai’s story is deceptively simple, that of a four-year-old boy named Kun accepting the presence of his newborn sister Mirai (which also means “future”). Yet the lessons he learns about jealousy, relationships, and family have surprising depth and are often taught through extended visual metaphors. I was a little surprised that any explanation for the time travel aspect was basically an afterthought. Thanks to the dad, the family’s house is an architectural curiosity with three levels, one of which is roofless with an interior yard, and anytime Kun passes the family tree, it’s as if his imagination conjures up another realm.

Sometimes, it’s the family dog transformed into a grouchy human, or his teenage sister arriving from the future, or his great-grandfather showing him how to ride a bike, and certain moments of the fantastical affecting the real world make you wonder whether it’s all in Kun’s head or not. These elements are a tad random and he sometimes tends to relearn the same lesson over again (be more patient with your parents/sister, for instance), but there’s an ingenious visual nuance to how Kun learns about his family and factoring his new role as a big brother into his identity.

I said earlier that Hosoda excels at mixing the magical with the mundane, but it doesn’t work quite as well here as it did with, say, Wolf Children. Some of the transitions between real life and fantasy were rather weird for my taste, and I would have liked a definitive answer of what was actually going on beyond “it’s a visual metaphor.” To be honest, I found myself more interested in the day-to-day activities and struggles of Kun and Mirai’s parents. Let’s face it: Whiny kids can be annoying, especially kids in anime, so I felt more of a connection with the harried father and the long-suffering mother than with the often bratty Kun.

There’s a lot to love about Mirai, not least of which is the beautiful hand-drawn animation. (One scene in a train station is breathtaking in the amount of detail and motion on display.) Plus, it’s funny and relatable on multiple levels. I especially admired how many of the individual stories were brought together near the end to show Kun how a complex web of lives and choices combined to give him the life he had. It was profound and visually striking and helped make up for some of the plot’s earlier weaknesses.

It’s worth noting that Mirai surprisingly received a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Golden Globes this year, making it the first anime to be nominated. It’s certainly worthy and a sign of improvement in what gets recognized, but it irks me that they didn’t give that honor to even more deserving contenders in the past, like Your Name, Wolf Children, or A Silent Voice. But I digress…. Mirai may not be Hosoda’s best work, but it’s another laudable credit to his name. And it made me appreciate my parents a little more, so that I just had to give my mom a hug. Any film that gives me another reason to do that deserves praise.

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
600 Followers and Counting!

 

The Christmas Chronicles (2018)

Tags

Christmas, Comedy, Family, Fantasy

 

It was late Christmas Eve, and no sleeper was up.
The cookies were plated, warm milk in each cup.
The snow held a silence, which barely was broken
When Santa Claus came, thinking none had awoken.

He leapt from the sleigh with his sack close at hand,
Entrusting the reindeer to wait on demand,
And nimbly invaded each chimney and home
In a fashion not often depicted in poem.

His task soon completed, rewarding the good,
Saint Nick headed off to the next neighborhood,
When high in the air with the reindeer full speed,
He felt a small tap, as of someone in need.

Well, Santa, unused to surprises, no doubt,
Spun round in his sleigh and began freaking out,
Which then made the reindeer do likewise ahead,
And what happened next should be watched and not read.
__________________________

MPAA rating: TV-PG

Imagine The Santa Clause, Adventures in Babysitting, and Gremlins all mashed together into a surprisingly enjoyable amalgamation of good-natured holiday spirit. If you can also imagine Kurt Russell as a slimmed-down Santa Claus, then you’ve got Netflix’s The Christmas Chronicles.

Christmas movies have long speculated about how Santa does what he does, from The Santa Clause and The Polar Express to Elf and ‘Twas the Night, and The Christmas Chronicles is a welcome addition to such conjecture, with its magical portals and cute, fuzzy elves. As the poem above suggests, a bickering brother and sister (Judah Lewis and Darby Camp) sneak their way onto Santa’s sleigh, causing it to crash in Chicago, where they must help Santa Kurt retrieve his reindeer and sack in time to save Christmas.

