Month: February 2019

Starring: Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect), Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip), Will Arnett (Arrested Development), Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Charlie Day (Pacific Rim), Alison Brie (GLOW), Nick Offerman (Parks & Recreation) 

Director: Mike Mitchell (Shrek Forever After)

Writers: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (21 Jump Street)

Runtime: 1 hour 46 minutes

Release Date: 8 February (US, UK)

You can’t make The Lego Movie again. You just can’t. It was a lightning-in-a-bottle movie that subverted all expectations and took what seems like a cynical brand management exercise on paper and turned it into a biting satire of corporate assimilation and a heart-warming affirmation of Lego’s core tenets. You can’t exactly pull the rug out from under the audience again now that we know where the rug is and what it looks like, so it’s never going to be as effective. The Lego Batman Movie took the right tack by focusing more on lampooning Batman as a character, whilst The Lego Ninjago Movie was more of a generic kids movie that just aped the animation style and comedic tone, so not even The Lego Movie’s spin-offs attempted to follow in its footsteps. Luckily, even acknowledging that we’ve already seen the trick, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part still has plenty up its sleeve and delivers the laughs and heart in ample form.

Picking up right after the events of the first film before jumping five years later, The Lego Movie 2 smartly doesn’t fall back on resetting the status quo in either its main story or framing device. Instead, it does what a smart sequel does and brings in new conflicts and ideas whilst also highlighting unresolved lesser themes of its predecessor. The plot jumps right in and assumes the audience is familiar with its premise and characters, resulting in a slightly rushed first act that seems impatient to get to the point. Luckily, once all the new pieces are in place, the film settles in and then has ample time to cover a wide variety of topics to lampoon, from blockbuster cinema and popular music to Disney musicals and tween romance. However, the subversive undercurrents of the first film are still firmly in place, and the film’s messages about toxic masculinity, sibling rivalry and understanding true maturity over edgelord posturing are incredibly well-summarised and palatable for both the kids and the adults in the audience. Again, the first film pulled pretty much this exact same trick, but even if it’s not as surprising this time it remains emotionally effective, and a natural evolution of what its predecessor set out to do. The only real issue with the film’s storytelling comes in its framing device, which isn’t lampshaded so much this time around and doubles down on the confusing implications of how it affects the main plot and vice versa. The first film luckily didn’t dwell on this too much for it to matter, but this time around it’s a more obvious problem that I wish had been handled in a smarter fashion.

Much of the cast of characters from the first film have returned here, and everyone delivers a stellar vocal performance as expected. Chris Pratt’s Emmet is as lovably goofy as ever whilst not reverting him back to the ineffectual fool he was in the first film. Instead, Lego Movie 2 instead focuses on Emmet’s unending optimism as his core arc this time around, and his quest to “mature” makes for an allegoric journey a lot of young boys really need to hear. In contrast, Pratt also voices new character Rex Dangervest, a humorous send-up of Pratt’s own post-Lego Movie career and a caricature of angst-ridden ciphers loved by insecure teenagers, who makes for a perfect foil to Emmet’s naivety. The rest of the returning cast doesn’t get nearly as much development, mostly serving as comic relief this time around, but they’re a fun presence all the same and there are some standout moments; Batman’s continued mining for arrogant superiority takes a very interesting turn for instance, as does the further exploration of Wyldstyle’s “shameful” history. The two main new additions this time around are Tiffany Haddish and Stephanie Beatriz as Queen Waterva Wa’Nabi and General Mayhem respectively. Whilst Beatriz’s presence is somewhat squandered, especially since her voice is heavily modulated to near-unrecognizable levels for much of the film, Haddish is allowed plenty of room to have fun and be herself; she is certainly the film’s MVP.

