Turns out I was dead on in my expectations. It was cool to see them try something other than your traditional uplifting kids story and play with the themes of divorce and the loneliness of childhood, but as I foretold, 7 sentences do not a 90 minute movie make. There was a lot of space and boredom to be had, so I used the time to practice not being embarrassed in public.
No matter how the movie actually was, the puppets looked amazing. It was reminiscent of the giant puppet parade I used to see as a child up in the cities. Great big things that move both like people and like puppets at the same time and inspire wonder. The CG they did with the mouths, too... very impressive. It legitimately looks like the giant live action monsters are moving their mouths as they speak, and not just in a Kermit the Frog up and down way. I mean a forming of each syllable way. Very cool.
There were some surprisingly dark scenes. The end was just kind of sad, and it's not a totally happy ending. Max doesn't solve any of his problems, he just learns that freaking out isn't the best way to deal with them. My favorite part of the movie, however, is this almost The Talented Mr. Ripley moment where the main wild thing freaks out and tears another guy's arm off. In a PG movie. Then it starts "bleeding" this white goop... it's scarey, man. Plus, after that, the guy who's now missing an arm doesn't, say, reattach his arm. Oh no. He grabs a stick that looks sort of like an arm and wears it around in his shoulder socket like a snowman. What the crap, guys.
The most infuriating part of the movie were the voices. I recognized almost everyone, but couldn't remember from where. IMDB saved me from tearing my ears out after I'd gotten home. This is a common phenomenon: recognizing a voice is easy, but pinpointing who's voice it is without their face there on the screen is much harder. Anyway, this seems to me like prime time to play another round of
Spot The Actor
I'll post a picture (and maybe a youtube link to give you the voices), and you tell me who that actor is or what else they've been in. Hoo Ha!
In order, we have Carol, Douglas, Judith, KW, The Bull, Alexander, and Ira. I think. If those names are wrong I'll be very sad, but what can you do. I know I at least thought I recognized the voices of Carol, KW, Judith and Ira, but I couldn't place any of them without IMDB help. What about you?
But yeah. Pretty mediocre movie. Like most modern pop culture films, it looks great and is only tolerable in the long run. At least they tried new stuff even if it didn't pan out too well for them.
SAM'S VERDICT: It's a kids movie, guys. And not one made by Disney or Pixar. What were you expecting?
Girlfriend thought it was cute, at least. Though Ponyo is probably a better choice if that's what you're in the mood for.
Spot The Actor Answers:
1. James Gandolfini. The Soprano's star. Also the American general from In The Loop.
2. Chris Cooper. I saw him in Breach a few years ago.
3. Catherine O'Hara. I think I know her best from the Waiting for Guffman documentaries.
4. Lauren Ambrose. Apparently she was in Cold Souls, but I don't recognize her.
5. No one actually cares who this guy was.
6. Paul Dano of Little Miss Sunshine fame. Nice 5 degrees of Kevin Bacon connection with Steve Carell.
7. Forest Whitaker. He's probably famous, but I don't know who he is.
Lauren Ambrose was amazing as one of the main characters in Six Feet Under.
ReplyDeleteForest Whitaker is great, too. Best Actor 2006 for The Last King of Scotland, in which he played both the charisma and the insanity of Idi Amin.
After thinking about the movie I think it delivered what it promised- It made me remember being a kid... The scene you talked about with ripping off the arm is a good example of this. It doesn't make any sense to grab a stick instead of the actual arm but as a kid, that is what you would do... Same thing with the vampire story. Unfortunately, remembering your childhood gets boring after about 10 minutes.
ReplyDeleteNah, remembering your childhood can get you through a week of boredom. It's remembering exactly one thing for 90 minutes that gets old.
ReplyDeleteI like your point about the stick. It does make a perfect child-like sort of sense.
I wasn't bored at all. But I must be one of the few. The movie looked amazing, I was really digging on the colors. And I loved the soundtrack of Karen O with a choir of children.
ReplyDeleteThe (only) bad thing about this movie (for me) was that this was not one of my favorite childhood books, unlike SO many of the people that went to see it. I read it, maybe once, so I hardly remembered it. I had been excited since I first found out it was being made, but honestly, I can't even remember what the book looked like. Downer.
I totally believe that, Marie. You're such an art person while I'm such a stroy person (or at least for this giant generalization I'm going to say we are), and this movie is great at one and bad at the other.
ReplyDelete