Of all the movies I’ve name-dropped, the closest comparison is definitely Adventures in Babysitting, not only for the Chicago setting but for entire sections of the plot (captured by criminals, a marvelous musical number with almost the same bluesy guitar riff). However, it manages to add charm to its more familiar elements, thanks in large part to Kurt Russell, who will surely go down as one of the great Santa depictions on film. Part of that is how non-traditional he is, often grousing over the false clichés about him spread through advertising (he’s not that fat apparently), yet there’s a winking warmth to him that never lets cynicism win out.

It may not be the most original of Christmas films, but The Christmas Chronicles may well become a new holiday classic for family audiences. Netflix certainly seems to have had faith in it, commissioning four elf character balloons at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year to promote it. While the suggestion that no gifts equals no Christmas goes against the better lesson of Dr. Seuss’s Grinch, The Christmas Chronicles is an entertaining jaunt of heart-warming humor from start to smile-worthy finish, which any fan of Adventures in Babysitting or The Santa Clause is likely to enjoy this Christmas (and many more to come).

Best line:  (Teddy) “Can’t you just wave your hand, and, like, Jedi mind-trick the cops?”   (Santa) “I’m Santa Claus, Teddy, not Yoda.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
599 Followers and Counting

 

2018 Blindspot Pick #10: Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light (2011)

Tags

Animation, Anime, Drama, Fantasy, Romance

When the forest’s green carpet was dappled with light,
The trees standing stolid in blithe oversight,
I cried, a mere child, alone on my knees,
And lost with no help from the untroubled trees.

I don’t know how long I stayed, venting vain tears,
For he found me, as when a rainbow appears,
And though I perhaps should have harbored unease,
I beamed at the man, standing masked among trees.

I tried to embrace him, but he dodged the act
And said he would vanish from human contact,
For spirits like him are too fragile to squeeze,
And so we stood separate, surrounded by trees.

I doubted his words, yet I welcomed his care,
As he led us back homeward, a curious pair.
And though he said not to, tomorrow the breeze
Will lead me back to him, a ghost among trees.
______________________

MPAA rating: Not Rated (easily a G as far as content)

Blindspot picks are supposed to be films that one has been meaning to see for a long time and hasn’t gotten around to it. Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light (or Hotarubi no Mori e) certainly fits that definition for me. It has long been included in other people’s lists of favorite anime, typically alongside Studio Ghibli films, and I couldn’t put it off anymore. I was even proud that I had been able to avoid spoiling the ending, and now that I’ve seen it… I don’t want to say I’m disappointed, just that I thought there would be more to it.

I should have known not to expect too much, based on positive reviews noting its simplicity, and indeed that simplicity is one of its key strengths. The story follows the relationship of a girl named Hotaru who, while lost in a forest at six years old, meets a young man in a mask. Though he insists that no human should touch him, lest he disappear forever, she continues to visit him, and the two become close friends. Despite the invisible barrier of physical contact, they even begin to love each other, as the girl grows older, returning to the spirit forest year after year.

That’s as much as I knew going in, and while there’s a bittersweet payoff that admittedly does hit the emotions hard, that’s pretty much the whole story. There aren’t any subplots and not many extra characters, and frankly the tale didn’t need them. As seen in Makoto Shinkai’s works, such as The Garden of Words, anime films don’t necessarily have to be of feature length to realize their intended effect, and 44 minutes was just right for this one.

I will say that it could have been very easy for the story to come off as creepy by nature. After all, a lost little girl meets a masked man in the woods, who hits her with a stick (when she tries to touch him). It might have been a hard sell just describing the plot like that, but instead it’s a sweet friendship/romance that might leave many a viewer brushing away tears. Perhaps its length kept it from hitting me hard enough for that, or perhaps I was just expecting too much, but Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light still worked well as a mini-tearjerker with some lovely animation from the studio Brain’s Base, albeit nothing exceptional. With a few traces of Ghibli-esque whimsy, it’s a touching little fantasy for those looking for a tug on the ol’ heartstrings.

