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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Shaun of the Dead (2004) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
With the recent influx of the walking dead at your local multiplex, it would be easy to dismiss the British film “Shaun of the Dead” as just another cheap zombie film. While few will mistake “Shaun” as a landmark in cinematic history, but despite its flaws, there are a few funny moments on the film.
The film attempts to mix horror and comedy and largely but works best if viewed as a comedic satire of the genre. Shaun, (Simon Pegg), (who also helped write the film), is a working class stiff who toils away his time in an London district selling electronics by day and squiring the love of his life Liz (Kate Ashfield), to the local pub much to her dismay as the monotony of the situation and Shaun’s obscene slacker friend Ed (Nick Frost), have worn on her last nerve.
Despite getting an ultimatum from Liz to take her to someplace other than the pub, Shaun becomes distracted and fails to secure a table elsewhere, causing Liz to storm out and send Shaun into a spiral as he begins to question his place in life and suspect that there is much more that he should be doing.
As if this was not enough of a burden for Shaun to endure, the local population seems to be acting oddly as reports of mayhem and carnage are starting to arise and the streets start to fill with Zombies. At first Shaun and Ed are oblivious to the changes around them as they continue their daily routines without noticing the blood stains, bodies and walking dead in the neighborhood, that is until one decided to attack.
Shaun and Ed soon get a nasty dose of reality and Shaun eventually decides that he must get his mother and Liz to safety, so armed with his Cricket bat, he takes on the grisly horde of undead against overwhelming odds.
While the film does have some good comedic moments, it drags horribly for the last 20 minutes as only a funny but albeit brief segment involving a zombie attack to a Queen classic is the only respite in the monotone that the film crawls to. The biggest problem is that the film seems to run out of material about 40 minutes in and the makers of the film try to stretch the film using standards from past zombie films. We have the desperate stand in a surrounded building, the improvised weapons, the infighting between survivors, and the classic bearing of the soul when it seems darkest.
I do admire the creative element that the creators of the film came up with especially with the obvious budget restrictions they were under. That being said, the film is not worthy of the praise that is being heaped upon it. Yes, it shows promise for the cast, and yes it is a nice twist on the tired zombie genre, but any momentum that was gained in the early portion of the film is quickly destroyed by the sputtering plot that crawls its way to the finish with a ho-hum climax that will disappoint any in the audience who still care.
The film attempts to mix horror and comedy and largely but works best if viewed as a comedic satire of the genre. Shaun, (Simon Pegg), (who also helped write the film), is a working class stiff who toils away his time in an London district selling electronics by day and squiring the love of his life Liz (Kate Ashfield), to the local pub much to her dismay as the monotony of the situation and Shaun’s obscene slacker friend Ed (Nick Frost), have worn on her last nerve.
Despite getting an ultimatum from Liz to take her to someplace other than the pub, Shaun becomes distracted and fails to secure a table elsewhere, causing Liz to storm out and send Shaun into a spiral as he begins to question his place in life and suspect that there is much more that he should be doing.
As if this was not enough of a burden for Shaun to endure, the local population seems to be acting oddly as reports of mayhem and carnage are starting to arise and the streets start to fill with Zombies. At first Shaun and Ed are oblivious to the changes around them as they continue their daily routines without noticing the blood stains, bodies and walking dead in the neighborhood, that is until one decided to attack.
Shaun and Ed soon get a nasty dose of reality and Shaun eventually decides that he must get his mother and Liz to safety, so armed with his Cricket bat, he takes on the grisly horde of undead against overwhelming odds.
While the film does have some good comedic moments, it drags horribly for the last 20 minutes as only a funny but albeit brief segment involving a zombie attack to a Queen classic is the only respite in the monotone that the film crawls to. The biggest problem is that the film seems to run out of material about 40 minutes in and the makers of the film try to stretch the film using standards from past zombie films. We have the desperate stand in a surrounded building, the improvised weapons, the infighting between survivors, and the classic bearing of the soul when it seems darkest.
I do admire the creative element that the creators of the film came up with especially with the obvious budget restrictions they were under. That being said, the film is not worthy of the praise that is being heaped upon it. Yes, it shows promise for the cast, and yes it is a nice twist on the tired zombie genre, but any momentum that was gained in the early portion of the film is quickly destroyed by the sputtering plot that crawls its way to the finish with a ho-hum climax that will disappoint any in the audience who still care.