The animation of The Lego Movie was astonishing five years ago, rendering an entire world made out of digital plastic bricks and animating it in the vein of stop-motion fan films for one of the most unique aesthetics in animated film history. Again, the novelty factor has well worn-off at this point, but that doesn’t mean Lego Movie 2 looks dated or passé; far from it. The filmmakers have continued to find new ways of doing unexpected things with the Lego format whilst also just having fun with the designs; particular favourites of mine being the Mad Max-inspired city of Apocalypseburg and Dangervest’s fist-shaped spaceship. Music was also a big part of the first movie with the ever-catchy “Everything is Awesome”, and this time they’ve quadrupled down on it. The film not only features a few retoolings of the prior film’s hit tune, but new songs covering a wide variety of bizarre topics that are going to get stuck inside your head quite literally.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part can’t help but pale in comparison to the original, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t try. On the contrary, it brings plenty of new and thought-provoking ideas to the table with that signature Lord & Miller sense of humour and social commentary. Whilst certainly not as good a sequel as Toy Story 2, it does achieve similar ambitions in developing the themes of its predecessor for not only new gags but also surprising emotional depths. I honestly don’t see where else you could take this series without completely aping the aforementioned Pixar franchise’s third entry by exploring what happens when childhood inevitably ends, so sadly I think they’d be best leaving the adventures of Emmet and friends here. Sure, maybe make some more spin-offs, but after this I’d say there’s no reason to do a third Lego Movie unless they come up with a really fresh, revolutionary idea. Then again, doing that seems to be Lord & Miller’s bread and butter, so I wouldn’t totally put it past them to figure out how to do just that.

FINAL VERDICT: 8.5/10

Starring: Rosa Salazar (Maze Runner: The Death Cure), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), Jackie Earl Haley (Watchmen), Keean Johnson (Nashville)

Director: Robert Rodriguez (Sin City)

Writers: James Cameron (Avatar) and Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island)

Runtime: 2 hours 2 minutes

Release Date: 6 February (UK), 14 February (US)

Alita: Battle Angel has been in development on-and-off for nearly two decades now. An adaptation of the Japanese manga, it has been a passion project of James Cameron’s for some time, but his focus on the Avatar franchise has meant this film almost never saw the light of day. But Cameron finally decided to relinquish his baby into the hands of Robert Rodriguez who, after several more release date delays, has finally finished the film to an audience that never particularly asked for it. The final product is certainly what you’d imagine would come out of the minds of two filmmaking veterans with a bottomless budget and enough clout to do whatever they want: a mess. A gloriously entertaining, sincere and often bordering on brilliant mess that is probably going to flop financially but gain a devoted cult following in the process, but a mess nonetheless.

Alita is a film massive in its scope and ambition, and it has a lot to cover in a relatively short amount of time. As a result, the pacing can be a tad rushed at times, especially in its bookending acts. The story gets underway pretty quickly and imparts a lot of exposition very efficiently, which ultimately works because of the character of Alita’s unfamiliarity with the world. It then goes into its second act fairly smoothly, taking time to finally breath with some character beats and thematic exploration. However, the hurried storytelling rears its head again in the third act, with a surprisingly action-bereft climax and a vague hook for a sequel. By this point, it’s almost as if the film blew its wad too early and instead tries to wrap things up instead of working itself up to a proper conclusion; the final cut certainly has the air of a lot of material on the cutting room floor. However, in spite of this, Alita manages to remain a solidly engaging sci-fi flick by focusing in on its strengths: its imagination, its spectacle and, most importantly, its heart. There’s no bones about it that this is a ridiculous film that indulges in its manga origins, and I can’t blame an audience who may end up laughing at some of its concepts more than being in awe of them, but that unabashed confidence would mean nothing if it didn’t have spirit. There’s not a lick of cynicism or arrogance to the whole production, indulging in its bombast and sincerity in a way I haven’t seen done so effectively on an underlying level since The Fifth Element. It definitely balances that fine line most western manga adaptations struggle with, neither being ashamed of its source material nor so beholden to it that a general audience can’t glom onto it (I, for one, have never read the manga). This is a film that never would have gotten made if it wasn’t for the passion of the filmmakers behind it, and that love for the material is certainly on screen. It’s just a question of whether an audience will embrace its idiosyncrasies or scoff at its ludicrousness.

Having a CGI protagonist for a live-action feature is certainly a bold move, but it’s a gamble that paid off for Avatar at least on a technical front. Alita poses a more difficult task with a character that more closely resembles a human than any Na’vi, and luckily it works for the most part; I’ll get into what doesn’t when we get to the technical appraisal. Alita herself is a sweet and surprisingly relatable character, evolving from the literally wide-eyed blank slate she is at the beginning into the undeterred heroine she is by the end, and that is mainly thanks to Rosa Salazar’s performance. She manages to humanize this synthetic character in a similar vein to Haley Joel Osment in A.I., easing in robotic imperfections whilst still playing an undeniably human character, but it’s the confidence and earnestness with which she plays the role that will win audiences over. Alita is at times naïve and even foolish, but there’s always something captivating to me about a character who can be this kind and emotionally open whilst still being able to kick ass royally when push comes to shove. We need more protagonists like Alita, now more than ever.