Best line: (Hotaru) “Time might separate us some day. But, even still, until then, let’s stay together.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
594 Followers and Counting

 

A Monster Calls (2016)

Tags

Drama, Fantasy, Mystery

(I’m running a bit behind with this post, but yesterday’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a prose poem in the vein of a postcard, so I wrote one that I think everyone would like to receive.)

 
Hello, my love,
It’s as wonderful here as we always hoped,
But I miss you terribly, as I know you miss me.
Don’t despair that you couldn’t join me just yet;
I’ve saved you a place next to me
And can’t wait to show you everything I’ve seen.

Hope all is well at home, with life whirling on without me.
I’m just fine here, thank you very much.
Wish you were here (but not too soon)!

Love from Heaven,
Mom
___________________

MPAA rating: PG-13 (only for heavy themes, content is closer to PG)

Based on a novel by Peter Ness (who also wrote the movie), A Monster Calls is a strange beast, a deeply emotional dark fantasy that contrasts a young boy’s fears about mortality with seemingly random lessons taught by a giant tree monster (Liam Neeson). Making a tree monster work as more than just a visual boogeyman is no small task, and chances are that you’ll be surprised at just how much poignancy this concept holds.

The boy of this story is Connor O’Malley (Lewis MacDougall), an oft-bullied twelve-year-old who is plagued by a nightmare and dealing with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) worsening cancer. One night, the yew tree on a nearby hill comes to life like Groot on steroids and promises to tell him three stories, after which Connor must tell “the truth” in a story of his own. At first, Connor refuses, then thinks perhaps these stories are meant to help him with his critical grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) or his distant father (Toby Kebbell), yet the fairy tales told to him elude easy explanation and challenge the way he faces his own grief.

There’s something timeless about this story. Until Connor used a smartphone, I couldn’t tell in what year it was set. The tone, the music, the warm cinematography, the subtle direction by J.A. Bayona (The Impossible and the next Jurassic World sequel) all lend themselves to a sense of dark enchantment and poetry that can swing from quite creepy to quite profound in a matter of minutes, such as how major events repeatedly happen at 12:07. The stories told by the monster are depicted with a unique 3D watercolor-style animation, and while I might have liked them to be more straightforward in their lessons, they leave the viewer and Connor pondering their implications and applications.

The performances really help sell the film’s more fantastical elements, MacDougall especially proving himself to be a child actor worth watching. Anyone who has endured the death of a loved one should easily relate to Connor’s progression through the five stages of grief; at least I know I did. Jones and Weaver provide outstanding support as well. Following a shocking outburst, there’s one almost wordless scene between Connor and his grandmother in which the turmoil of emotions on their faces is intensely felt, making me wonder why this movie was largely ignored by the major awards.

I had a feeling that A Monster Calls would appeal to me, but its emotional depth sneaked up on me in ways you wouldn’t expect from a film with a giant tree monster. Despite its difficulties at the box office, I can see it being rediscovered in the coming years and hailed as a darkly imaginative classic.

Best line: (Connor) “So you didn’t get ‘happily ever after’?”  (his dad) “No, but that’s life, you know. Most of us just get messily ever after. That’s all right.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
565 Followers and Counting

 

Mojin: The Lost Legend (2015)

Tags

Action, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Foreign, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a poem inspired by our choice of tarot cards, whether the image on it or the symbolism behind it. I went with the Moon, which has some personification and mentions imagination, light, and the unknown.)

 

Where we’ve wandered, none can trace,
For none now live who knew this place.
The darkness creeps from stone to stone
And makes us feel we’re not alone.
Then, from above, the moon appears,
Perhaps to soothe our growing fears.

She peers below through open cave
At we who thought ourselves so brave
And lends us light to glance about
In search of some departure route.
Yet what she shows us haunts our dreams,
And only she can hear our screams.
____________________

MPAA rating: Not Rated (PG-13 content, though the profanity in the subtitles can get strong)

At least one good thing came out of my watching the utter waste of time that was The Assassin: I saw a trailer for Mojin: The Lost Legend and was intrigued enough to seek out this rather fun Chinese adventure movie. Apparently based on a Chinese book series, this tale of three grave robbers may have its weaknesses, but it’s also evidence of the blockbuster action and visual merit that Chinese cinema has to offer.