Darren (1599 KP) rated Black Water (2008) in Movies
Jul 25, 2019
Story: Black Water starts when Grace (Glenn) her husband Adam (Rodoreda) and her younger sister Lee (Dermody) are off on an adventure across Northern Australia, visiting a crocodile farm before heading out into the black water for a fishing day with guide Jim (Oxenbould).
When their small boat is capsized by a crocodile the family find themselves hiding in the trees waiting to see if the crocodile has gone before making their decision on how to escape.
Thoughts on Black Water
Characters – Grace is the married pregnant old sister, she is using the trip to make the announcement to her husband, once the attack happens she wants to protect her younger sister, while trying to think of a logical way out of the situation. Lee is the younger sister that is on the trip for her first adventure, she doesn’t have anything about her to make her feel unique other than that she seems to sleep a lot. Adam is the husband that suggest the trip, once trapped he wants to use the quick option to safety which might be the more dangerous one.
Performances – When we look at the performances we must start with the negatives, it doesn’t help that the characters are written very weakly, which gives the three main stars very little to work with, must of what they need to do is sit in a tree have the same conversation.
Story – The story here is simple, we follow three people that get trapped by a crocodile in the middle is the North Australian waters, they must figure out how to survive and this is sold on based on a true story. there are plenty of things which don’t help the story here, first we don’t get a chance to get to know the characters well enough, they are mostly just generic because we don’t know enough to care about them. We get the same conversation about what is the best idea for seemingly ages without any action being followed. We do get to follow the normal animal attack story which mostly revolves around screaming over anything else.
Action/Horror – The action isn’t shot with the best style, we know what is happening, its just most of the action is off camera which makes it hard to believe the crocodile attacks.
Settings – The film puts us in the middle of the black water in North Australia which is does put our characters in a place where rescue isn’t an option and escaping isn’t one either.
Special Effects – The effects for the after attacks look like good strong practical effects, when we start seeing the attack in progress we lose something about what we are seeing.
Scene of the Movie – The feeding night.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We see to have the same conversation 4 or 5 times.
Final Thoughts – This is a simple animal attack movie that lacks that extra quality to make us truly disturbed by what we are seeing, we have dull characters and poorly shot action.
Overall: Simple animal attack film.
When their small boat is capsized by a crocodile the family find themselves hiding in the trees waiting to see if the crocodile has gone before making their decision on how to escape.
Thoughts on Black Water
Characters – Grace is the married pregnant old sister, she is using the trip to make the announcement to her husband, once the attack happens she wants to protect her younger sister, while trying to think of a logical way out of the situation. Lee is the younger sister that is on the trip for her first adventure, she doesn’t have anything about her to make her feel unique other than that she seems to sleep a lot. Adam is the husband that suggest the trip, once trapped he wants to use the quick option to safety which might be the more dangerous one.
Performances – When we look at the performances we must start with the negatives, it doesn’t help that the characters are written very weakly, which gives the three main stars very little to work with, must of what they need to do is sit in a tree have the same conversation.
Story – The story here is simple, we follow three people that get trapped by a crocodile in the middle is the North Australian waters, they must figure out how to survive and this is sold on based on a true story. there are plenty of things which don’t help the story here, first we don’t get a chance to get to know the characters well enough, they are mostly just generic because we don’t know enough to care about them. We get the same conversation about what is the best idea for seemingly ages without any action being followed. We do get to follow the normal animal attack story which mostly revolves around screaming over anything else.
Action/Horror – The action isn’t shot with the best style, we know what is happening, its just most of the action is off camera which makes it hard to believe the crocodile attacks.
Settings – The film puts us in the middle of the black water in North Australia which is does put our characters in a place where rescue isn’t an option and escaping isn’t one either.
Special Effects – The effects for the after attacks look like good strong practical effects, when we start seeing the attack in progress we lose something about what we are seeing.
Scene of the Movie – The feeding night.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We see to have the same conversation 4 or 5 times.
Final Thoughts – This is a simple animal attack movie that lacks that extra quality to make us truly disturbed by what we are seeing, we have dull characters and poorly shot action.
Overall: Simple animal attack film.
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated I Was Here in Books
Jan 23, 2020
Well, here's to my first contemporary audiobook.
Gayle Forman's latest novel didn't exactly give me the feels as much as <i>If I Stay</i> did. <i>I Was Here</i> mainly focuses on Cody, a girl who finds her best friend Meg's suicide a bit fishy and decides to look deeper into her death.