It’s frankly a shame that the rest of the supporting cast, whilst trying as they might, get a little lost in the shuffle of the perpetually moving plot. Christoph Waltz is saddled with a very loaded character as Dr. Dyson Ido, with an early character turn that will either bring you on board as an audience member or lose you completely. Waltz himself plays along with the absurdity pretty well, though he is perhaps a little too reserved for his own good at points. Ed Skrein is another highlight as bounty hunter Zapan, though in many ways he’s just playing a variant of a similar character he played in Deadpool. Mahershala Ali is a fantastic actor who never phones it in, but here as Motorball master Vector he doesn’t exactly shine; I’d put that more on a lack of compelling material than the fault of the actor. Jennifer Connelly fares worse as Dyson’s estranged ex Chiren, whose motivations feel a little underdeveloped and her usefulness to the plot mostly incidental. Relative newcomer Keean Johnson has a fair bit to shoulder as Alita’s love interest Hugo, and whilst he is mostly serviceable and occasionally even pretty convincing, there are some moments where he comes off as more robotic than the literal cyborgs that make up most of its cast. The smaller roles are filled out with a few interesting faces, namely Rodriguez regulars Michelle Rodriguez and Jeff Fahey, but the most interesting of all I will not spoil. All I can say is: if this film miraculously gets the sequel it clearly wants, I’d be surprised if this actor commits to this role.

James Cameron is something of a perfectionist when it comes to his technical presentation, often delaying projects for years until the technology is up to his standards, and you can’t say that Alita has anything but the finest tech in the film industry behind it. This futuristic vision of Earth in the 26^th century is rendered in glorious detail, with a culture-smashing production design that takes some getting used to, but it’s easily the most cohesive translation of a manga to live-action so far. It embraces the far out concepts like rocket-propelled warhammers and extreme roller derby, but grounds it just enough to keep it from feeling too unreal. The visual effects are outstanding across the board, a given for a Cameron production, but the execution is not without faults. Whilst Alita herself is generally rendered and animated beautifully, there are still some dips into the uncanny valley from time to time, which isn’t helped by enlarging the part of the face most responsible for that disconnect. However, those slight foibles thankfully don’t put a damper on the film’s fantastic action set pieces. Rodriguez has always had an eye for action but always on a budget, and here he is finally given the toybox to go all out. From Alita’s many battles with cyborg assailants to the high-speed exhiliration of the Motorball sequence, these scenes are practically worth the price of admission on their own, and it only makes the lack of a compelling climax that much more disappointing. In the music department, Tom Holkenborg does a strong job of combining his usual techno-inspired score with a more traditional score that evokes the late James Horner, whilst Dua Lipa’s tie-in single “Swan Song” is an enjoyable pop tune that thematically synchs up with the film’s themes of self-discovery and defiance.

I will not deny it: Alita: Battle Angel is not a film for everyone. By most metrics, it is yet another big budget disaster so over-the-top and cheesy at times that it borders on self-parody. Often, it doesn’t even resemble a Robert Rodriguez or a James Cameron film, but a instead a late-period Wachowskis production. However, even upfront acknowledging that this is a problematic movie on several levels, I can’t help but be in awe of this movie. What Alita has that films like Speed Racer or Jupiter Ascending lacked is an appropriate amount of restraint, and an earnest commitment to its own internal logic. I can’t say this film has finally cracked the code on how to adapt manga in the west, and honestly I don’t think Hollywood should keep trying in most cases, but Alita is probably closer to nailing it than any other prior production. Would I watch more Alita movies? Hell yeah, in a heartbeat. But do I actually expect them to get made? Not at all. Alita: Battle Angel was a movie pretty much destined to fail in the eyes of the general audience, but this is an early contender for best guilty pleasure movie of 2019. This easily ranks up there for me with the likes of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter as a movie I know most people will hate, but that I will unabashedly stan for.

