The Fall (2006) Movie Review

 

The Fall (2006) is an independent drama film with a fantasy/adventure twist. It's directed and co-written by Tarsem Singh (credited as "Tarsem"). It stars Lee Pace and Justine Waddell in major roles. Interestingly, this movie was filmed over a 4-year period in 22 different countries. It first premiered in festivals in 2006 and had a limited theatrical release in 2008. It got mixed reviews from critics upon initial release but has found an audience over time and is considered a cult classic. The movie hasn't been released on digital or streaming for quite some time and the DVD and Blu-ray have even gone out of print, making it a rare film. It has however been picked up by the small streaming site MUBI, in which it's found a new home. I stumbled upon this movie when I was 18 years old back in 2011, and I was immediately fascinated with it.

The film is set in Los Angeles in the 1920's. The plot follows Roy Walker (Lee Pace), a stuntman who fell and broke his legs during the making of a film and is left paralyzed. His girlfriend then left him for Sinclair, the actor whom he provided the stunts for. Roy is then hospitalized and has given up on life and is even having thoughts of suicide. Meanwhile, Alexandria, a 5-year-old Romanian girl with a broken arm, tries to deliver a note to Nurse Evelyn, a nurse at the hospital whom she's become very good friends with. The note, however, landed on Roy's lap. Alexandria notices this and that's when the two interact for the first time. 

Alexandria and her mother were immigrants who traveled to America following an attack by vandals in which her father was killed in the process. She fell while picking oranges and broke her arm doing so. Roy and Alexandria' injuries were both results of a fall, leading the two to become friends and form a dynamic. Roy tells Alexandria a story in the form of an epic fairy tale centered on a group of bandits who swear revenge on an evil Spanish governor. Alexandria visualizes the story and imagines her friends (including Roy and Nurse Evelyn) as the characters. 

Unbeknownst to Alexandria, Roy is using this story to manipulate her to get him a bottle of morphine pills to attempt suicide, while lying that they're sleeping pills. However, Roy becomes more affectionate towards Alexandria over time. Alexandria, throughout the course of the film, even slowly puts together that Roy is on a suicide mission and shows a bit of concern for him. Also, the events in the fairy tale parallel what happens in the real world. Another accident occurs while Alexandria is fetching the morphine pills, and that's when Roy eventually spills the beans. You won't want to know about it here, but the fairy tale takes a dark turn, and Alexandria helps Roy realize that life is precious, and he rethinks the whole suicide thing. That's about the gist of it really.

The characters in Roy's stories are for the most part based on real people. There's Charle's Darwin, the naturalist and his monkey friend Wallace, based on Darwin's real life partner Wallace. There's Otta Benga based on a real-life ex-slave. Earlier on, he tells Alexandria a story of Alexander the Great. There are probably some other historical references I may have missed. That was a nice little touch.

The Fall (2006) is an excellent and very well done film. It’s like a dark R-rated fairy tale for adults. It’s insanely creative and unique, as well as thought provoking, and features a solid storyline and likable characters. It’s got great visuals, a neat art style and some emotional moments as well as a few funny moments. I’d go as far as to call this an underrated cinematic masterpiece. 

It has great performances by Lee Pace and Justine Waddell and even the little girl Cantica Untaru, who played Alexandria. I can't name a single problem with the movie. Though if I had to change one thing, it would be the side characters. Many of the supporting characters were pretty underdeveloped. Particularly that of the character Walt. Walt is kind of an antagonist who sabotages the main characters, but hardly anything is known about him. Supposedly, he claims to be sick even though he's not and throughout the movie he's trying to get attention. He even goes so far as to stealing Roy's medication. Other than that, though, he's really not that involved in the plot. It's not even known what became of him in the end. I felt they could've done a little more with this character.

I think Tarsem did a great job directing, and of all his films, I'd say this is the closest to a solid movie and just might be his magnum opus. The Fall (2006) stands as one of my favorite movies of all time, and I see why it has a cult following. It currently has a 63% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but I would've rated it much higher than that. I can't say the same about his other directorial films. I enjoyed The Cell (2000) okay. I enjoyed Immortals (2011) when I saw it, but it's been years, so I don't know if it holds up. Mirror Mirror (2012) was "eh". I kind of liked Self/Less (2015). I don't think any of those movies came close to The Fall (2006), so I guess you can say Tarsem is a "one-hit wonder"

I give The Fall (2006) a solid 10/10.

So, have you seen The Fall (2006)? What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you think it was okay? Let me know in the comments.

You can check out my video review on YouTube:

If you enjoy my posts, you can follow my blog and check out (as well as subscribe to) my YouTube channel.

Blog

YouTube Channel

As I post this, The Fall (2006) is currently streaming exclusively on MUBI.

Transformers One (2024) Movie Review

Transformers One (2024) is an animated sci-fi action flick from Paramount Pictures directed by Josh Cooley. It's based on the popular Transformers action toy line by Hasbro and serves as a prequel to the franchise. It stars Chris Hemsworth, Keeghan Michael Key, Scarlett Johansson and Jon Hamm in major voice roles. To keep this as spoiler free as possible, its set in the planet Cybertron and follows our main characters, Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth), D-16 (Bryan Tyree Henry), B-127 (Keeghan Michael Key) and Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson), a group of miners who mine an energy source called "energon" for their leader Sentinel Prime (John Hamm). Orion learns about the thirteen Primes who were killed in a war against an alien race called the Quintessons and lost an artifact known as the Matrix of Leadership. The absence of the Matrix caused the energon rivers to dry up.