Hu Bayi (Chen Kun), his temperamental girlfriend Shirley (Shu Qi), and his reckless longtime friend Wang (Huang Bo) were all once Mojin, official treasure seekers and tomb raiders (Lara wasn’t available), but have since fallen into disgrace. Fed up with their washed-up lives in America, Wang is approached by a wealthy patron to locate an ancient Mongolian tomb. Compelled by a personal connection from his past, Wang accepts, dragging Hu Bayi and Shirley back into the dangerous business of booby traps, double-crossing villains, and supernatural(?) threats.

While the acting is all serviceable and sometimes quite good (the heroes are better than the villains), Mojin: The Lost Legend is most interesting as an example of how the Chinese do an Indiana Jones-style adventure. It takes a little while to get into tomb-raiding mode, but once it does, the pace stays brisk, and the set designs are impressive and elaborate, like the Moria of the Orient mixed with the Temple of Doom.  Anyone who enjoyed The Mummy or National Treasure should also find much to enjoy, from the playful banter to the horror elements of a particularly thrilling flashback to the way Chinese history and myth are used as clues and solutions along the way, not that I understood all of it.

While it does mix a lot of aspects of adventure films I love, it is hard not to view those ingredients as copied or borrowed, even if there’s originality in how they are combined. Likewise, the special effects are one of the film’s strengths, yet there are moments that overuse slow motion and CGI to the point of being overblown and almost laughable, especially during the climax. Plus, the whole thing is a little too long for its own good. Yet it’s still a highly visual treasure hunt that even manages to work in some deeper emotions and themes of letting go of past tragedy. Flawed but fun, Mojin: The Lost Legend is an entertaining ride for those curious to see China’s take on their own National Treasure.

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
565 Followers and Counting

 

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

Tags

Action, Fantasy, Romance, Thriller

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a human warning label, so instead of one for myself, I wrote one for Captain Jack Sparrow.)

 

Caution:
Exposure to this individual
May well endanger your health.
Symptoms include a desire to say “Arrgh”
And insatiable cravings for wealth,
As well as impulses to slap and/or kill
And maybe a seafaring curse,
Which can cause vendettas and lusting for vengeance,
Resulting in death or much worse.

Alert your witch doctor if death should occur
Or unbridled hating of guts.
Always use “Captain” preceding his name.

Warning: May contain nuts.
___________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Perhaps people didn’t expect much from what is now the fifth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, since the series was already showing signs of fatigue with the fourth. On Stranger Tides remains my least favorite of the bunch because it lacks the three-way dynamic between Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Elizabeth Swann that made the original trilogy so enjoyable. Sure, Penelope Cruz adds some sexual tension with Jack, but it feels more like a spinoff than a genuine part of the series. Dead Men Tell No Tales, on the other hand, is thankfully a truer continuation; granted, it’s a paler, less original version of its predecessors but close enough still to feel of a piece with them.

Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley aren’t exactly back in action here, both instead offering cameos that must have been the easiest paychecks imaginable, but they’re still part of the story, with Will and Elizabeth’s son Henry (Brenton Thwaites) taking Will’s place as the earnest adventurer searching to free his father from the curse of the Flying Dutchman. In Elizabeth’s role, we get Kaya Scodelario as Carina Smyth, an educated woman (gasp!) whose smarts get her constantly accused of being a witch, which never seemed to be a problem for Elizabeth, but oh well. They’re at least better than Sam Claflin and his mermaid girlfriend(?).

And of course, Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow, whom most people seem to think is past his prime as a character. I could see why at first, since Depp does seem to sleepwalk through the first half, but, keeping in mind that Jack was largely hung over for that half, he grows back into the role and is back to his old self by the end. It’s Geoffrey Rush that offers especially strong support, with Barbossa actually getting a worthwhile character arc rather than being shoehorned in like with On Stranger Tides. As the latest antagonist with a grudge against Jack, Javier Bardem’s Captain Salazar may not have the best backstory (he hates pirates and was outsmarted by Jack; oh, and he’s cursed as a ghost…for some reason), but he still has great screen presence between Bardem’s intensity and some impressive floaty ghost effects. It’s never made clear why his curse was linked to Jack’s compass, though.

