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Peter Pan (2003)
Peter Pan (2003)
2003 | Family, Sci-Fi
6
7.5 (17 Ratings)
Movie Rating
"All children grow up. Except one"
Live action version of JM Barrie's famous tale of the Boy who Never Grew Up, casting Jason Isaacs in the dual role of Mr Darling/Captain Hook, which makes me wonder is Captain Hook supposed to be the sterner side of their father, as seen through children's eyes!

Anyway, it's all here: Peter Pan himself, Tinkerbell, Neverland (including some rather scary mermaids for a family film!), The Lost Boys, Smee and Captain Hook, the alarm-clock swallowing crocodile that follows the latter ...
  
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Dean (6925 KP) rated Free Guy (2021) in Movies

Aug 13, 2021 (Updated Aug 13, 2021)  
Free Guy (2021)
Free Guy (2021)
2021 | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Funny (2 more)
Jodi Comer
Brilliant SFX
Live action GTA
A real blast of a film with so much going on. I saw a trailer a long way back and thought it could be fun, but didn't expect such a blockbuster film.
It's a real mix of Ready Player One meets the The Truman Show. A non playable Character in a game suddenly becomes alive and decides to make his own decisions after encountering a player in the game.
The film is funny and will be especially fun for those who do play video games. Feeling like a real life version of a GTA game. The SFX to recreate so much crazy video game action in real life is great.
Definitely an enjoyable film worth seeing at the cinema and one I can imagine watching multiple times in future.
  
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Dean (6925 KP) rated Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) in Movies

Apr 2, 2022 (Updated Apr 2, 2022)  
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
2020 | Action, Adventure, Animation
Good cast (1 more)
SFX
I feel the need for...
Well I still remember getting my Sega Megadrive in the early 90's and Sonic the Hedgehog came with it. It was a truly fast, fun colourful game. Not exactly the type of game you'd expect a live action film version of. Glad they redesigned the look of Sonic to suit the game more.
It's a pretty fun, light family action film. The friendship between Sonic and Doughnut Lord (James Marsden) was done nicely. It's fairly amusing at times and even has some big budget effects that look cool. Jim Carrey was made for this type of role of Dr Robotnik.
Whether you played the games back in the day or just need a fun family film this is one everyone should enjoy. The sequel out soon looks pretty good as well.
  
Aladdin (2019)
Aladdin (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Musical
The Music(it's Disney) (4 more)
The Special Effects(it's Disney)
The Atmosphere
The Cast & Characters
One last bit... in the review
Trying just a little too hard in some spots(and not hard enough in some others) (0 more)
Live-Action Magic
Contains spoilers, click to show
Disney has been on a kick of redoing their animated masterpieces into live action masterpieces. It worked with Cinderella... Jungle Book was flawed, but still wild... and Beauty and the Beast was simply Beautiful. So... was this reimagining of Aladdin up to par...

You are damn right it was.

Let's get this out of the way first. Live action musicals still make me feel awkward. Granted, this is Disney... but animated musicals feel just fine. That being said, the numbers were spot on for the most part, while still being slightly altered for the cast in the present. Yes, that includes slight tweaks due to Will Smith being an actual musician(as much as I love Robin Williams, he was not). And those were made(dammit... sorry for the pun)... Fresh.

Acting on point. Because Disney. Sorry, but it's true.

Was the movie perfect? No. It does have some flaws, but nothing that hinders the movie overall. And most of them for me where solely because of the musical numbers. That being said, "Speechless"... bravo Alan Menken.

There is one part of this version that does IMPROVE over the original. The City of Agrabah. The animated version felt nothing more than a backdrop, but this City felt like it was organic. Like an ACTUAL city they were fighting for.

Other changes were proper... made it more modern. Including Jasmine motivation(instead of marrying who she wants, she is made Sultan... so she can protect and serve her people... she marries Aladdin anyway)... and Jafar's true plans(he didn't just want Agrabah, he wanted to conquer the neighboring nations, as well). Jafar in the original was DRAWN menacing... live action Jafar was devious due to his ambitions. Good job, Disney.

How about the Genie? How did Will Smith do? Well... he was great. BUT Disney did something different this time. In the original, because Robin was the star, it put extra focus on how outrageous he was. Will Smith was the billed star, but they put more focus on who the story was really about... Aladdin. Will Smith served a purpose. He might've been the bigger name, but he did NOT play the biggest part. At least, that is what I feel happened.... and it was for the better.

Was it as good as the original? No. Because there is no true comparison. If you haven't seen it... please... erase the original from your mind for a moment... go see this one... then go back and watch the original. While we KNOW the comparison... there shouldn't be one. This live-action version isn't exactly the same, and it shouldn't be. Askewed focus... different delivery... it maybe Disney's remake, but this version should be approached as if you were watching it from a different perspective......