The four hitch a ride to the surface in search of the Matrix to restore the planet. Along the way, they meet Alpha Trion, a former Prime who survived the war. Alpha Trion reveals that Sentinel Prime isn't who he says he is and has been secretly working with the Quintessons. So, our heroes conceive a plan to take down Sentinel Prime and save Cybertron.  Orion Pax and D-16 are shown to be best friends at first and the plot is focused on their dynamic. D-16 however is shown to have other plans and betrays the other main characters leading him and Pax to become archrivals. That's about the gist of it without giving too much away. 

I went and saw Transformers One (2024) this past weekend and it was pretty awesome. It's got great animation, a great origin story with interesting twists, likable characters, very funny moments, and really cool action scenes. I’d say it’s an emotional roller coaster and I’d argue that it’s better than any of the live action Transformers movies. I can’t think of any problems with the movie. I’m not going to directly spoil it, but if you’re familiar with the Transformers lore and characters, you’ll pretty much know what’s coming, so I guess you can argue that it's a little predictable in that sense. Then again, it IS an origin story, so that's to be expected. I think the way the plot is set up is very well presented, and I'll say that the climax really had me at the edge of my seat.

I highly recommend this movie, especially if you're a Transformers fan. I'd say see it in theaters while you can, because even though it's gotten very positive reviews from the critics, it's not doing too great at the box office. Or wait and watch it on home media or streaming, whichever you'd prefer.

I give Transformers One (2024) a solid 10/10.

So, have you seen Transformers One (2024)? What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you think it was okay? Let me know in the comments.

You can check out my video review on YouTube:

If you enjoy my posts, you can follow my blog and check out 9as well as subscribe to) my YouTube channel.

Blog

YouTube Channel

As I post this, Transformers One (2024) is currently playing exclusively in movie theaters.

Transformers (2007) Movie Review

Transformers (2007) is a sci-fi action flick directed by Michael Bay, produced by Steven Spielberg and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It’s based on the popular action toy line from Hasbro. It stars Shia Lebouf and Megan Fox in the leading human roles and also features Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving in supporting voice roles. It got mixed to positive response from critics but was otherwise a huge hit with audiences and a massive box office success. It spawned a movie franchise consisting of four sequels and a couple of spin-off prequels.

The plot focuses on a war between two clans of sentient mechanical beings, the Autobots and the Decepticons, from the planet Cybertron. The war is centered on the Allspark, an ancient mysterious cube that has the power to bring inanimate technology to life but can also bring an end to it as well as humanity if fallen into the wrong hands. Young teenager Sam Witwicky (Shia Lebouf) gets caught in this conflict due to being in possession of an old pair of eyeglasses (which belonged do his great great grandfather) that have coordinates to the Allspark. This leads to Sam being hunted down and chased by the Decepticons as they want the Allspark to take over the universe. Sam meets and befriends the Autobots and together they come up with a plan to fight off the Decepticons and save the world.

We have a set of different characters. I mentioned the protagonist, Sam Witwicky. There's Sam's love interest Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox), who knows a lot about cars due to her dad being a mechanic (or as she puts it, a "real grease monkey") as well as a convicted car thief. She previously dated a jock bully whom she later dumped, and she and Sam develop a dynamic over the course of the film. Mikaela's car theft skills come in handy throughout the movie as she assists Sam on his mission. 

Sam's parents, Ron and Judy Witwicky are the human comic relief. Now we've got the Autobots. Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) is the leader of the Autobots and can transform into a semi-trailer (Optimus Prime resembles his original action figure counterpart pretty closely, albeit with a more updated look). There's also Bumblebee, who transforms into a Camaro and whom Sam encounters at the used car outlet, the former serving as a guardian to the latter. Bumblebee is unable to speak due to his voice chip being damaged in battle but can use his car radio as an alternate source of communication. He's basically the Iron Giant if the Iron Giant were mute and could turn into a car. 

We also have Jazz who can turn into a Pontiac, Ratchet who can turn into a Hummer, and Ironhide who's the weapons expert who can turn into a GMC pickup. Then we have the Decepticons who are the bad guys, led by our main antagonist Megatron (Hugo Weaving). Megatron had been frozen for over 70 years and was the one who hatched the plan to get a hold of the AllSpark to take over the universe. After those years, the AllSpark was rediscovered and since then, the other Decepticons, led by second-in-command Starscream, carried on this evil plan, until Megatron is eventually unleashed. That's about the gist of the whole thing.

I saw this in theaters when I was 14 and I really enjoyed it. Rewatching it now, I still have a soft spot for this movie. It's a pretty decent sci-fi action flick with some cool action scenes, funny moments and an interesting lore. It basically plays out like Independence Day but with robots. The acting and directing are decent. It’s not a perfect movie by any means as the storyline is rather formulaic and there’s very little character development. But for what it is, it's quite good.

I can't say the same about the sequels. I kind of liked Revenge of the Fallen, but it was a little overstuffed. I didn't like Dark of the Moon, Age of Extinction or The Last Knight. I really enjoyed Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts though (Rise of the Beasts is probably my personal favorite of the Live-action CG Transformers movies). I may review those movies in greater detail, but I wanted to focus primarily on the first one. All in all, Transformers (2007) is pretty good, as far as big budget blockbusters featuring giant robots go.

I give Transformers (2007) a solid 7.5/10.

So, have you seen Transformers (2007)? What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you think it was okay? Let me know in the comments.

You can check out my video review on YouTube:

If you enjoy my posts, you can follow my blog and check out (as well as subscribe to) my YouTube channel.

Blog

YouTube Channel

As I post this, Transformers (2007) is currently streaiming on Amazon Prime and Paramount+.