From all of the flashbacks, Cody is obviously a follower – a shadow to Meg. After Meg's death, Cody is a little lost – she's grieving, she wants to find out if Meg actually did commit suicide (or if someone coerced her into it), and all of that leads her to dig deeper into Meg's past year at college. With Cody trying to find her own footsteps after Meg's death, <i>I Was Here</i> felt like a coming of age story.
It's also a story where all of those online safety rules that I learned in elementary school are flipped upside down. I don't know if I should say Cody is just a really stupid character, or a really brave character. Perhaps both. In her digging, Cody is led to an online suicide support group that Meg frequented on, which eventually leads her to a user Meg communicated off the boards as well. In an attempt to weed out the user, Cody decides to pose as a suicidal person as well, which eventually leads her to finding out the person's address (with help) and Cody actually decides to go to that person's home.
I still don't know whether to call Cody an idiot or not. Obviously she has balls to try and find out what really caused Meg's death, and she's obviously not an idiot if she brings someone with her.
Jorjeana Marie seemed quite platonic throughout most of the narration – either for the possible effect of Cody being platonic as she finds her path, or another reason entirely. It was also difficult at times to tell if Marie was making an attempt to have a different voice for male and female characters. If the character was angry or snapping at another character, you can tell there's a bit of rage or snap if you listen closely, but when you're walking to work when there are cars driving by, it's actually hard to tell if Marie did snap.
Marie does, however, do a fantastic job in the very emotional parts of the book, especially when Cody or Ben or any of the other characters are crying. I almost believed the narrator was actually crying, or an actual kid came in and narrated a kid part. I doubt there are books that mainly consists of crying, but if there are, I'm half expecting to see Jorjeana Marie's name on the back. :p
The entire novel is really just about a girl who lived under a shadow of another girl, and when that girl died, the shadow has to try and find her own path without that person. <i>I Was Here</i> isn't exactly emotional unless you can <i>really</i> connect with the story and the main character.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/audiobook-review-i-was-here-by-gayle-forman/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Gayle Forman's latest novel didn't exactly give me the feels as much as <i>If I Stay</i> did. <i>I Was Here</i> mainly focuses on Cody, a girl who finds her best friend Meg's suicide a bit fishy and decides to look deeper into her death.
From all of the flashbacks, Cody is obviously a follower – a shadow to Meg. After Meg's death, Cody is a little lost – she's grieving, she wants to find out if Meg actually did commit suicide (or if someone coerced her into it), and all of that leads her to dig deeper into Meg's past year at college. With Cody trying to find her own footsteps after Meg's death, <i>I Was Here</i> felt like a coming of age story.
It's also a story where all of those online safety rules that I learned in elementary school are flipped upside down. I don't know if I should say Cody is just a really stupid character, or a really brave character. Perhaps both. In her digging, Cody is led to an online suicide support group that Meg frequented on, which eventually leads her to a user Meg communicated off the boards as well. In an attempt to weed out the user, Cody decides to pose as a suicidal person as well, which eventually leads her to finding out the person's address (with help) and Cody actually decides to go to that person's home.
I still don't know whether to call Cody an idiot or not. Obviously she has balls to try and find out what really caused Meg's death, and she's obviously not an idiot if she brings someone with her.
Jorjeana Marie seemed quite platonic throughout most of the narration – either for the possible effect of Cody being platonic as she finds her path, or another reason entirely. It was also difficult at times to tell if Marie was making an attempt to have a different voice for male and female characters. If the character was angry or snapping at another character, you can tell there's a bit of rage or snap if you listen closely, but when you're walking to work when there are cars driving by, it's actually hard to tell if Marie did snap.
Marie does, however, do a fantastic job in the very emotional parts of the book, especially when Cody or Ben or any of the other characters are crying. I almost believed the narrator was actually crying, or an actual kid came in and narrated a kid part. I doubt there are books that mainly consists of crying, but if there are, I'm half expecting to see Jorjeana Marie's name on the back. :p
The entire novel is really just about a girl who lived under a shadow of another girl, and when that girl died, the shadow has to try and find her own path without that person. <i>I Was Here</i> isn't exactly emotional unless you can <i>really</i> connect with the story and the main character.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/audiobook-review-i-was-here-by-gayle-forman/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
GUYS, THIS IS THE LAST REVIEW I'M EVER WRITING THIS YEAR. (Totally not the last post.)
In the Martial Empire, Laia lives as a scholar – until her brother is arrested by Masks. To save her brother, Laia looks for the rebellion, going undercover as a slave in an academy for Masks and spying for the rebellion in exchange for her brother's safety. She meets Elias, a soldier at the academy who has no desire to become one of them.
