Leo (2023) - Movie Review

Well, here’s a combination that feels like it was pulled out of an Angry Critic’s nightmares: A Happy Madison animated movie about talking animals. Or maybe just this Angry Critic’s nightmares, since both talking animal movies and Happy Madison productions have been regular targets since this blog started. But for as much shit as I give the both of them when they’re bad, that’s mainly because I still have fond memories of when they were both good. As I got into when I looked at Hubie Halloween, Adam Sandler was part of my childhood and was something of an oddball inspiration as his stock character of the quick-to-anger outsider was a lot like me back then. And talking animal movies exist for a reason, as they make telling stories to kids about characters going through more adult issues easier to deal with, since cute animals are a lot easier to relate to than those old people with their rules and bedtime mandates (in a child’s mind, at least).

DC League Of Super-Pets (2022) - Movie Review

DC animated films feel like an anomaly within their own genre. While the live-action features spend so much time trying to turn the lavishly ludicrous into something that needs to be taken very seriously (and this isn’t just a DC thing; they’re all like this), the animated films could not care less about such things. Batman: Return Of The Caped Crusaders, the LEGO Batman Movie, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies, not to mention the official DC Animated line; not only are these among the strongest superhero flicks of the last several years, they got to that point by just embracing the sheer fun that’s supposed to be the core appeal of these characters. And this latest release from the Warner Animation Group is yet another example of that.

Peter Rabbit 2 (2021) - Movie Review

I didn’t really know what to expect out of this movie. Between the initial trailer being as middling as it was, it being one of the first films to be made to do the COVID shuffle, and the original being so wildly inconsistent, I went into this follow-up without much expectation, other than hoping it wouldn’t derail itself with food allergies again. And to its credit, it left the realistic Epi-pen shit alone this time around… but it still managed to derail itself. In monumental, rubber-necking, legitimately infuriating fashion. Slow claps all round.

The LEGO Movie 2 (2019) - Movie Review

After a quite fantastic solo spin-off (and a rather disappointing secondary spin-off), the LEGO movie franchise is back to its main series. Knowing how much fire the first film caught on release, and is still catching on and off five years later, expectations are quite high that this is going to not only match up to what audiences loved about the original, but also a reassurance that the fumble that was Ninjago was just a one-off incident. I once again find myself in a position where I’m not entirely sure what to expect from this film, much like how I went into the first movie. Also once again, having seen the movie, this feels like exactly what this film should be, both on its own and as a continuation to what has become one of the greatest films of the 2010’s.

Peter Rabbit (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: After the sudden death of farmer Joe McGregor (Sam Neill), Peter Rabbit (James Corden) and his woodland friends use the opportunity to take back the farmer's garden, and his house, for themselves. However, once news of the death reaches Joe's nephew Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson), he plans to fix up the house, secure the garden and, if necessary, get rid of any pests that try to sneak into either. As Peter and his friends try to fend off the new neighbour, and Thomas strikes up a friendship with Bea (Rose Byrne), who takes care of Peter and his extended family, both Peter and Thomas are hell-bent on winning this fight.

The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017) - Movie Review

With the current furore going on concerning the state of Hollywood and the products it’s creating, I figure I’d turn this into a little experiment. The Emoji Movie et al. is getting people to realize just how cynical the system can get, the general reactions to Mother show that even filmmakers willing to make the effort aren’t getting respected, and the recent unearthing of the heinous behaviour of Harvey Weinstein, one of the most prolific producers in the business, is bringing the questioning to a moral level; we’re in a weird and possibly disastrous spot right now.

The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) - Movie Review

Even though it’s only a little over three years old now, it is quite possible to understate the impact that The LEGO Movie had when it first came out. Aside from being one of the two biggest surprises of 2014, the other being Guardians Of The Galaxy, it also latched directly onto the audience mindset like very few films before it have managed. Starting out as a project where audiences had no real idea what the film would even be like, it resulted in an incredibly astute satire of the Hollywood blockbuster formula as well as being a very entertaining action-adventure in its own right, complete with an acknowledgement of the creativity that made LEGO the household name that it is.

 

Me personally, while I did enjoy it immensely, I was somewhat off-put by the quite literal and jarringly realistic turn it took during the final reel which ended up souring it a bit for me overall. Naturally, when news hit of a spin-off film coming out, this time helmed by LEGO Movie head animator and Adult Swim legend Chris McKay, all the petty misgivings in the world couldn’t stop me from watching it. Computer batteries to power, keyboard to speed.