An American Tail (1986) Movie Review

An American Tail (1986) is an animated family musical adventure film directed by Don Bluth, produced by Steven Spielberg and distributed by Universal Pictures. It's Bluth's second directorial feature and his first to be from a big-name studio and producer. It got very positive reviews from critics and was a box office success. It spawned a theatrical sequel An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) as well as a couple of direct-to-video sequels and a spin off TV series. I had Fievel Goes West on VHS as a kid and watched it countless times before I knew it was a sequel, so I have a soft spot for that movie. I saw the first American Tail movie maybe one time at school during extended care, so this wasn't as nostalgic to me as Fievel Goes West.

The original "An American Tail" movie follows a family of Russian mice called the Mousekowitz family. They consist of Papa, Mama, their daughter Tanya and son, our main protagonist, Fievel. They have a cat problem (cats represent communists), so they travel to America as it’s a free country and they believe there are no cats there (they sing a whole song about it). So, they hitch a ride on a cruise ship, then a storm comes in which Fievel gets separated from the rest of his family. Fievel gets to America safely, particularly New York, and sets out to get back with his family while also surviving the streets of New York. 

Fievel finds out however, that there are in fact cats in America, as he encounters a gang of cats led by our main antagonist Warren T. Rat. Warren T. Rat is an evil cat who disguises himself as a rat to earn the trust of the mice as part of his plan to take over. Fievel makes a few friends along the way. There's Tony, a streetwise mouse who treats Fievel as a surrogate brother and nicknames him "Philly". There's also Bridgit, a female mouse who serves as Tony's love interest. Then there's Tiger, a part of the cat gang who isn't like the other cats. For a cat, he's shown to be much more friendly, and he even shows sympathy towards Fievel as he refuses to eat mice (he mentions he's a vegetarian but will eat fish now and then). With a little help from his friends, Fievel comes up with a plan to save the mice and chase the cats out of the country. That's about the gist of it.

I generally enjoyed this movie. It's got beautiful animated that's quite impressive for the time, and great attention to detail. It's also very funny at times and emotional at other times. It's got likable characters. Even the songs are pretty good for a "non-Disney" animated musical. I think the part where Fievel controls the big mouse mecha was pretty cool (the rotoscoping was especially neat). I wouldn't say it's a great movie by any means. 

I thought the story was rather simplistic and predictable. I found the twist with Warren T. Rat being a cat the whole time to be blatantly obvious. I wouldn't call it one of Don Bluth's best or at least I wouldn't call it my personal favorite of his. My favorite Don Bluth film is The Secret of NIMH (1982). I think The Secret of NIMH and The Land Before Time (1988) were both better than this. But for what it is, An American Tail (1986) is a pretty good kids' cartoon.

I give An American Tail (1986) a solid 7.5/10.

(It's been years since I've seen Fievel Goes West, so I may have to rewatch that one to see how it compares to this.)

There's one more thing I'd like to comment on. Don Bluth is known for having a dark an edgy style to his animated films. However, I'd say An American Tale is one of his tamer films. At least I think it's tame in comparison to The Secret of NIMH (1982), The Land Before Time (1988) and especially All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989).

That's my 2 cents on An American Tail (1986)

Have you seen An American Tail (1986)? What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you think it's okay? Let me know in the comments.

Blog

As I post this, An American Tail (1986) isn't currently streaming for free anywhere, but i'ts available on Digital Purchase through Fandango at Home, Amazon, Apple TV, and YouTube.

Friday the 13th (1980) Movie Review

Friday the 13th (1980) is a low budget horror/slasher film distributed by Paramount Pictures, directed by Sean S. Cunningham and written by Victor Miller. It got mixed reviews from critics but was a box office hit, exceeding its budget of $550,000. It spawned several sequels and is known for being the start of the Friday the 13th franchise. The franchise has gotten a strong cult fan base among horror fans despite the movies not being critical hits, and the character Jason Voorhees has become a horror icon. I watched these movies for the first time in 2010, when I was 17 years old, and they're what got me into the horror genre.

There's not a lot to say about this without spoiling it, so I'll do the best I can. The original Friday the 13th movie focuses on a group of camp counselors in Camp Crystal Lake which is nicknamed "Camp Blood" due to tragic events occurring at that camp. A young boy had previously drowned in the lake years prior, and two teenagers were massacred two years after that. Since then, people have been convinced that the camp has a death curse. The counselors get murdered one by one by an unknown killer, and the killer's identity is revealed by the end of the movie. That's about the gist of it.

We've got a set of different characters/victims. There is Steve Christy, the leader of the camp counselors, and there's Alice (Adrienne King), the main protagonist. Alice is an aspiring artist hired as a camp counselor, and she's the one who survives throughout the massacre. Then there's Bill, Marcie, Brenda, Jack (Kevin Bacon), Ned and Annie. There's also Crazy Ralph, the local eccentric who claims to be a messenger of God and tries to warn people that if they go to "Camp Blood", they're doomed.

I think the original Friday the 13th (1980) was a brilliantly well-crafted slasher flick, and as far as low budget horror goes, it was quite impressive. It features established characters/victims and chilling/unsettling atmosphere with mystery and suspense. Throughout the movie you don’t even see the killer (except the hands) and you don’t even know who the killer is until the end. That’s how you do a slasher movie. I like to think of this as a cross between Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978). 

The second movie, Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) carries on this trope to an extent, whilst connecting directly to the first film. This time however, you have a good idea of who the killer is, so it kind of spoils the suspense. It’s still a pretty entertaining slasher flick though. For the rest of the series (except for Part 5), you already know who the killer is from the get-go, so the mystery is pretty much gone. (I’m not saying the killer’s name for a reason, by the way.)