I’ve seen quite a lot of negative reviews for Dead Men Tell No Tales, and indeed I haven’t been exactly glowing with this review either. It’s not nearly as good as the first three, and even the impressive effects aren’t quite as seamless as the past films, which is a little weird. Yet it still has all the ingredients that made the original films so much fun, in particular the visually awesome action and occasional cleverness, and even rights some of the more dubious creative choices of past movies, like bottling the Black Pearl in On Stranger Tides. Plus, Paul McCartney’s got a great unrecognizable cameo! And even with all the copycat characters and less-than-inspired plot points, it has a perfectly fitting end to the story begun fifteen years earlier. At least until the eyebrow-raising after-credits scene segues into a sixth movie. Yep, it’s gonna happen apparently, and I’ll be there once again to be entertained while hoping they don’t mess it up.

Best line: (Carina) “I’m not looking for trouble!”   (Captain Jack Sparrow) “What a horrible way to live.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy? (it’s really Runner-Up material, but it does continue the trilogy’s story and I usually group such series together)

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
565 Followers and Counting

 

April and the Extraordinary World (2015)

Tags

Action, Animation, Family, Fantasy, Foreign, Mystery, Sci-fi

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was to write about how one of a list of impossible things could actually happen, so I thought of a certain highly imaginative film.)

 

“Pigs can’t fly,”
They said. “Of course,
And cats can’t join
The labor force.”

“Clocks can’t chime
Thirteen,” they vowed,
“Nor rewind time.
That’s not allowed.”

But some will hear
Such sober laws,
And ask with thought,
“Why not?” because

The present world
They recognize
Is changing more
Before their eyes.

If they dislike
Such rules, they dream
Worlds where clocks strike
Thirteen, where steam

Propels machines,
Where pigs can fly,
Where magic beans
Grow greens so high,

Where men can grow
Beyond their flaws.
Imagination
Knows no laws.
___________________

MPAA rating: PG

I love animation, and I love discovering hidden gems that remind me why I love animation. April and the Extraordinary World is a delightful case in point. At a time when the U.S. and Japan seem to rule the animation industry, it’s also an important reminder that Europe has no shortage of talent and is just as likely to churn out an instant classic for those willing to search for it.A French-Belgian-Canadian co-production, April and the Extraordinary World is one of the most imaginative films I’ve seen in a while, broadly rewriting history to create a unique steampunk setting, one in which science and technology couldn’t develop beyond the Steam Age. Vegetation has been decimated by fuel needs, and the air is thick with industrial smoke, while the scientists that could improve things have vanished without a trace. After a fast-paced introduction in which everything is significant, we meet April Franklin (Marion Cotillard in the French version, Angela Galuppo in the English dub) and her brilliant family of fugitive scientists. Due to events best seen rather than described, April grows up alone with only her talking cat Darwin (a product of SCIENCE!), and her chemist’s quest for an immortality serum soon turns into a whirlwind adventure as the French government and a mysterious group with advanced technology vie for the scientific secrets of her family.

Animation allows its creators to fashion worlds limited only by their imagination, but most cartoons are content to imagine small. It’s usually Pixar or Ghibli that brings the medium to its full potential, but so does April and the Extraordinary World, which often feels like something one of those two powerhouses would have conceived. Where else are you going to see giant cable cars that run from Paris to Berlin or a helicopter plane escaping an underwater prison? The animation has the distinctive look of a European comic (apparently based on the work of French comic artist Jacques Tardi), and although it seems like it would take some getting used to, it actually flows quite nicely, with plenty of clever detail in the settings and backgrounds. It has strong characters to boot, from resourceful April herself to her quick-witted grandfather, though, as a cat lover, my favorite has to be the talking cat Darwin (Tony Hale in the dub, which also includes Paul Giamatti, J.K. Simmons, and Susan Sarandon).While the imagination is impressive, I could still recognize prior influences for April, most notably 2004’s Steamboy, another steampunk adventure featuring a young protagonist caught in the middle of a scientific power struggle with a similarly explosive ending. Plus, it’s hard to avoid comparisons to Ghibli when there’s an actual house atop mechanized legs á la Howl’s Moving Castle or a polluted atmosphere contrasted with a clean underground biome á la Nausicaä. You might also pick up on traces of Atlas Shrugged and Tomorrowland, though the latter was released the same year as this film. Regardless, April and the Extraordinary World brings all these disparate elements together into a thrilling package that’s better than most of the films I just mentioned.

