Ed's Review Dot Com

Warner Bros, Warner Animation Group, LEGO Systems A/S,

Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Jadon Sand, Brooklynn Prince, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill

This sequel to 2014’s “The Lego Movie” [Click Here for review] is a long awaited adventure back into the world of the kids and the games they play with their LEGO bricks. Sometimes “Everything’s Not Awesome” when the citizens are facing a brand new threat of LEGO Duplo invaders from outer space who are set to wrecking the world as we know it. These are amazing invaders that have the ability to reconfigure themselves into all kinds of shapes on a whim. They plan to merge the worlds into one via marriage, so the original group of characters have to try to fight to save the world.

This movie was REALLY fun. I enjoyed every second of this film. First of all, look at the cast! The interesting thing to me, was to make sense of the whole thing by switching back and forth between real life and the imaginary world of two kids sometimes multiple times in the same flight or fall. The absurdity of the huge big sound effects and musical drama to a shot of a plastic LEGO piece tied to a string flying across the bedroom is hysterical and really funny. I started into this film thinking I had wasted my money on the ticket, not to mention wasting my Saturday morning. The though, “What is the point of all this?” did cross my mind a number of times, and the quick cuts from real life to make believe jarred me and confused me. It wasn’t like Mr. Roger’s trolley that takes us back and forth between real and pretend. 🙂 But pretty soon, it hit me with the key to what is going on in the real world which makes the make belive story make sense, and I really got into it. I had forgotten how much I had enjoyed the original film, but this is even better than that, and the LEGO Batman Movie [Click Here for Ed’s Review] and is the strongest of the series. I really liked this, and my grandson and my son who watched it with me all agree that it’s a good movie. Give this one a chance!

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DC Entertainment, LEGO System A/S, Lin Pictures,

Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, Mariah Carey

Batman (Will Arnett) is a loner, but we find he’s just really afraid of being a part of a family again after the terrible thing that happened to his family, but the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) is up to his usual tricks and is planning to break the entire city apart (literally) by joining up with all the other bad guys. Batman finds he can’t do it on his own, no matter how stubborn he is, and may have to accept a little help from a gaggle of friends willing to help out.

This darn movie really surprised me a lot. I really didn’t think it could be anything but cheesy, but dang, I think this is perfect fodder for the grown up little boy in me. Granted, my grandkids who love both Batman and LEGOs really loved it too, but I found the PG-13 in it gave us really funny over their heads zingers that made it really entertaining (and did I say funny) to me as well. This was really well done. With some really fine voice actors including The ‘Puter voice played by Siri herself. I mean there must be a dozen top stars and great talents in this movie along with a lot of other interesting characters that I couldn’t identify. It was a laugh fest from start to finish, and very well animated. I never had the patience for putting LEGO projects together, but I sure had a lot of fun watching the quirks and characteristics these plastic people gave me along with their plastic world. They play it so straight with tongue firmly in the cheek and I found myself laughing out loud many times. I’m sorry I missed seeing this with the grandkids in the theater, but it was sure enough fun watching the DVD at home. This is one of the nicest animated films I’ve seen in a while. Great job guys!

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Gulfstream Pictures, Red Rover International, ToonBox Entertainment,

Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Gabriel Iglesias, Jeff Dunham, Liam Neeson, Katherine Heigl, Stephen Lang, Maya Rudolph, Sarah Gadon, James Rankin

Surly the Squirrel (Will Arnett) has a bad attitude and can’t seem to get along with the other animals in the park. But he’s planning a big heist of peanuts from the processing plant, so he figures to con the others into helping him with the heist. But the humans are also planning a heist, as the processing plant is next to the bank. This creates a whole bunch of problems interfering with both jobs.