<i>An Ember in the Ashes</i> took forever to <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">read</span> listen – and I mean <em>forever</em> (which basically means two months).
I'm not exactly as hyped as everyone else. Primarily, I think this is just due to the fact <i>An Ember in the Ashes</i> is <em>sooo</em> bleeping long and my attention span is equivalent of a fly's when it comes to debut novels that are really long (I'm a lot more tolerant to authors whose works I'm familiar with). In Tahir's case, though, I just feel the descriptions and details are a little too long – but I certainly can't complain about it because I adore details that mean world building is taking place.
I will, however, complain about the academy in general, and the love triangle. Favoritism by the Commandant is obviously being played here – there are just so many levels of wrong when no explanation is needed when you're caught doing something wrong. >_<
And well... Keenan. He still feels like a stranger to me, so if I'm going to ship, I'll go ship Laia and Elias. I understand Elias, and I understand Laia. I secretly adore them, even if the book is whoppishly huge. And I will go down with that ship until I warm up to stranger boy Keenan who seems to not have a desire to be a part of a corrupt-ish rebellion, but does not seem to have a life otherwise.
And if the sequel does not have me warming up to stranger boy, then I will make a stranger danger sign.
Anyways, not jumping on the hype train.... (aside from best title ever).
It could also just be due to the fact Fiona Hardingham and Steve West (the entire narration, honestly) are just really, really quiet and I had to bring the volume to top notch to even hear clearly. I know audiobooks are more quiet compared to music – I just think bringing the volume up to the maximum is a horrible, horrible thing for me to have to do for clarity (it's all about my ears). In all honesty, though, they're not bad narrators – they bring out the perfect amount of accent without being too heavy.
Hands down, though, I think I would have enjoyed <i>An Ember in the Ashes</i> immensely if it weren't so daunting and didn't take so years.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/audiobook-review-an-ember-in-the-ashes-by-sabaa-tahir/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
In the Martial Empire, Laia lives as a scholar – until her brother is arrested by Masks. To save her brother, Laia looks for the rebellion, going undercover as a slave in an academy for Masks and spying for the rebellion in exchange for her brother's safety. She meets Elias, a soldier at the academy who has no desire to become one of them.
<i>An Ember in the Ashes</i> took forever to <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">read</span> listen – and I mean <em>forever</em> (which basically means two months).
I'm not exactly as hyped as everyone else. Primarily, I think this is just due to the fact <i>An Ember in the Ashes</i> is <em>sooo</em> bleeping long and my attention span is equivalent of a fly's when it comes to debut novels that are really long (I'm a lot more tolerant to authors whose works I'm familiar with). In Tahir's case, though, I just feel the descriptions and details are a little too long – but I certainly can't complain about it because I adore details that mean world building is taking place.
I will, however, complain about the academy in general, and the love triangle. Favoritism by the Commandant is obviously being played here – there are just so many levels of wrong when no explanation is needed when you're caught doing something wrong. >_<
And well... Keenan. He still feels like a stranger to me, so if I'm going to ship, I'll go ship Laia and Elias. I understand Elias, and I understand Laia. I secretly adore them, even if the book is whoppishly huge. And I will go down with that ship until I warm up to stranger boy Keenan who seems to not have a desire to be a part of a corrupt-ish rebellion, but does not seem to have a life otherwise.
And if the sequel does not have me warming up to stranger boy, then I will make a stranger danger sign.
Anyways, not jumping on the hype train.... (aside from best title ever).
It could also just be due to the fact Fiona Hardingham and Steve West (the entire narration, honestly) are just really, really quiet and I had to bring the volume to top notch to even hear clearly. I know audiobooks are more quiet compared to music – I just think bringing the volume up to the maximum is a horrible, horrible thing for me to have to do for clarity (it's all about my ears). In all honesty, though, they're not bad narrators – they bring out the perfect amount of accent without being too heavy.
Hands down, though, I think I would have enjoyed <i>An Ember in the Ashes</i> immensely if it weren't so daunting and didn't take so years.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/audiobook-review-an-ember-in-the-ashes-by-sabaa-tahir/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Book of Fire in Books
Mar 7, 2020
I was provided a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Combining dystopia and ancient history, Michelle Kenney's debut series Book of Fire slots nicely into the list of best young adult science-fiction. Set in the not so distant future, the world has been destroyed and human life can only be sustained within a specially designed lifedome - at least that is what everyone living inside has been told. The protagonist, Talia, begs to differ, having lived in secret on the outside all her life.