FINAL VERDICT: 7.5/10

Starring: Jay Baruchel (This Is the End), Gerard Butler (300), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), Craig Ferguson (Kick-Ass), Jonah Hill (22 Jump Street), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad), Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids), Kit Harington (Game of Thrones), F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus)

Writer/Director: Dean DeBlois (Lilo & Stitch)

Runtime: 1 hour 44 minutes

Release Date: 1 February (UK), 22 February (US)

The third and final entry to the How to Train Your Dragon saga has been a tumultuous one, going through several delays, story changes, and yet another studio shift for Dreamworks. It’s been by no means as prolonged a wait as Incredibles 2 or Mary Poppins Returns, but it’s a worrying trend nonetheless. With that much time between films, you always run the risk of the audience moving on, or building so much anticipation that the final product will never live up to expectations. Whilst The Hidden World by no means surpasses the lofty heights of its predecessors, it is still an exciting and heartfelt animated film that brings the story of Hiccup and Toothless to an appropriate end.

The Hidden World starts off with a bang and the pacing rarely lets up from there. Despite being the longest film in the trilogy (and Dreamworks’ entire animated catalogue for that matter), this instalment gets to the point and breezes by efficiently. There’s a lot less downtime this time around, with more focus on action sequences and a plot that keeps moving forward, but that doesn’t mean the film is completely lacking in substance. Character motivation and development is still handled well, but just in a more efficient manner, and having already spent so much time with these characters it’s a welcome change. What The Hidden World unfortunately lacks in comparison to its predecessors is a sense of urgency and consequence. Despite on paper these being the highest stakes Hiccup and his friends have faced, the film never quite pulls the rug out from underneath the audience in a shocking way; something which both previous films did frequently and effectively. Though executed with plenty of visual flair and wit, the story ultimately goes how you’d expect, and it’s hard not to expect more from the film when its predecessors constantly defied expectations. Luckily, the film’s final moments ultimately bring it all together in a really touching and affirming way. It’s not exactly Toy Story 3-levels of tear jerking, but it comes pretty close, and I honestly couldn’t have thought of a better way to wrap up this story.

Despite often being typecast as the awkward oddball with the funny voice, Jay Baruchel’s performance as Hiccup over the course of three films has really evolved into something greater. Though the character still has his geeky side, he is a seasoned badass hero by this point, and Baruchel’s performance is playful yet brave and touching; he has grown up just as much as Hiccup has. His band of friends have equally matured whilst still keeping true to the hearts of their characters, and they all get great moments to shine. Ruffnut and Tuffnut are especially great this time around, with Kristen Wiig stealing the show in a standout scene, whilst Justin Rupple slips into the role of Tuffnut so well you’ll barely even notice that he’s completely changed voice actor (and thank heavens, I didn’t want to have to praise a movie that stars T.J. Miller in 2019!) Some of the other side characters feel a little underserved, especially Cate Blanchett’s Valka and Kit Harington’s Eret, but their voice work is still top notch, whilst the film finds an effective way of bringing Gerard Butler’s Stoick back in for some sincere flashback scenes. F. Murray Abraham serves as our villain this time around as dragon killer Grimmel, bringing a Bela Lugosi-inspired accent and some dry wit to proceedings. He’s easily the most engaging and charismatic antagonist the series has had so far, but unfortunately they don’t do quite enough to develop him. Heck, the bad guy from How to Train Your Dragon 2 got way more development in comparison, and he was the only bad thing about that otherwise flawless movie.

Where the How to Train Your Dragon movies have always wowed, especially in comparison to the rest of Dreamworks’ output, is in the beauty of their presentation. The childlike yet detail-rich designs of the world of dragons continue to fascinate as new dragon species and Viking tech are constantly introduced, and the animation itself is crisper and more fluid than ever. There’s maybe not quite so many iconic “put it on the wall and frame it” shots this time around, but with Roger Deakins as your visual consultant you’re never going to end up with a bad-looking picture. John Powell’s score continues to be this franchise’s secret weapon, churning out familiar but rousing tunes that stand up there with the best soundtracks for animated features, and whilst I unfortunately didn’t see The Hidden World in 3D this time around I’m sure it’s as engrossing and worth the extra price as its predecessors; so few 3D films are these days.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is neither as surprising as the first or as gamechanging as the second, but it delivers where it counts. Everything you loved about the previous movies is back and just as good as ever, but that’s kind of the crux of the problem: it just doesn’t bring enough new to the table. Even so, there’s rarely a frame of this adventure that isn’t bursting with charm and wonder, and as a final entry to these adventures it closes the book in a satisfying way so few franchises can claim to have. I’m going to miss Hiccup and Toothless, but their story has run its course far enough. I just wish Dreamworks had better franchises to pick up the slack in its stead. Instead we get more Trolls and Boss Baby, and they’re already talking about rebooting Shrek for some reason…

FINAL VERDICT: 8.5/10