This animated adventure story covers the wild animals in the park trying to survive in the world filled with humans. With plenty of well known voices, lots of action, and some pretty darn good artwork, there’s a lot going for this story. It kind of felt like the old Don Bluth films from the Land Before Time series, and An American Tale. The feeling is similar. There are some drawbacks. There’s a lot going on here on many different levels. The film is pretty short. It doesn’t make it to 90 minutes, and so it seems really rushed. Animated films are usually pretty short, but if they’re going to take on all this material they need to give us a little bit more background on the characters. As it is, things happen so fast that it’s hard to keep it all straight. I would think the kids will really like this film. The look and feel is very good, and the artwork surrounding the characters is very good making it very realistic looking. I think there’s enough material to keep the grown-ups entertained as well. Since it’s rather unique in a lot of ways, its not a bad story, and I can recommend this as a family friendly animated film that is something a bit different.

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Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment,

Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Cobie Smulders, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Nick Offerman

This is the story of an absolutely ordinary construction worker Lego figure who is proud to follow the directions and fade into the background. But when he finds a special piece, he becomes “The Chosen One’ to defeat the evil President Business (aka Lord Business) and set order to the world. But he feels anything but special. With the help of some new found friends and a group of master builders, perhaps the world has a chance.

This really popular little animated Lego film grabbed the hearts of all the kids and touched all those of us who remember the days of Legos. Well now the Lego Movie is finally out on DVD, even for us poor suckers at NetFlix and Redbox, and I do suspect Disney/Pixar may have some real competition this year. The Lego Movie is a nearly perfect film for Kids and Grown-ups much to the level of Wreck-It Ralph, and some of the other recent kiddie blockbusters. This is a story with a lot of heart, and we’re guided through the story by the voice of Morgan Freeman. There are a great many terrific actors in this film, and as a result, we get great performances from the animated characters. There are so many “punny” moments in this film that it’s bound to make the grown-ups laugh along with the kids. They may be laughing at different things, but the jokes and puns are so close together that it will keep you in stitches. There is also a lot of heart and great story of what it takes to be truly “special” and how to work as a team. There are so many references to the real world Legos and a short trip to the human world that kind of tips us off to the whole background story. All in all, this was an excellent story, well told with great animation and terrific voices, and as I said, one of the very best animated films I’ve seen in a long time. In fact, it was AWESOME. Of course, when everything is awesome, that doesn’t mean a whole lot. Trust me, you love this one, so if you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to catch it now that it’s out on DVD. I have no doubt the sequel will be out soon. What a terrific movie.

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Studio Ghibli, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Dentsu,

Bridgit Mendler, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Carol Burnett, David Henrie, Moises Arias

The Clock family, Mom, Dad, and Arrietty are tiny people, only 4 inches tall, who live in the walls of a family’s house. These “Borrowers” make expeditions into the house to get only items that are essential, never taking things that will be easily missed, or that they don’t need. But there is a young boy who is very sick has come to live in the house to rest and recover before surgery. When he spots Arrietty, things get dangerous for the little people, as they know that being seen by a human can be very bad for borrowers. This guy though is intrigued with the though of the little poeple and wants to meet and become friends with Arrietty and her family. Meanwhile, the housekeeper Hara (Carol Burnett) is also obsessed with the idea that little people may be living in the house, and set her heart on exterminating them once and for all.

This is a Japanese film, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, and brought to the big screen in America by the Disney folk at Buena Vista, this is a story based on the classic children’s book, “The Borrowers”. I remember not only reading this book myself, but reading it to my boys when there little, so the concept is rather interesting. But this is a real Japanese film, much like “Spirited Away” which Disney brought to the US some years ago. For fans of Japanese animation, this film is sure to please. We hit the theaters on Saturday afternoon with 4 grandchildren in tow. We took up a whole row across the front of the theater, and it was a fantastic experience. I enjoyed the film, and from the looks of the grandchildren, they enjoyed it as much as I did.

It’s colorful, and charming, and the soundtrack is really good. The characters are very well developed, and it’s an engaging story. For a cartoon feature, it’s got everything going for it. There is a separate cast for the US and the UK versions, and of course, an original Japanese cast.

Essentially, this is a really nice film for the whole family. I enjoyed it a lot, and recommend this to share with your kids. It seems to be a time when there are not a lot of kid films out there, and I’m sure this one will be enjoyed by the little ones. If you don’t get a chance to watch this in the theater, at least take a look at it once it comes out on DVD. It’s a well done little animated film.

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