A rogue test missile exploded with cataclysmic effect on 3rd November 2025, leaving cities in ruins. Whilst most people ran to the lifedome, Talia's grandfather and a few others ran in the opposite direction. For years, they have lived in the relative safety of Arafel, whose existence has been kept hidden from the majority of the people living in the dome.
Unfortunately, the leader of the lifedome is one of the few who knows of their existence and wishes to eradicate them and Talia's peaceful life is suddenly destroyed when her grandfather and her twin brother Eli are captured by soldiers. Determined to rescue them, Talia and her friend Max break into the dome but what they discover makes them even more concerned about the life of not just their families but all the remaining humans.
Obsessed with Ancient Rome, the lifedome's leader Octavia has created a replica of the historical city, going as far as to genetically produce strong and powerful gladiators. Yet, the more Talia sees of the lifedome - Pantheon - the more she realises it is not just extra-strong humans that Octavia has been experimenting with. Hidden in the depth of the dome are mythological creatures made from a mix of human and animal parts; creatures that should not exist, however, they all have various defects.
Talia soon learns that her grandfather was kidnapped for a reason: he knows the secret to create the perfect DNA for these creatures and, in turn, Talia unwittingly knows it too.
Initially, all Talia wanted was her grandfather and brother back but now she is part of something much bigger and must choose between her family, self-preservation and the rest of the human race. On top of that, she begins to fall for a pseudo-Roman Gladiator. Could it get any more complicated?
Michelle Kenney has created a world where the monsters turn out to be the heroes and the humans in charge, the monsters. Reading this at the time of the coronavirus makes the apocalyptic situation a little too close for comfort but it provides a strong message not to mess with things that no longer exist. Imperfection is a common by-product of life's recover - if only Octavia could have accepted that.
Book of Fire is the first in a promising trilogy that will transport you into a world of fantasy, danger, wonderful creatures and a hint of reality. For those who love ancient history and dystopian fiction will thoroughly enjoy this series.
Combining dystopia and ancient history, Michelle Kenney's debut series Book of Fire slots nicely into the list of best young adult science-fiction. Set in the not so distant future, the world has been destroyed and human life can only be sustained within a specially designed lifedome - at least that is what everyone living inside has been told. The protagonist, Talia, begs to differ, having lived in secret on the outside all her life.
A rogue test missile exploded with cataclysmic effect on 3rd November 2025, leaving cities in ruins. Whilst most people ran to the lifedome, Talia's grandfather and a few others ran in the opposite direction. For years, they have lived in the relative safety of Arafel, whose existence has been kept hidden from the majority of the people living in the dome.
Unfortunately, the leader of the lifedome is one of the few who knows of their existence and wishes to eradicate them and Talia's peaceful life is suddenly destroyed when her grandfather and her twin brother Eli are captured by soldiers. Determined to rescue them, Talia and her friend Max break into the dome but what they discover makes them even more concerned about the life of not just their families but all the remaining humans.
Obsessed with Ancient Rome, the lifedome's leader Octavia has created a replica of the historical city, going as far as to genetically produce strong and powerful gladiators. Yet, the more Talia sees of the lifedome - Pantheon - the more she realises it is not just extra-strong humans that Octavia has been experimenting with. Hidden in the depth of the dome are mythological creatures made from a mix of human and animal parts; creatures that should not exist, however, they all have various defects.
Talia soon learns that her grandfather was kidnapped for a reason: he knows the secret to create the perfect DNA for these creatures and, in turn, Talia unwittingly knows it too.
Initially, all Talia wanted was her grandfather and brother back but now she is part of something much bigger and must choose between her family, self-preservation and the rest of the human race. On top of that, she begins to fall for a pseudo-Roman Gladiator. Could it get any more complicated?
Michelle Kenney has created a world where the monsters turn out to be the heroes and the humans in charge, the monsters. Reading this at the time of the coronavirus makes the apocalyptic situation a little too close for comfort but it provides a strong message not to mess with things that no longer exist. Imperfection is a common by-product of life's recover - if only Octavia could have accepted that.