Friday the 13th Part 6 (1986) is arguably considered the fan favorite because it's the smartest one and basically a satire of the franchise as well as the slasher genre. While that movie is enjoyable, I'd say my favorite is still the original. Part 6 and Part 4 are both pretty close up there. Part 8 (1989) was a lame disappointment, but I'll get to that in another video. This one is a bit of a slow burn, but I really like the suspense and the chilling atmosphere (like I mentioned earlier). 

I do think the first Halloween (1978) and Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) films are superior. But for what it is, and given the budget, I think the original Friday the 13th (1980) is a very impressive slasher film, and I'd even go as far as to calling it an underrated horror masterpiece. I highly recommend this one if you're into low budget teen slasher flicks.

I give the original Friday the 13th (1980) a solid 10/10.

So, have you seen the original Friday the 13th (1980)? What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you think it was okay? Let me know in the comments.

You can check out my video review on YouTube:

Okay, now I'm going into spoiler territory, so if you haven't seen the movie, you may want to stop reading right now.

****SPOILER****

If you were to ask who the killer is in Friday the 13th, anyone would probably tell you it's Jason Voorhees. However, in the first movie, the killer is unnamed and pretty much completely hidden throughout the movie except for the hands. In the last 30 minutes, Alice, the final girl is approached by a middle-aged woman who introduces herself as Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer). She appears nice at first, but then she reveals that the boy who drowned was her son Jason. The tragic loss of her son caused Mrs. Voorhees to go insane, and she blamed the counselors and killed them. 

It's implied that she's been killing people who set foot in the camp ever since, thus revealing herself to have been the killer all along. This was a very brilliant twist. I remember seeing this on TV back in 2010 with my mom and Dad. I knew very little about Friday the 13th prior besides the character Jason, and when it got to this twist, my jaw dropped. I didn't see it coming. Anyway, the two have a fight, and Alice decapitates Mrs. Voorhees with a machete (this item of which is a staple in later Friday the 13th films) and escapes on a rowboat. 

Alice wakes up the next morning on the rowboat as the police show up. It seems like everything is going to be okay. But just then Jason, the aforementioned boy who drowned in the lake, is back from the dead and attacks Alice and pulls her into the water. Alice then wakes up in the hospital and tells the nurse and doctors about Jason, but they think she's being crazy. This implies that Jason is still out there, thus ending on an ambiguous note (in typical horror fashion). See THAT is how you do a teen slasher flick, and that's why the original Friday the 13th (1980) is my personal favorite in the series. I think Betsy Palmer did a great job playing the psychotic Mrs. Voorhees.

I'd also like to comment on a couple of things. There's one inconsistency I noticed, where Mrs. Voorhees mentions she's a good friend of the Christys. But earlier on, during Steve's death scene, Steve doesn't seem to recognize the killer. You'd think he'd recognize her face about anywhere considering they go way back. There's also a goof I noticed when Mrs. Voorhees gets Decapitated. If you notice, after she loses her head, her fingers are still moving around. I thought that was kind of weird.

I may eventually get to reviewing the other Friday the 13th movies in greater detail, but for now I just wanted to focus on the first one.

Well, that's my 2 cents on the original Friday the 13th (1980).

If you enjoy my posts, you can follow my blog and check out (as well as subscribe to) my YouTube channel.

Blog

YouTube Channel

As I post this, the original Friday the 13th (1980) and its sequels aren't streaming for free anywhere, but they're available on digital purchase through Fandango at Home, YouTube, AppleTV and Amazon.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) Movie Review

Disclaimer: This review is based primarily on my memory of seeing the movie in theaters, so forgive me if it comes off a bit short. 

This is a movie that's new in theaters so I'm going to try to make this as spoiler-free as possible.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) is a dark fantasy gothic horror comedy directed by Tim Burton that serves as a sequel to the cult classic Beetlejuice (1988). It stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O' Hara, who reprise their roles from the first film, as well as new cast members like Jenna Ortega and Willem Dafoe. It also features Danny Devito in a brief cameo role.

It's set years after the first movie and follows our protagonist Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) who's now older and works as a talk show host for the supernatural talk show Ghost House. While filming the show Lydia is haunted by visions of the evil entity Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) who haunted her and her family's house years prior. Lydia got the news from her stepmom that her dad died tragically and then tries to reconnect with her estranged teenage daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega). After the funeral, Lydia’s boyfriend and producer Rory proses to her and she agrees while not being entirely on board. Meanwhile, in the nether realm, there's an evil soul sucker named Dolores who’s been awakened and hunts down Betelgeuse.

Dolores was Betelgeuse’s ex-fiancée whom he turned down, and now she’s looking for payback. Dolores is shown to be a much greater threat than Betelgeuse himself, so she’s the main antagonist. Astrid meets a guy who appears to be nice but also has sinister intentions and kidnaps her. Lydia hears word about this and is left to summon Betelgeuse to help save her. Betelgeuse agrees in return that they get married (just like in the first movie) and that she helps take care of his problem with Dolores. That’s about the gist of it without giving too much away.

I went and saw the movie in theaters, and I really enjoyed it. It's very entertaining, funny and scary, and features a very interesting expansion of the world building that was established in the first movie, as well as some nice call backs. Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder have still got it in the leading roles. I like that Betelgeuse himself serves as an antihero for the majority of the movie (while in the first movie, he was the main villain), so that was interesting. I'll say though, the story was a bit all over the place as there were a couple of plot holes that hardly went anywhere. 

