Thanks to the success of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and the “Sleeping Beauty” reimagining “Maleficent,” Disney has wanted to remake their animated classics for live-action remakes. However, though Burton gave his own personal style to “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Maleficent” gave a new look on the “Sleeping Beauty” story, Kenneth Branagh’s 2015 “Cinderella” is […]
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When the first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 2019, fans were horrified by CGI Sonic’s beady little eyes and human teeth — an uncanny valley horror. He had a face that was asking a lot of a mother to love, let alone moviegoers. So Paramount pushed back the movie’s release date and brought in animator Tyson Hesse, […]
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Animated take on your friendly neighborhood webslinger gives us a host of Spider-heroes — and absolutely nails why we love the character. Did you ever think you could be Spider-Man? This gorgeous take on the Marvel superhero knows you can — that everyone can. The great power always comes by accident, that famous spider-bite origin story; it’s what you do […]
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Tonight I finally got to see “Frozen II,” which came out two months ago, and I will let everyone know my thoughts on it. I think everyone could predict that a sequel was going to be made. In 2013, “Frozen” made $1.3 billion at the global box-office making it the highest-grossing animated film ever (not […]
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The bumbling dragon warrior Po is back and he has got his biological father Li (Bryan Cranston), his adopted father, the furious five and a village of pandas with him. Visually thrilling and filled with heart, this third film in the Kung Fu Panda franchise is as endearing as its rotund hero. What was my […]
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Angelina Jolie is one of the last movie stars, although in recent years, Hollywood has seemed mostly unable to fashion projects that would demonstrate why. Her work as Maleficent, the bad queen from Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty,” is a reminder of how electrifying and fun she can be. Jolie first played the part in 2014’s “Maleficent,” a live-action (but […]
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It’s mostly a vehiIt’s mostly a vehicle for tremendous fights and disappointing sequel setupcle for tremendous fights and disappointing sequel setup. Genre films face a chronic problem: they have to introduce viewers to new worlds quickly and efficiently. There’s often so much lingo and history to lay out that writers have to choose between clumsy […]
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Not that there was any doubt that, when it came to restaging the 1865 Lewis Carroll classic for a 21st century sensibility, Tim Burton would be the man for the job. But even the filmmaker’s trademark winsomely outlandish style doesn’t prepare you for the thoroughly enjoyable spectacle that is his “Alice in Wonderland.” A fantastical […]
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Hyperreal digital animation meets old-fashioned storytelling in this faithful remake, which loses the songs but brings new, ingenious twists on the original. What on earth is the point of remaking Walt Disney’s great and possibly greatest masterpiece, the glorious animated musical from 1967, based on Kipling’s tales, all about the “man cub” Mowgli, brought up […]
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Pigs and birds unite to fight a common foe in a sequel notable for Leslie Jones’s voice. An animated sequel inspired by an iPhone app isn’t, I’ll concede, the most promising movie premise, but the second instalment in the Angry Birds series is much funnier and flappier than it needs to be. In 2016’s The Angry Birds Movie, […]
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