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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019

Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)

2016 | Animation, Family

6.2

(13 Ratings)

Movie Rating

The fifth installment of the franchise hit Ice Age reunites us with Manny
the mammoth (Ray Romano) and his two best friends, Diego the Sabre-tooth
Tiger (Denis Leary) and Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo). Over the course of
the first 4 films, the unlikely trio become the best of friends,
introduction of love interests for both Manny and Diego, and the birth of a
Manny’s little girl. In this chapter, Manny and Ellie’s daughter Peaches
(Keke Palmer) is engaged to Julian. Manny’s struggle to let go of his
little girl causes tension with his relationship with Julian (Adam Devine).

The unlikely herd is struck by a meteor shower, that was as usual caused by
Scrat the squirrel, that forces them underground back to to land of
Dinosaurs. The return of hyperactive weasel Buck (Simon Peg) is the
highlight of movie, with his unconventional tactics, outlandish anecdotes
and death defying acrobatics. Buck figures out a large asteroid is headed
towards Earth threatening to destroy the entire planet. The only way to
stop the asteroid from it’s extinction level destruction is to find a way
to divert the asteroid away from the planet using magnetic force. And, so
begins the adventure of the herd trying to find the town of Geotopia and
using its sacred gems to help create the magnetic field needed.

They are definitely trashing the laws of paleontology and geology with this
film. The far fetched plot line leaves little to be desired compared to
the story line of its predecessors. The audience is kept busy dealing with
boring family squabbles and Sid desperate to still find love. If it wasn’t
for the role of Buck, the adult audience would consider this movie to be a
complete flop. The younger generation will be scratching their heads
wondering if this scenario is even plausible. I know, my 8 year old kid
was questioning it! Nonetheless, there was enough slap stick comedy and
antics to keep kids entertained and parents chuckling.

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019

Hotel Transylvania 2 is a new animated family film from Columbia Films, produced by Sony.

It has a huge voice cast, including stars Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Fran Dresher, Molly Shannon, Megan Mullally, Dana Carvey, Mel Brooks & Jon Lovitz.

This movie was super cute. The adult audience, myself included, laughed out loud, a lot. The kids thought it was hilarious, too.

One thing I liked a lot is that NOT all the good parts are in the commercials and previews, which means there is still “movie left to see” when you get to actually see the film, which is frequently not the case with highly advertised films.

The movie picks up where the first one left off, showing the wedding of Drac’s daughter Mavis to human Jonathan, and quickly jumping from there to the birth of a child (a son! (Named Dennis)) and then to the boys fourth birthday.

When Dennis doesn’t show any signs of his vamp heritage, Drac feels he must step in and try to help the boy “find his fangs”. Jonathan’s parents are none too thrilled with this turn of events and protest in words and actions.

The overall tone of the movie is happy, and teaches a lesson of acceptance.

The chemistry that showed up in the first film, is back in force between Dracula and his hotel buddies, and causes the movie to flow along without any major hiccups.

The jokes are cute, and play to both the kids and to adult humor.

There wasn’t anything that I found to be so inappropriate that it made my grind my teeth, which was a nice change in a children’s film.

If I had to make a complaint, it would honestly be that the movie seemed to almost move TOO quickly and I could have sat through another 20 minutes at least. Even though it’s run time is 90 minutes, it doesn’t “feel like” it lasts that long, and even my 7 year old son said it was ‘a quick movie’.