Like for instance, the part where Astrid gets kidnapped gets resolved pretty quickly and after that she’s just along for the ride. Also, there’s the plot hole with Willem Dafoe’s character, which “kind of” ties in with the main plot. Even the main conflict with the soul sucker is a plot hole within itself. I also thought the lip-syncing gag was a little cheesy (the first one also had a lip-syncing gag, but here it dragged on for a bit longer than it should’ve). There’s this one part (minor spoiler but nothing crucial to the plot) where Betelgeuse is lip syncing to a piano ballad, while holding a guitar. It doesn’t really make any sense on the count of it being a piano ballad with no guitar playing. Like, why was the guitar even there? 

Overall, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) was quite good. I thought the original Beetlejuice (1988) was better, but this was still a pretty solid follow-up. If you're a fan of Tim Burton and/or the original Beetlejuice, I'd say check this one out.

I give Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) a solid 8/10. 

So, have you seen Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you think it was okay? Let me know in the comments.

You can check out my video review on YouTube:

If you enjoy my content, you can follow my blog and check out (as well as subscribe to) my YouTube channel.

Blog

YouTube Channel

As I post this, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) is currently playing exclusively in movie theaters.

The Road to El Dorado (2000) Movie Review

The Road to El Dorado (2000) is an animated adventure comedy from DreamWorks. It got mixed reviews and bombed at the box office, but over time it’s gotten a bit of a cult following. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus reads “Predictable story and thin characters made the movie flat”, and having watched the movie myself, I’d have to agree with that consensus. I watched this movie one time as a kid and thought it was okay at best. I watched it again just recently as an adult after finding it on Netflix and my opinion is pretty much the same.

The plot follows our two main characters Tulio (Kevin Kline) and Miguel (Kenneth Branah), two con men who are fugitives escaping from Spain. They set out to find El Dorado, the fabled city of gold. They find El Dorado and find that it's inhabited by a tribe of Mayans. The Mayans see Tulio and Miquel as gods. The two see this to their advantage, so they pretend to be gods to earn the people's trust and get their hands on the gold. 

There's Chel (Rosie Perez), a Mayan girl who figures out they're not gods and wants in on their scheme so she can escape the city and explore the outside world. Then there's Tzekel-Kan (Armand Assante), the movie's main antagonist. Tzekel-Kan is sadistic and has a harsher way of pleasing the gods, like human sacrifice for instance (which was typical Mayan tradition). The Mayan chief has a more peaceful way of offering to the gods and disapproves of Tzekel-Kan's way. This leads to Tzekel Kan testing Tulio and Miguel to see if they're actually gods. He eventually puts together that they're not gods and tries to kill them. He even uses dark magic to summon a stone jaguar after our main characters. 

I know there are people out there who have a soft spot for this movie, and to be fair I don’t hate it. I don’t even think it’s that bad, but it’s not particularly good either. Plus, compared to DreamWorks’ previous attempt at hand drawn animation with The Prince of Egypt (1998), The Road to El Dorado is a bit of a downgrade. It has its moments here and there. It’s funny and entertaining, and the songs are catchy (I think Elton John did a pretty good job with the songs).

The animation is pretty good for DreamWorks standards. I thought the part with the stone jaguar was pretty cool (kind of like something out of Power Rangers). However, I wasn’t too impressed with the story and characters, not to mention it borrows too heavily from a certain Disney animated film from 8 years prior. 

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

Our main characters are thieves on the run from the law and pretend to be something they're not for fame and riches. Then a girl wanting to escape the city tags along with the main characters and even serves as a love interest to one of them. Then there's a servant to the chief who practices dark magic and figures out they're not what they say they are and wants them killed. There's also an upbeat song number with a trippy multi-colored layout. It's a complete knock off of Aladdin (1992). Like, why would they do that? Come on DreamWorks!!

I found the primary protagonist Tulio a bit unlikable. He comes off as greedy and self-centered. I mean he and Miguel both appear that way, but at least Miguel has a change of heart near the end. Chel feels like a knock off of Princess Jasmine but without much of a point. Tzekel Kan is basically a direct rip-off of Jafar, but with very little influence on the plot (aside from being the motivational tool behind Tulio and Miguel’s scheme). Referring back to Aladdin, Jafar had way more involvement in the main plot. Heck, he was even the first major character introduced and made it clear that he means business. This “Tzekel-Kan” guy just appears out of nowhere.

Also, our main characters haven't really changed in the end, and they haven't really learned anything. I guess Miguel learned one thing. He does eventually realize that he and Tulio may have gone too far with their scheme. Besides that, they don’t give us much of a reason to root for them. Aladdin and Abu were thieves stealing from the market, but we can at least see where they’re coming from. 

Tulio and Miguel are just two greedy con men. There’s that one bit during the climax (minor spoiler) where Tzekel-Kan is in cahoots with Hernan Cortes and his army, and they set out to ambush El Dorado. The Chief gets word about it and that’s when our main characters have to save the Mayans by closing the entrance. But that gets resolved too quickly and left me thinking “That was it?”. 

There are a lot of things I liked about the movie, but the storyline wasn't really one of them and there’s very little character development. That’s why I think the movie failed. I'm sure there's a good movie in there, so I want to say this movie is okay. The fact that Aladdin was one of my favorite movies as a kid, I'm kind of annoyed by the fact that DreamWorks copied and pasted from that movie but also kind of missed the point in what made it work. I'd expect more from the studio behind The Prince of Egypt (1998), and I think this is one of DreamWorks Animation’s weaker movies. I’m not complaining because I didn’t like the movie. I’m complaining because I didn’t love it. I'd say this movie is average. I think it's an okay way to pass the time.

I give The Road to El Dorado a solid 6/10, which is being generous.