Book of Fire is the first in a promising trilogy that will transport you into a world of fantasy, danger, wonderful creatures and a hint of reality. For those who love ancient history and dystopian fiction will thoroughly enjoy this series.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Mars Needs Moms (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
Milo is your typical 9-year-old boy who doesn’t like doing chores, eating his vegetables or getting disciplined by his mother. But because his mother makes him do his chores and eat his vegetables and scolds him when he doesn’t, she’s made herself the prime target for Martians who need her great mothering skills. Apparently, Martians are “hatched” and raised by “nanny-bots” that are programmed with an Earthling mother’s caregiving and disciplinary abilities. Of course, not any Earthling mother will do. Bypassed are those who spoil their child or fail to care for their child’s safety and wellbeing. So when Milo is spied dutifully, albeit grudgingly, doing as he’s told by his mother, she becomes Mars’ candidate for abduction, because, as the movie title states, Mars needs moms.
On the night Milo’s mom is abducted, Milo (enacted by Seth Green, voiced by Seth Dusky) wakes up in time to witness her being loaded onto a spaceship and he quickly becomes a stowaway. On the red planet, he’s rescued by Gribbler, a chubby, fast-talking, tech-savvy human (voiced by Dan Fogler) who helps him devise a plan to save Milo’s mom, a recognizable Joan Cusack, in voice and, somewhat creepily, in CGI’d face. The two are up against an army of female Martians lead by The Supervisor (voiced by Mindy Sterling) a mean, old Martian. Think Frau Farbissina as a mean E.T. Luckily, Milo and Gribbler find an ally in a rebel Martian named Ki (voiced by Elisabeth Harnois). Milo has less than 6 hours to get to his mom before she’s programmed into the nanny-bots and destroyed by the process. Soon, it’s a race against time for Milo, Gribbler and Ki as they run around endless corridors, hurtle through chutes, tumble down trash mountains, splash into other-worldly caves and fall off cliffs.
Based on a children’s novel by cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, the film is produced by Robert Zemeckis and directed by Simon Wells in performance-capture 3D, a technique pioneered by Zemeckis in Polar Express and used again in A Christmas Carol. In performance-capture filming, actors are covered in sensors that capture their actions and expressions to animate their digital characters. During the end credits, a sampling of outtakes show the actors in their sensor suits physically acting out various scenes. I have to admit, the most entertaining part of the movie for me was watching Seth Green and Dan Fogler literally throw themselves into their characters.
Even with a run time of 88 minutes, kids around Milo’s age and younger may remain enthralled to the end simply from the countdown suspense. Older kids, maybe not. Yes, the high-point of the tale is Milo’s realization of how truly important his mom is to him. But even with all the running and tumbling around, the story takes a long, meandering walk to get to that point. While the technological achievements of 3D animation get more and more impressive, if the story doesn’t captivate or inspire, it’s practically a wasted effort, especially when watching in 2D would not take much away from the effects.
On the night Milo’s mom is abducted, Milo (enacted by Seth Green, voiced by Seth Dusky) wakes up in time to witness her being loaded onto a spaceship and he quickly becomes a stowaway. On the red planet, he’s rescued by Gribbler, a chubby, fast-talking, tech-savvy human (voiced by Dan Fogler) who helps him devise a plan to save Milo’s mom, a recognizable Joan Cusack, in voice and, somewhat creepily, in CGI’d face. The two are up against an army of female Martians lead by The Supervisor (voiced by Mindy Sterling) a mean, old Martian. Think Frau Farbissina as a mean E.T. Luckily, Milo and Gribbler find an ally in a rebel Martian named Ki (voiced by Elisabeth Harnois). Milo has less than 6 hours to get to his mom before she’s programmed into the nanny-bots and destroyed by the process. Soon, it’s a race against time for Milo, Gribbler and Ki as they run around endless corridors, hurtle through chutes, tumble down trash mountains, splash into other-worldly caves and fall off cliffs.
Based on a children’s novel by cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, the film is produced by Robert Zemeckis and directed by Simon Wells in performance-capture 3D, a technique pioneered by Zemeckis in Polar Express and used again in A Christmas Carol. In performance-capture filming, actors are covered in sensors that capture their actions and expressions to animate their digital characters. During the end credits, a sampling of outtakes show the actors in their sensor suits physically acting out various scenes. I have to admit, the most entertaining part of the movie for me was watching Seth Green and Dan Fogler literally throw themselves into their characters.
Even with a run time of 88 minutes, kids around Milo’s age and younger may remain enthralled to the end simply from the countdown suspense. Older kids, maybe not. Yes, the high-point of the tale is Milo’s realization of how truly important his mom is to him. But even with all the running and tumbling around, the story takes a long, meandering walk to get to that point. While the technological achievements of 3D animation get more and more impressive, if the story doesn’t captivate or inspire, it’s practically a wasted effort, especially when watching in 2D would not take much away from the effects.
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