With a complex and fast-paced storyline and a number of off-screen deaths, it does feel more intelligent and mature than your typical American cartoon (not to mention the detail put into Darwin’s backside), but there’s nothing to make it un-kid-friendly either. By the surprisingly satisfying end, I was just happy to have stumbled upon such an underrated gem, one that no fan of animation should miss.

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
563 Followers and Counting

 

 

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

Tags

Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Thriller

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a poem concerning play or a game, so a movie about a game seemed like a no-brainer, especially since I worked in a bit of rhyme from the film itself. It’s from the perspective of the game.)

Ha, ha! Here they come!
Someone’s found me at last!
I’m as bored as they look
And in need of a blast.
They pause at this chance
To play like in years past.

But though they may believe me lame,
An old, archaic parlor game,
They always play me all the same.

Ha, ha! Here they go!
Fun is not a hard sell.
Well, my fun at least,
Though they’ll have some as well.
It’s time now to play
And perhaps to raise hell.

So when you’re bored, keep me in mind,
“A game for those who seek to find
A way to leave their world behind.”
_______________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

When I first heard that there would be a sequel to Jumanji, a beloved childhood classic for me, I declared it sacrilege. When I saw the trailer for Welcome to the Jungle, I was suspicious but open to this new version of the cinematic game. And now that I’ve seen it, I’m actually surprised at how well it turned out. This is a rare example of a sequel/reboot done right, in that it doesn’t try to live up to its 22-year-old predecessor, instead charting a creative and modern course with the barest homage to the original.

After doing who-knows-what to those French kids at the end of the first movie, the Jumanji game somehow ends up back in New Hampshire, but when faced with the competition of console video games, it transforms itself into a video game. It is later found by a quartet of high schoolers in detention, who are sucked into an actual jungle environment and transformed into highly contrasting avatar bodies: nerdy kid Spencer (Alex Wolff) into a hunky archaeologist (Dwayne Johnson), football player Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain) as a diminutive lackey (Kevin Hart), shy misfit Martha (Morgan Turner) into a butt-kicking heroine (Karen Gillan), and self-absorbed brat Bethany (Madison Iseman) into a fat man (Jack Black).

It sounds complicated when you describe it in detail, but the premise is fairly straightforward as the no-longer-teenagers navigate the dangerous levels of the game in an effort to escape. Turning Jumanji itself into a video game was actually a brilliant idea, keeping it different from the original and updating the concept to our more virtual world. Plus, it allows for a great many jokes as it incorporates the conventions of video games into the very fabric of the plot, such as multiple lives and various abilities and weaknesses.

The main draw for humor, though, is the cast of charismatic stars playing against type…well, except Kevin Hart. He’s his usual rowdy self, but it’s great fun watching the Rock realize his own strength or Jack Black impersonate a teenage girl. Karen Gillan’s attempts to gain more confidence and learn the ways of flirting are particularly funny, and aside from some admittedly amusing penis jokes from Black, the PG-13 rating keeps things both tame and entertaining, even working in a bit of genuine emotion by the end.

As much as I enjoyed the video game reworking of Jumanji, it couldn’t hope to match my fondness for the original, even if it’s infinitely better than I had expected a year ago. I’m glad too that they didn’t try to replace Robin Williams or anything like that, instead offering a subtle reference to confirm this as a respectable sequel. It now makes me wonder if this Jumanji will have the same sense of nostalgia around it twenty-two years from now.