I'd also like to comment that for a kid's movie, the main characters aren't very good role models. They're seen gambling and even cheating in gambling games as well as cheating in sports. Not a very good influence on kids. One more thing to comment on is when they get shipwrecked, Tulio goes "Holy ship!!", like instead of that "other word". DreamWorks, I know you like being edgy, but this is a PG cartoon post 1999. Parents are going to take their kids to see this, so maybe try to actually keep it PG? Come to think of it, DreamWorks also did this in Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken (2023) with "I'm a mother flipping mermaid!". Take it down a notch, will you DreamWorks? This isn't 1980 you know.

That's my 2 cents on The Road to El Dorado (2000)

Have you seen The Road to El Dorado (2000)?  What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you think it was okay? Is your opinion similar to mine? Let me know in the comments.

You can check out my video review on YouTube:

If you enjoy my posts, you can follow my blog and check out (as well as subscribe to) my YouTube channel.

Blog

YouTube Channel

As I post this, The Road to El Dorado (2000) is currently streaming on Netflix.

Beetlejuice (1988) Movie Review

Beetlejuice (1988) is a dark fantasy gothic horror comedy directed by Tim Burton and written by Michael McDowell. It stars Michael Keaton in the title role as well as Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis and Catherine O’ Hara. This was Tim Burton’s second directorial film and his first to be based on an original concept. It got very positive reviews from critics when it first premiered, and it was a box-office hit and has since gained a strong cult fan base. It even spawned a spin-off cartoon series in the 90’s. This movie is also known for its use of two Harry Belfonte songs, Day-O and Jump in the Line.

I remember watching the Beetlejuice cartoon as a kid on Cartoon Network, but didn't know it was based on a live-action movie until much later on. I watched this movie in 2016 after stumbling upon the DVD at the Walmart bargain bin. It was actually my first time watching it in its entirety. Before that, I saw parts of it on TV. I watched it again just recently to prepare for the new sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024).

The movie follows a family of three who move from New York and into a house in a suburban area. However, the house is haunted by a ghost couple who died tragically and are protecting their house by scarring people off. They summon a bio-exorcist named Betelgeuse (pronounced "Beetlejuice", hence the film's title), by saying his name three times. However, this turns out to be more than they bargained for, as Betelgeuse has bigger plans.

We have a set of different characters. There’s our protagonist Lydia (Winona Ryder), a teenage goth girl who’s also an aspiring photographer, as she’s seen taking pictures throughout the movie. She’s shown to be strange and peculiar and can see things that no one else can see, like ghosts. There’s the ghost couple Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) and his wife Barbara (Geena Davis). Adam and Barbara died earlier on in a tragic accident in which their car fell off the bridge and they drowned. 

In the afterlife, they can’t leave their house, so they try to protect their home from trespassers. They befriend Lydia, who can see them when no one else can. There's Delia (Catherine O' Hara), Lydia's stepmom who is a sculptor. Delia helps the family reshape the house in a wave of postmodern art. Then, there’s Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) the main antagonist. He's a ghost who's very mischievous, and also rude, perverted and self-centered. 

As a bio-exorcist, he helps the people who summon him, but only does so for his own benefit, so that he can lift his curse, and wreak havoc upon the world, and doesn't care who gets hurt in the process, so he's basically the villain. He shows interest in Lydia, and agrees to help her, but in return that they get married. So, the climax involves Betelgeuse forcefully trying to marry Lydia, while Barbara figures out a plan to save her. That's about the gist of it.

Beetlejuice (1988) is an excellent movie. It’s very funny and scary at the same time, as well as very well directed and acted. Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton both did a great job with their roles. It has a very solid storyline and likable characters. It’s also insanely creative, unique and original. There’s not a single thing I didn’t like about this movie, and I’d even go as far as to call it a masterpiece. 

I give Beetlejuice (1988) a solid 10/10.

So, have you seen Beetlejuice (1988)? What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you think it was okay? Let me know in the comments.

You can check out my video review on YouTube:

If you enjoy my posts, you can follow my blog and check out (as well as subscribe to) my YouTube channel.

Blog

YouTube Channel

As I post this, Beetlejuice (1988) is currently streaming on Max (formerly HBO Max).

The Prince of Egypt (1998) Movie Review

The Prince of Egypt (1998) is an animated biblically inspired epic family movie from DreamWorks Animation. It stars Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny Glover in major voice roles. It's based on the story of Moses from the book of Exodus. It got very positive reviews from critics and was a box office success and is considered a classic. I saw this movie in theaters when I was 5 years old. It was actually the first movie I remember seeing in theaters and it was quite an experience. Looking back on it now, I have to say this is my favorite DreamWorks animated feature. I rewatched it just recently as an adult after finding it on Netflix and I'd say it's aged like fine wine.

There will be spoilers here but considering that everyone's familiar with the story of Moses, I don't think they'd be considered "spoilers".

The movie's conflict involves a tribe of Hebrews in Egypt being persecuted by the Egyptians under the rule of the Pharoah Seti. Seti has a philosophy that sacrifices must be made for the greater good. A mother sends her newborn son away in a basket on the streams of the Nile to save him from the persecution. The baby is then found by the Pharoah's queen Tuya, and she names him Moses (Val Kilmer) and they raise him as their own. 

Seti and Tuya's biological son Rameses (Ralph Fiennes) serves as Moses' adoptive brother and two form a dynamic. Moses, being promoted to Prince of Egypt (hence the film's title) is favored by Seti and Tuya, and this makes Rameses jealous of the former. This leads to Moses and Rameses being rivals throughout the movie. Moses then has an encounter with two Hebrew siblings, Aaron (Jeff Goldblum) and Miriam (Sandra Bullock). They reveal to Moses that they are his long-lost brother and sister. 