Treat it as if it were it's own movie.

And know this... the best positive of all...

Robin would've loved it.
  
Black Panther (2018)
Black Panther (2018)
2018 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Great cast (2 more)
Lots of action
Interesting story
The typical marvel formula (2 more)
Too many characters to develop each one
Boring villain
Are we finally feeling marvel fatigue?
I do feel this movie is very overrated. It was good sure but not as good as what people have made it out to be.

This could just be superhero fatigue. Or maybe it's just marvel fatigue because I'm still interesyed in what DC will offer. This just didn't feel very unique to me. Marvel seems to focus a lot on action, set pieces, CGI than its characters. The villain was boring and underdeveloped. It did have strong female characters, I'll give it that but was very underused. Black panther is well cast.

There were parts of this movie that felt very ironman and other parts that felt very James bond weirldy enough. There were times the CGI was distracting and when they tried to be too funny it didn't work. I'm talking about the car chase scene.

I knew nothing about black panther going in except was was in civil war and I'm not sure where they are going to go with the character.

I know I'm talking negatively but don't get me wrong the action was fun. The fight scenes were well choreographed, I live Martin Freeman in everything and it was interesting to see wakanda with all the technological advances. It's nots a bad movie, it was just overrated and just didn't live up to expectations. They falled flat in many areas.
  
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Lee (2222 KP) Jul 19, 2018

This one was a really pleasant surprise for me. I wasn't sold on the trailer at all - it just looked far too busy and messy, whereas every other Marvel trailer tends to blow me away. I even waited a couple of weeks before seeing it at the cinema (which is NOT like me at all!). I actually really loved it though, and it's right up there as one of my favourite Marvel movies. But then, I seem to be one of the few people that was disappointed with Spider-Man: Homecoming, so my opinion does seem to differ from others! I feel you do make some valid points in your review though.

Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
2017 | Fantasy, Musical, Romance
Contains spoilers, click to show
It was true to the animated classic that we all know and love!! There was a couple of added scenes and some things were altered for the sake of the live action shoot. My favorite added scene was the trip to where Belle was born, it added so much more to the story and the characters connection with each other. I also loved the development of the character Belle, the way we get more depth and background with her versus what we got in the original animated movie story. All in all I have to say was very impressed with the movie!!!
  
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David McK (3248 KP) rated The Jungle Book (2016) in Movies

Jun 30, 2019 (Updated Jul 18, 2020)  
The Jungle Book (2016)
The Jungle Book (2016)
2016 | Action, Family
Pseudo Live action remake (or should that be re-telling?) of the 1967 Jazz-tastic Disney original, with a star studded voice cast that includes Bill Murray (as Baloo), Ben Kingsley (Bagheera), Idris Elba (Shere Khan), Scarlett Johansson (Ka) and Christoper Walken (King Louis).

It's rather weird, however, seeing/hearing these voices come out the impressive-CGI'd creatures: for me, a disassociation that the film never really gets over.

But, yes, the "Bear Necessities" and "I want to be like you" both do get a reprise in this movie, but neither version can hold a candle to the original.
  
Aladdin (2019)
Aladdin (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Musical
In terms of the Disney live-action remakes, Aladdin falls somewhere in the middle. Not nearly as good as The Jungle Book or Christopher Robin, but not nearly as bad as an Alice In Wonderland. An updated story is just enough to not make it a carbon copy, but they did eliminate a lot of the magic from the original in the places that counted most, the music. Its saving grace is Naomi Scott and Will Smith, who jointly bring superb charisma and carry the film to the very last scene.

Full Review: https://jumpcutonline.co.uk/review-aladdin-2019/
  
The Lion King (2019)
The Lion King (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Animation, Family
Finally got round to watching this film. The effects were fantastic. The movie almost stayed true to its original form apart from random word changes here and there (I saw the original so much thanks to my autistic baby sister, that I know it word for word) they also slightly changed the song notes in places. I found some of the acting to be slightly forced. Overall the film was ok, but I stand by the opinion that the original animated movies are better than the updated “live action” ones. Would watch again but only if there was little else to watch
  
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Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) rated Beauty and the Beast (2017) in Movies

May 27, 2020 (Updated Sep 21, 2020)  
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
2017 | Fantasy, Musical, Romance
Musical numbers (2 more)
Casting
Special effects
A little too camp (0 more)
Be....our....critic
Beauty and the beast is a live action adaptation of the 1991 Disney classic of the same name.

Set in the cockney part of France where everyone speaks English, the tale as old as time follows a young village girl who is desperately trying to avoiding marrying the wrong guy and uses this as an excuse to seek her missing father who's been imprisoned by a beast who technically doesn't exist...

A tale about speed dating wth a twist, this is a beautiful story of personal growth & acceptance.