Best line: (Spencer/Bravestone) “It’s a lot easier to be brave when you’ve got lives to spare. It’s a lot harder when you only have one life.”   (Fridge/Moose) “We always only have one life, man. That’s how it is.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
559 Followers and Counting

 

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Tags

Action, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Superhero

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was to write of a villain made relatably human, so I focused on how Loki feels as his father’s second favorite.)

 

Here am I, Loki, a god of Asgard,
Who ought to be king just for trying so hard.

The unchosen heir, second fiddle since birth,
Locked up just for seeking to conquer the earth!

I’m here behind energy fields, and where’s Thor?
Out hogging the glory like so oft before.

Who cares about me, the black sheep of the court,
The outcast brought in to be cast out for sport?

I’m Odin’s chagrin and his family’s regret,
But he and his favorite have seen nothing yet.

One day, they’ll come crawling to me in this jail,
Not knowing how deeply I’ll savor betrayal.
______________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

My family and I have been rewatching all the Marvel movies recently in preparation for Infinity War and to remind us of everything that came before. In doing so, I realized that Thor: The Dark World is the only one I haven’t reviewed, and I couldn’t let that slide. Such an oversight sort of proves that The Dark World is one of the weaker Marvel entries, and, although Thor is one of my least favorite Avengers, it’s still actually quite a solid film in the series.

Picking up after Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returned the Tesseract and an imprisoned Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to Asgard in The Avengers, The Dark World introduces the universe-hating Dark Elves and their secret weapon called the Aether, later revealed to be one of the Infinity Stones. (Can you tell I’m a Marvel nerd yet?) Awakened from exile after Thor’s girlfriend Jane (Natalie Portman) discovers and absorbs the Aether, the Dark Elves seek vengeance on Asgard and, you know, try to destroy the universe.

The Dark World’s biggest problem is its villain, Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), who remains the most forgettable of all of Marvel’s many disposable villains. Not even a Lost alert for Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as a Kursed henchman could make the bad guys anything but dull threats. There’s literally nothing to them except getting the Aether to destroy everything, and the exposition-heavy prologue about the Dark Elves’ history weighs things down in unmemorable mythology.

I suppose mythology could be considered both a strength and a weakness for the first two Thor movies, steeped in Norse lore and Shakespearean pageantry as they are. With the Middle-Earth-style costumes and old English dialogue, they’re rather unique and somewhat sophisticated next to the lighter Marvel movies, yet they can easily become an overly serious bore for those who aren’t interested in those things. That’s likely why Thor: Ragnarok went full-on sci-fi comedy as a contrast, which was both good and bad.

Yet The Dark World’s strengths shouldn’t be forgotten either. Hemsworth and Portman are so admirable and sincere in their roles that they manage to sell their average romance, while Thor boasts outstanding chemistry with his double-crossing adopted brother Loki. Their rivalry is the biggest character highlight of the Thor series, which is probably why Loki has stayed around in all three movies.

The special effects are also as eye-popping and destructive as the rest of Marvel’s repertoire, especially the Dark Elves’ invasion of Asgard, while the scope and adventure of visiting different worlds make it a far grander ride than the first Thor. (Did anyone else notice that the giant rock guy Thor shatters near the beginning looks a lot like Korg from Ragnarok? They may be from the same race.) Plus, I think the orchestral score by Brian Tyler might be one of the best of any Marvel movie, except The Avengers, and a decent balance of gravity and humor keeps things entertaining without going off-the-wall like Ragnarok.

I enjoyed The Dark World more than I remembered, proving that even the lesser Marvel movies have plenty to offer. In fact, despite being more of a Runner-Up, I think I’ll go ahead and make it List-Worthy. Ragnarok found its way onto my Top 365 List last year when the other two Thors didn’t because I thought it was so much better, but I’m going to follow my own rules and put all three together. Even if The Dark World suffers from a bland villain, it’s still a good superhero movie, and I don’t think we comic nerds should be too hard on it.

Best line: (Thor, summing up his relationship with Loki) “I wish I could trust you.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy (joining Thor: Ragnarok)

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
556 Followers and Counting