Moses at first doesn't believe them, and then Miriam sings the lullaby that their mother would sing when Moses was an infant, which he finds strangely familiar. Moses then learns the shocking truth about his life and then flees the palace. He gets stranded in the desert and gets rescued by the tribe of Hebrews, led by their high priest Jethro (Danny Glover). Jethro gives Moses a pep talk in song form to look at his life through Heaven's eyes. Jethro has a daughter named Tzipporah (Michelle Pfeiffer), who serves as Moses' love interest and the two are later married. 

Years pass and Moses adapts to the Hebrew lifestyle and develops a faith in God. Then one day, Moses has an encounter with God who speaks to him through a burning bush and sends him on a mission to let the Hebrews go. Moses returns to the Egyptian palace to find that Rameses has taken his father's place as the new Pharoah. As Pharoah, Rameses sticks to his father's harsh ways as part of Egyptian tradition, but also does so out of spite for Moses, so he ends up being the main antagonist. He spares Moses as he's like a brother to him. 

If you know the story of Moses, you already know that Rameses is the "bad guy", though in this movie, he’s given a bit of humanization. There are two Egyptian high priests named Hotep (Steve Martin) and Huy (Martin Short) who work for Rameses and serve as the secondary villains. They're like bumbling villainous sidekicks that also have a sinister side to them, and even have their own villain song. As Moses is performing the Miracles of God, Hotep and Huy cover it up by demonstrating that these "miracles" are the work of their Egyptian gods. They're basically personifications of propaganda.

Moses demands Rameses to let the Hebrews go, but Rameses refuses as his heart is hardened. Then we get a montage of the ten plagues being unleashed, each time Rameses refuses to free the people, in which the Egyptian Priest convince him it's the wrath of their gods. Then there's the Passover, where God sends the angel of death to kill the people's first-born children. Moses and his people brush lamb blood on their door frames to keep out the angel of death. However, Rameses doesn't follow this, and his son dies.

Heartbroken, Rameses angrily agrees to let Moses, and his people go. So, Moses leads the Hebrews out of Egypt and parts the waters of the red sea to get across. Here, we see a neat breathtaking view of the ocean, where we see fish and a whale. However, a vengeful Rameses sends his men after the Hebrews ordering them to kill them all on sight. To save his people, Moses closes the waters behind him. 

The soldiers all drown, but Rameses survives as he's washed back to shore. The Hebrews are all safe, much to Rameses' dismay as he's last seen crying out to Moses in anger. Moses looks back one last time and tells Rameses "Goodbye, brother" and moves on. He and his people embark on their journey to the promised land. The movie ends with Moses walking out of Mt. Sainai with the ten commandments.

The Prince of Egypt (1998) is an excellent and very well-done animated film. It's got great animation, a very solid storyline, great voice acting, and very good songs. It's also very faithful to the original Bible story. There's nothing about The Prince of Egypt (1998) that I didn't like, and I'd even go as far as to calling it a cinematic animation masterpiece. I think for being Dreamworks' first attempt at a hand-drawn animation, it was quite impressive.

I haven’t seen all of the DreamWorks animated features. I enjoyed the first two Shrek movies, and I loved Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022). I’d say those are pretty close up there. I haven’t Seen Home (2015) or Abominable yet, so I don't have an opinion on those. I've seen the first Kung Fu Panda and the first How to Train Your Dragon, but not the sequels. The Road to El Dorado (2000) was okay in my opinion, but I found it a bit too derivative of Disney’s Aladdin (1992). (I think I’m going to review that one next.)

Spirit was pretty good. I kind of like Sinbad, but it was a little weird. I’ve seen all three Trolls movies, and they were pretty good. I thought Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken (2023) was decent. I liked Joseph: King of Dreams (2000), but that’s a direct-to-video spin-off so it doesn’t really count. Shark Tale (2004) was “eh”. Antz was pretty good, but it's been a while so I may have to rewatch it.

I recently watched Shrek the Third (2007) and Shrek: Forever After (2010) and they were okay. The first Puss in Boots (2011) was pretty good. I enjoyed both Croods movies. That’s about all of the DreamWorks animated films I’ve seen (not including the ones from Aardman).

This movie, however, is very special to me for a few reasons. 1. It’s one of the first movies I saw in theaters. 2. I’ve always been fascinated with the story of Moses as I’ve grown up hearing it in Sunday school. Also, I support hand-drawn animation. So, those are the reasons why The Prince of Egypt (1998) is my favorite DreamWorks animated film. For you it might be Shrek (2001), but to each their own.

I give The Prince of Egypt a solid 10/10.

Have you seen The Prince of Egypt (1998)? What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you think it was okay? Let me know in the comments.

You can check out my video review on YouTube:

If you enjoy my posts, you can follow my blog and check out (as well as subscribe to) my YouTube channel.

Blog

YouTube Channel

As I post this, The Prince of Egypt (1998) is currently streaming on Netflix.

A Goofy Movie (1995) Movie Review

This is a movie that I really need to talk about. I’ve been holding back my thoughts on this one for so long. 

Disclaimer: Nobody asked me to review this. This is a movie I’m looking back on in retrospect. There will also be spoilers in this review, so if you haven’t seen this movie, you may want to stop reading right now. So:

****SPOILERS****

A Goofy Movie (1995) is an animated musical comedy distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and produced by DisneyToon Studios. It serves as a continuation of the animated sitcom Goof Troop, and it kind of plays out like a John Hughes film. This movie got mixed reviews from critics when it first premiered in theaters, but it was otherwise a moderate box office success and it’s gotten a bit of a cult following on home video. I had this on VHS as a kid and watched it a good number of times and I enjoyed it myself. 

The plot is centered on Goofy (Bill Farmer) and his teenage son Max Goof (Jason Marsden), as well as their complicated father/son relationship. Max has his eyes set on a nice girl at his school named Roxanne (Kellie Martin) and is determined to impress her by the end of the school year. To do this, he pulls a stunt, with the help from a couple of friends, at the school auditorium posing as the R&B pop sensation Powerline. However, this disrupts the principal’s speech, in which as a result, Max and his friends get punished for it. 

Goofy works in photography with his friend Pete (Jim Cummings) and the two talk about bonding with their sons. Pete has a hastier way of parenting than Goofy and even encourages Goofy to follow his example. Goofy gets a call from Principal Mazur (Wallace Shawn), who threatens him that if he doesn’t re-evaluate his parenting, Max will get the electric chair. This worries Goofy, as he blames himself for not spending enough time with his son. Just then, after seeing a flash sale on bobble heads, Goofy gets the idea to take Max fishing. Max is reluctant about the idea, since he initially planned to take Roxanne to a party with their friends where they watch the Powerline concert live on TV, but then Goofy forces him along. 

This leads to Max lying to Roxanne about his dad taking him to Los Angeles to see Powerline live in person, and that Goofy knows Powerline. And so then Goofy and Max go on their road trip to the lake, while having their share of misadventures along the way. Max isn’t on board with the vacation, and often daydreams about Roxanne. Goofy decides to let Max be the navigator as he trusts his son’s responsibility. Though unbeknownst to Goofy, Max rerouted the course to Los Angeles while he was sleeping. 

The two visit all kinds of sites and bond very well. They encounter Pete and his son PJ, who are also on a father/son vacation, and Pete overhears Max spilling the beans to PJ about the map. Pete informs Goofy about this, in which the latter has second thoughts about Max being the navigator. At the fork on the road, Max chooses the left, which leads to LA, and this upsets Goofy. The two have a heated argument in which Max snaps that he never wanted to go on the trip in the first place, and being grown up he has his own life now. 

Goofy then explains that he only wanted to be a part of that life and that no matter how old Max gets, he’ll always be his son. The two then calm down, and Max tells Goofy about Roxanne, and Goofy is shown to be proud that his son is in love. This leads to the “Nobody Else but You” song number, expressing their father/son relationship. There’s a win, win situation in which Goofy and Max got to fish and still go to the concert. 

Earlier on, Goofy teaches Max how to fish showing him a fishing pole technique. This is brought up in the third act as Max uses this technique to save Goofy’s life when they approach a waterfall. They also incorporate it into a dance during the “I2I” number, so that was a nice pay off. In the end, Max admits to Roxanne that he lied about his dad knowing Powerline and that he's been trying to be something he's not. Roxanne then reveals to him that she always liked him just the way he is.

We have a set of supporting characters. I already mentioned Goofy’s friend Pete and his son PJ, and I’ve mentioned Max’s love interest Roxanne. There’s Max and PJ’ stoner friend Bobby, who has an unhealthy addiction to cheese whiz. There’s Stacey, Roxanne’s dorky best friend. Then there’s Principal Mazur, who’s kind of the villain of the movie even though he’s only in it for the first 15 minutes. He’s not very nice at all and appears to have no redeeming traits. He’s even shown to be quite full of himself during his speech. He’s also the one responsible for the main conflict, which makes him the main antagonist.

A Goofy Movie (1995) is quite good. It’s funny and it features a good coming of age story with a solid father and son aspect and some catchy songs. I do have a couple of minor nitpicks. The animation is decent for DisneyToon standards, but at times it comes off as cheap looking. Then there’s the design on the side characters. They’re supposedly sentient dog people, but they look about completely human but with dog noses. In comparison to Goofy, Max, Pete and PJ, the side characters feel just a little out of place. Also, I feel that the movie tried just a little too hard to be hip. 

I’d also like to comment that this movie is Shockingly dark and edgy for a G-rated kids cartoon from DisneyToon Studios. We see nuns throughout the movie. During the “Open Road” song number, a hearse drives by, and the dead body pops out of the casket and joins in singing (kind of like that one part in Monty Python's Meaning of Life). During the Lester’s Possum Park sequence, there’s a little girl with a snaggle-toothed smile making direct eye contact, which is rather unsettling (Watching this as a kid, that creeped me out, and still does as an adult) It's like something out of a horror movie (the same can be said about Max's nightmare at the beginning of the movie).

There’s also a body count here. At one point, Goofy and Max hang out with a mime doing mime stuff, and Goofy accidentally kills the mime by cutting the rope that was holding a piano. The two then whistle and walk away. Then, during the I2I sequence, Max has a run in with the security guard. The two have a fight and then the security guard gets sent flying headfirst into the Jumbotron, which had to have ended up killing him. Also, as PJ is watching the concert on TV, Pete is seen drinking beer and spits it out right on the screen at the sight of Goofy and Max. Those are just a couple of things that made me question how this is considered a kid's movie.

All in all, I’d say A Goofy Movie (1995) is a pretty good feel-good animated musical. It’s not one of my personal favorite Disney movies but I have a bit of a soft spot for it (I think the first Toy Story (1995) and The Lion King (1994) were both better).

I give A Goofy Movie (1995) a solid 7.5/10.

So, have you seen A Goofy Movie (1995)? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.

You can check out my video review on YouTube:

If you enjoy my posts, you can follow my blog and check out (as well as subscribe to) my YouTube channel.

Blog

YouTube Channel

As I post this, A Goofy Movie (1995) is currently streaming on Disney+.